game 2

It sure feels good to win over here especially when the Swedish teams are cheering for us! The only country who has shown us any support in the stands other than our American comrades.  We played Slovakia yesterday, the 30th, and expected it to be a very similar match up to the Kazakhstan squad but this time we came ready to play.  Although we went down 0-1 early in the game we quickly tied it up and then left them in our dust the rest of the game.  By the end of the first period we were up 4-1 with all the momentum favoring us as well as a Canadian referee who wasn't buying the flopping and diving the Slovakians started to do as we pulled away with the lead.  It was obvious they were getting frustrated when they began to take stupid penalties against us.  I was drilled into the boards from behind and got a bloody nose and no sympathy for my shoulder or wrist but the pain subsided with every goal we scored.

By the end of the game our small section in the crowd was yelling and screaming as we dominated them all game and ended up winning 7-3.  It was a huge turn around for us from game one and our whole bench was on their feet most of the game cheering every shift.  It was all smiles at the end of the game when we were watching the highlights before we left the ice.  Although we were pumped to win by such a huge margin we couldn't reminisce for to long as we had to start preparing for our next game against Spain on tuesday.

Waking up early this morning wasn't as difficult as the other day when we had lost and we were on the ice for practice by 8:00 and tried to look as presentable as possible for yet another team picture.  I was told I couldn't have any contact this morning because of my pending injuries which came with countless chirps from my teammates but it was a pretty laid back practice which felt good.  After we left the ice we grabbed a quick bite for breakfast and watched the girls team play against Canada which didn't go so well.  Hopefully they beat Great Britain tomorrow and can advance to the medal round.

After lunch and a well deserved nap we were told we would be going to the mall to check out how the Turks did their shopping.  Shockingly it was just like the American malls that I hate going to back home. I found this to be an enormous waste of time but since we go everywhere as a team I had no choice.  We were told to wear none of our team USA gear because we would stand out to much but as I looked over our group I thought to myself, "Boy I bet nobody will be able to notice that we're Americans now...".  After 2 hours of roaming around we finally got back on the bus to come back to the village where we've been relaxing ever since.  We have an early curfew tonight to prepare for our must win game tomorrow against spain who apparently has the best goalie in the tournament.  Until then, my friends, I bid you adieu.