Finland Lions Cup 2009a trip across the pond

Everyone associated with the Sharks would like to sincerly thank everyone who contributed in making this trip happen. This includes both financial and other supporters (hamburg sales, bagging, poker nights, auction, tolls, chocolate bars …).

A BIG thank you goes out to you!

preamble

Une équipe du Sud-est du Nouveau-Brunswick (les Sharks), représentée par des joueuses provenant des associations de Moncton, Riverview, Dieppe, Memramcook et Kent-Sud, vivra une expérience hors de l'ordinaire. L'équipe se rendra en Finlande du 26 décembre 2008 au 5 janvier 2009 pour non seulement participer dans ce tournoi (Lions Cup 2009), mais aussi pour jouer des parties hors concours en Suède et pour visiter une partie de ces deux pays.

A team from Southeast New Brunswick (the Sharks), represented by players from the Moncton, Riverview, Dieppe, Memramcook and Kent South associations, will experience an extraordinary opportunity. The team will travel to Finland from December 26, 2008 to January 5, 2009, not only to participate in this tournament (2009 Lions Cup), but also to play exhibition games in Sweden and visit parts of these two countries.

recounting the trip

In chronological order, here are brief descriptions of each day of the trip experienced by a group of talented ringette players and their accompanying family members.

2008.12.26. And we're off!

Our group of 30 left Moncton at around 5:00 PM to board flight AC860 at 11:45 PM in Halifax. 4 others had already been on vacation in Europe since mid December (the Brennans) and would meet us in Stockholm. We decided on flights out of Halifax due to limitations in luggage capacity for a group of our size leaving together from the Moncton airport.

2008.12.27. Destination Stockholm

We touched down at London's Heathrow airport at around 9:35 AM.

From there, we boarded flight SK532 at 1:30 PM local time bound for Stockholm (Arlanda Airport) and arrived at destination close to 5:30 PM local time.

We checked in to Hotel Scandic Alvik at around 7:30 PM, had a relaxing dinner and then met some of the Winnipeg Selects team members.

Unfortunately for the Winnipeg Selects, Mother Nature wreaked havoc on their flight plans in both Toronto and Chicago and some of them, or they're luggage, would only arrive a few days later.

2008.12.28. Sightseeing and exhibition games

After an early breakfast, and before heading to Vasa Museum, our group of 34 made its way to Stockholm city centre enjoying some of the sights and sounds along the way with the help of an onboard tour guide.

On to the pride of the Swedish armada. The Vasa (or Wasa) "was a warship that was built for King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden from 1626 to 1628. The ship foundered and sank after sailing less than a nautical mile (ca 2 km) into her maiden voyage on 10 August 1628".

After leaving the Vasa Museum, we made our way to Solna Arena for the first of two exhibition games. We were originally scheduled only for one, but given that only two of the Winnipeg Selects received their gear we took on their spots in today's and tomorrow's exhibition games.

In the first game (4:00 PM), we faced Ulriksdals SK. After a scoreless first period dominated by our hosts, the Sharks finally succumbed 6-0. The shots were 58-14 (23-4 in the first period and 35-10 in the second). Ulriksdals SK is an open team made up of ladies from 14 to 44 years old. Of note, 4 of the players on this team played at the World Ringette Championships for Team Sweden in Ottawa, 2007 (Linda Björling, Elina Jalenius, Sofia Lundgren, Anna Viberth).

The second game (5:30 PM) saw the Sharks face Sollentuna HC, also an open team made up of older players, 7 of which played for Team Sweden at the 2007 Worlds (Linda Björling, Ellen Hallerth, Sofia Hörberg, Elina Jalenius, Rosanna Joners, Sofia Lundgren, Ida Öberg: note that some of the players took the opportunity to play for both Swedish clubs). The Sharks rebounded to win this game 10-3 (6-2 at the break) despite being outshot 31-24 (15-12, 16-12): they took advantage of all their opportunities.

Note. If you are planning to play ice sports in Scandinavia, bring your skate guards as several (if not most) of the arenas only have blade friendly floors on the benches.

2008.12.29. Shopping day, 2 more exhibition games

Today was a planned shopping day in beautiful downtown Stockholm. Sergel Torg pictured below is two levels high and is an entry point to several large scale shopping centres.

Following shopping, the group made its way to Sollentuna Arena where the Sharks would face the same squads that they faced a day earlier (4:00 PM and 5:30 PM).

Although Ulriksdals SK got the better of the Sharks again, the result was much closer (4-1, 2-0 after the first period). In contrast to yesterday's 58-14 shot domination, the UKS team tallied a 38-17 shot advantage (17-6 after the first).

In the next game, the Sharks defeated Sollentuna HC, this time by a 7-5 mark (5-2 after the first). The shot total again favoured our hosts, 32-18 (18-9 after the first). Matilda Linse and Anna Viberth replaced Linda Björling and Sofia Lundgren for the Sollentuna HC squad.

Following both games, we made our way to our hotel where a dinner was organized for both Canadian and Swedish teams. The hospitality shown by our hosts was tremendous throughout our stay.

2008.12.30. The Silja Serenade

One of the portions of the trip most enjoyed by all was an overnight cruise from Stockholm to Helsinki aboard the Silja Serenade. The ship left port at around 5:00 PM local time and docked in Helsinki the next day at around 10:00 AM local time (16h hour cruise).

The ship holds close to 3000 passengers and features 13 decks. Several of the decks are used for sleeping cabins and one of them for passenger vehicles. The ship features several entertainment and shopping venues, including a casino and tax free shopping. The dinner buffet was tremendous with unlimited choices (I ate a lot of smoked salmon), free wine and free beer on tap!

Caroline and Parise went on stage on deck 13 in the evening and sang karaoke to Drops of Jupiter by Train. They received several rounds of cheers throughout the song (soon to be available on YouTube).

The more mature individuals of our group, along with several of those from Winnipeg, stayed out in the various venues and did what proper Canadians would do … supported the local floating bars.

2008.12.31. Touching ground in Helsinki

We left the Serenade at around 10:30 AM for a brief sightseeing tour (again with our personal guide in the team bus).

After stopping for a few minutes at Senate Square, we made our way to see Temppeliaukio Church, a church built by excavation into bedrock.

After another few minor stops and visits, we headed to Tuusula Arena for a 1:00 PM exhibition match against the hosts of the Finland Lions Cup, Tuusula Ringette.

The Sharks' first game ended in a 5-5 tie. The girls played three 15 minute and one 10 minute stop time periods. Well actually, they didn't finish the last period because we ran over the allotted ice time due to frequent injury stoppages. There was only one referee and tempers flared a bit starting in the middle of the contest as the play kept getting rougher. We would face Tuusula again in the tournament.

After the game, we made our way back to downtown Helsinki to check in to hotel, the Scandic Grand Marina (Katajanokanlaituri 7 00160, Helsinki Finland).

One of the bars in the hotel is closed in the winter months and opens up again in the spring. We used that facility to store the ringette gear of both teams at night. And as an added bonus, we also used it as our hospitality room at night (until the manager of the hotel caught us on our last night there, apparently we were not allowed to bring certain types of beverages in there, although we covertly continued our operations).

We checked in to the hotel, rested for a few hours and headed back downtown for a nice New Year's Eve dinner at Papa Giovanni's.

After dinner, we walked over to Senate Square for a Finnish New Year's Eve celebration. Most of us didn't stay for long since the fireworks planned for the evening were to be launched across the small bay from our hotel.

It was an early night for most of us as the previous days' activities had taken teir toll.

2009.01.01. Happy New Year, 2009 arrives!

Finally a late breakfast! This was a recuperation and relaxation day for most of the party. Several of the girls went swimming at the Serena Spa with a few parents while the rest took to opportunity to explore some of the sights in downtown Helsinki.

2009.01.02. Day #1 at the Finland Lions Cup

The Sharks' first scheduled game was at 5:30 PM against Järvenpään Haukat; the late start gave us the day for shopping in downtown Helsinki (girls will be girls).

We made our way to Tuusula arena at 4:00 PM to prepare for the first encounter. The Sharks came out on top 6-1 in a one-sided contest. Great play overall by the Sharks.

What surprised several of us upon arriving at the arena for the first game was the tournament format. Each game would only last 45 minutes. In order to allow for warm-up time and a break between the two periods, two twenty minute straight time periods would be used for all of tournament games. The 30 second shot clock rule also had a variation: the clock would only start once the team taking possession of the ring crossed their own blue line.

We headed back to the hotel following the game for a group dinner and prceeded to the usual evening activities of socializing with our Canadian and Scandinavian friends.

2009.01.03. Day #2 at the Finland Lions Cup

The Sharks second scheduled tournament game was at 8:15 AM which meant a very early morning for us (breakfast at 6:00 AM).

The game ended in a 2-2 tie against Walapais, the eventual tournament champions. Most of the strength of that team resided in #43 (a 16 year old with tremendous abilities) and a very big and fast goaltender.

The next game was scheduled for 2:45 PM which made for a long day at the arena (we stayed over because of a planned lunch and tournament ceremonies).

Going in to this third and last game of the round-robin portion of the tournament, the Sharks needed to tie or win against a strong EKS-Espoo team (EKS-Espoo had earlier lost 2-1 to Walapais and were equally hungry for the win). It was not to be. The Sharks lost 5-2. Truth be told, the Sharks did look a bit tired on the ice in contrast to earlier games played on the trip. A few parents of girls on the other squad revealed that this was one of the best games played by their team all year. EKS-Espoo would make it to the championship final, losing again to Walapais (5-3).

The loss would send the Sharks to the relegation round of the tournament (4 teams vying for 5th place overall) after sporting a 1-1-1 record in the acknowledged toughest of the two divisions.

A skills challenge competition and a tournament dinner (all teams invited) closed out this second day at the FLC (then back to the hotel for socializing in our bar turned hospitality room).

2009.01.04. Day #3 at the Finland Lions Cup

Following an early breakfast again, the Sharks faced the 4th place finishers of Group A to decide who would advance to the overall 5th/6th place game. At 9:15 AM, the Sharks were pitted against the tournament hosts (Tuusula) and squeaked out a 5-4 win on somewhat sluggish legs.

Our next opponent would be Järvenpään Haukat because of their 4-2 win over Winnipeg. In that game, the only Winnipeg goaltender suffered an ankle injury and would be forced out of the game (and the tournament). Karine Doiron stepped in for Winnipeg in the second period. Both Karine and Jasmine LeBlanc would tend one period each for Winnipeg's last game later that day (both playing in back to back games as Winnipeg's game immediately preceded our own).

The Sharks went confidently into their last game having previously beaten Haukat 6-1 in their tournament opener. It wasn't as easy this time around but the Sharks prevailed 3-0.

So in the end, the Sharks finished 5th place overall with a 3-1-1 record (the second best record in the tournament). Still very satisfying given the age difference between the Sharks and the other teams in the tournament.

Results of the games for the entire tournament are available on the Finland Lions Cup website.

We headed back to the hotel for the last time on this wonderful trip. We then made our way to the hospitality room and put on the Canada-Russia semi final (World Juniors) on the big screen (the game was earlier in the day at around 3:00 AM local time so we obviously missed it; the game wasn't broadcast on local TV).

2009.01.05. Heading home

The hotel kindly arranged a 3:00 AM breakfast given that we had to board the bus at about 3:30 AM to ensure enough time for our planned boarding of flight LH3109 (scheduled departure at 6:20 AM bound for Frankfurt).

We arrived in Frankfurt on schedule and our next flight segment was a long one: an 8:40h flight segment (AC873) scheduled to leave at 10:00 AM local time and scheduled to land at Toronto Pearson at 12:40 PM local time.

We boarded our flight a bit late, but that wasn't the end of it. While the plane was still at the gate, a panic ensued near the middle of the plane. A baby was very sick and convulsing due to an extremely high fever. Sharks' mothers to the rescue. Micheline Doucette and Josette Daigle (both nurses) rushed to help, along with the only doctor on board. Luckily, Micheline was carrying liquid Tylenol that was crucial to lower the baby's temperature. After 3 hours on the tarmac, the plane could finally leave the ground (mother and baby were taken off for medical attention within the airport).

Leaving 3 hours late meant that we would miss our connecting flight (AC610) from Toronto to Halifax, our planned final destination. For some of us this was actually a benefit as Air Canada rerouted us to Moncton instead. So for the final flight segment of our voyage we left in three separate parties from Toronto: a 6:00 PM flight to Moncton, a 9:00 PM flight to Halifax and a 10:00 PM flight to Moncton (Caroline and I were on this one, arriving at about 1:30 AM).

This was a truly enjoyable adventure in no small measure made possible by Lauri and Jaakko (our trip organizers) and Olli (our bus driver throughout our trip). From the initial preparations last summer to our arrival, and then throughout our stay, they went above and beyond to ensure a memorable journey. I know that the rest of the travelling party would join me in expressing our sincere thanks.

post mortem

2009.01.09. Les Sharks ont fait belle figure en Finlandearticle par Bruno Richard, Acadie Nouvelle

Encore un excellent article par Bruno Richard de l'Acadie Nouvelle à la une de la section sport de son édition du 9 janvier 2009 faisant suite à celui du 24 décembre 2008.

prior to departure

2008.12.24. Destination Helsinki pour les Sharksarticle par Bruno Richard, Acadie Nouvelle

Excellent article par Bruno Richard de l'Acadie Nouvelle à la une de la section sport de son édition du 24 décembre 2008.

2008.12.24. Sharks Jersey

The jersey chosen for the Sharks is based on Team Canada's jersey from 1998 (Athletic Knit CAN541C).