Day Six (con't)--Harbor Hippo

After the final game of the week we (inline) skated to the water front to board the Harbor Hippo, a converted amphibious army vehical used to tour around the city and into the city harbor.

After the Hippo the boys skated back to the apartments to cook up spaghetti and make some posters for the web camera meeting in the morning.

Here are some pictures from the Hippo.

As you see the ride was a little to comfortable for some.

Here is a short video of the Hippo entering the water.

Day Four--Hump Day

This is probaly the most difficult day to get through. It is the middle of the week, the legs are really getting tired and mentally the players are feeling drained. So here at Andrews they bring in the much hated Phantom Sinper.

The identity of the Phantom Sniper is never revealed but I have been able to pry out of them the names of past snipers such as Sidney Crosby and Brad Richards. Unfortunately for the Phantom, he is not well liked and often buckles to the pressure. (video to come)

Later in the evening I was able to take some video of the game for the Magic Hand and Art of Scoring group. Here is a highlight of Kevin scoring and celebrating. In this game Brian was named as the top defensive player.

Later in the evening the boys were treated to a great home cooked meal of Sweet and Sour meatballs, westren Chinese food.

Day Two-- The pain begins

So today was the first real day of camp and it came with many sucesses. In each of the games (4) all the players performed well and every one won their games. In the PeeWee Division, Tommy Chen was 2nd Star, Andrew Chu was top defensive player and many more had goals and assist in their respective games.

All the boys were extremely worn out by the end of the day but I am certain the energy will be high again tomorrow.

The thing that impressed me most is how all the boys are getting along with the new friends that they are making. Hearing them teaching Chinese words (not the best ones) and hanging out with the boys. Even celebrating as a group or encouraging others after a good play. Those are the moments that have been the most impressive thus far.

The buzz is around the rink to and everyone knows about the 'Chinese Boys' and there has been a lot of interest in the hockey scene in Taiwan.

Day One-Orientation

After 17.5 hrs of flying, 7 hrs of layovers, 3 airplanes and 4 hrs in a van we had finally arrived on PEI crossing the longest bridge in the world, the Confedertion Bridge.

The total tirp seemed quite flawless as no one was sick, lost, hurt or complained about anything. The only scare happend when one of the player thought he lost his passport. That would have been an interesting conversation with both immigration and the parents.

Today is Day One of the hockey camp and I think all and players are anxious to get on the ice. The complex here on PEI has two sheets of ice as well as to miniture synthethic ice surfaces and a hockey spacific off ice trianing center. This is something that none of these players have ever seen and I am certain they will be blown away.

Do to the rainy weather we haven't been able to do the stuff as planned so instead the boys spent a few hours in the swimming pool in the Cari Center. A great spot to blow off some excess energy and for some of the boys try and meet some of the local girls!

National Roller Hockey Championships

We just returned from the sunny Chang Hwa in the southern part of Taiwan. With scorching heat baring down on all the participants the games were slow in the day time and took a faster more excite pace in the evenings.

Our Jr High team invoked some revenge on Saturday night winning 2-1 over a team that we lost to 5-1 in the previous year. This win qualified us for the final 4 and the opportunity to get out of the heat and rest the heat stricken bodies.

Day two wasn't as kind to the team. In the semi final 3 players, 2 from the top line, went down to injury. All the players worked hard and has chances but the opponent was too strong on this day.

With the loss in the semi we had to heal and rebound for the bronze medal game. However, after falling behind 2-0 and asking for a stick measurement, which was determined illegal, but no penalty was called, it was apparent the game was going to be another up hill battle. And battle they did. We pulled the goalie with a minute left in the 3rd period (there are 4 periods in IIHF Roller hockey) and brought the score to 3-1 and gained some momentum. The heat and lack of concentration was too much though and the game ended 5-1.

A great result though for a team that will have 11/12 returning next year. Well done to everyone!