You will recall that Nancy, B and myself went to Melbourne for the weekend. The centrepiece of our trip was seeing the Douglas Weber International Ice Hockey game at the Rod Laver Arena on Friday Night between Canada and the USA. With representative teams mainly drawn from AHL, CHL, WHL, etc, and a smattering of NHL players in their offseason (and an Italia Liga member also), the game was probably technically an 'exhibition game'. It was the fourth match in a series of five games, played in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth (two games).
Last year, Nancy and I had been to the Melbourne game and had seats right up the back. We had still thoroughly enjoyed the game, sufficiently so that we returned in 2014. Last time we'd come with my Sister and Brother in Law. This year we came with one of our grandsons, B. It was his tenth birthday on the Sunday, so it formed part of what will hopefully have been a memorable weekend. This year, we had seats in the front row, to the left of the Canadian bench, roughly at the point where the boards start their curve around the end. Prime seats indeed!
Being winter, the roof was closed over the arena. The promoter billed it as being 20,000 people, but that's a bit more than the Arena actually holds. More like 15,000. Still, it was packed to the rafters. That's a lot of people to have in a room!
The video below catches something of the exhuberance of our evening. We had a great night! The video shows no actual hockey footage. Not for copyright reasons (though using it here for private useage would be okay), but because we were too busy watching the game. And making sure a stray puck didn't come over and hit us (there was no net or barrier above the boards between most of the audience and the ice). I think about four pucks went over the barrier in the evening. As you'll see in the video, B got one! And a player's sweater! What more could an almost ten year old boy who's about to start ice hockey classes the following week want to see out single figures!
In rough order of progression through the video, you will notice the following:
I was very excited to be going. I was decked out in my Canadian gear and, as we caught the absolutely jam packed tram a few stops to the sporting complex (next stop, the MCG), I was pleasantly surprised to see quite a few others similarly dressed. We were outnumbered by the casuals and the NHL jersey wearers, but it was still a buzz to this little half Canadian. The first thing we did when we got in was get B a Hockey Team Canada tee shirt and me a flag and program.
Now we were ready to find our seats. As mentioned previously, we were front row. You can see them in the second still in the video. They were expensive, but not inordinately more to the seats in the back row. It's a pretty special event to us, so the difference was worth it. As you'll know if you've ever done it, the closer you are to the ice the more intense the experience. And so it was.
There followed a bit of pregame pyrotechnics with some cool figure skating to accompany it, followed by the introduction to the members of each team. You can hear the politically incisive social commentary of a typical 'middle-australia' crowd as the two teams emerged. I myself recognised a few players from each team, generally their NHLers but also several from the WHL. It was pretty cool to see them emerge. I was, however, a bit disappointed to not be seeing Nathan Walker out there (he'd been well-billed as the (so called) first Aussie raised youngster to be drafted into the NHL). Never the less, excitement was mounting.
Then followed the national anthems, Star Spangled Banner first, Oh Canada followed. I've always thought the Stars and Stripes to be a stirring anthem (I think most people do). Canada's is also pretty strong (though a bit dull the first time or two you listen to it, perhaps), and I was even able to recall most of the words and sing along (unfortunately you can (just) hear me on the video). Loved it. Imagine this, though:
Then, while the teams returned to a fairly complex warm up drill (involving three per side horseshoe with some reasonably complex drill in the middle) the MC conducted an interview with Australia's current favourite hockey son - Nathan Walker. He was dressed in coat and tie. In a way, it was kinda saddening because it only reminded me how I'd been very looking forward to seeing him play. It was also distracting because I wanted to hear what was said above the hubbub of the crowd as the teams got into high gear. It was also probably a bit distracting to Walker to be so apparently ignored. But I and many others gave him a big cheer as he was leaving the press box. We, not being far from the tunnel down which he disappeared, got to wave him off. I stuck my thumb in the air when for a moment our eyes met. I wanted to pass him all my good wishes in that moment. It was pretty damn cool for me to see him raise his thumb at me in return with a big grin on his face. As time sped up back to normal I even turned around to Nancy and said that he'd seen us! I've never before been so outwardly starstruck, though the experience was actually something quite different. And it was nice to see that Nancy had caught the exact moment on a blurry shot from her phone. How cool is that!
Almost as he left the Arena, the game began.
The first period was a tough one, I suspect several of the players were 'finding their legs' to at least some degree. It wasn't long, however, and we'd been treated to a couple Canadian goals. And a scuffle that turned into a fight with matching five minute majors the result. And an American come back goal. We were all buzzing with the energy of the spectacle before us when the siren sounded. B had offered some people in the row behind some of the sweets he'd brought in. In turn, one was kind enough to take a few pictures of him. All of a sudden, we and those around were forming a community of a kind. 2-1 Canada at the end of the first.
Durning the first intermission I bumped into Rebecca and Paul from the Vikings. A little weird to see them in their finery rather than hot and sweaty in their sweaters. Very very nice to see such faces! There were more around, apparently, and I know a few C graders who'd gone, but these were the only faces I knew that I met.
The second period was fast and dramatic, Canada scoring once and the USA twice to tie the score at 3-3 at the start of the second intermission. The teams seemed reasonably well matched. The individual players were becoming more evident to us through their skating and playing styles, as well as their temperments. B had decided he liked what he saw in #91 for Canada, David Rutherford. I was pretty impressed by his skating style (especially later when he seemed to be pushing off from both toes in a high speed heel to heel - how does one do that?! Nancy likened his skating to 'dancing over the ice'.). Etem had silky stick skills. The other memorable player for me was the American captain, Kopotka (#28). You could tell by the boo's he got that he had struck a chord with his relentless, tireless, aggressively harrassing play. I was pretty impressed by his level of 'compete'.
We decided not to rush out for the second intermission, but remained in our seats and just enjoyed the atmosphere for a while before wandering out to get some fresh air. While we were so seated one of the rink officials wandered by beneath our seat, suddenly reached up and offered B the game puck from the second period. Chipped and all! He was pretty rapt! Not long afterwards (on our walk for some fresh air) he got a moment with the Melbourne Mustang's mascot and Nancy got another classic photo. A game puck from an international game, no wonder B looks like he does as he was accosted by the horse!
While outside we got talking to a young fella (twenties) from Melbourne who was really nice. He and his mate were up the back back row. We knew that the woman who'd taken B's photo and her fella were not returning for the third period. We told this nice guy where we were and invited him and his mate to the otherwise empty seats. They were there for puck drop - it was like santa had become real in July to them. It was really nice to help co-ordinate with the universe in providing so much pleasure to a couple former hockey players.
The third period was a bit depressing, as a half Canadian. The yanks put on another three quick goals at one point, the first resulting from a monumental goalie/defence passing stuff up in Canada's half. That was pretty gutting. I think they were in shock for long enough for the next goal to be scored (also a bit soft, though can't remember the detail). The goalie, though, started making some brilliant saves as the blizzard continued. It seemed that Kopotka and his cronies could dominate the slot in the Canadian zone at will. Conversely, the Canadians barely got the puck in front of the American goal, let alone a shot onto it for the whole quarter. They did however score a quick breakaway goal against the run of play with about three minutes to go. Hope rose. Only to be crushed shortly after by another American goal. And another. Final score, 7-4.
I was satisfied that if the game had been rigged (being an exhibition game, and so as to make the climactic game a 'live' one in Nathan Walker's home town of Sydney, one couldn't blame them if it was), it wasn't through giving teams 'orders'. I was too close to the players to not see the will to win, the warlike approach to competition, the grief of the goalie if they were scored against. If the game was 'rigged', it would have been by co-ordinating the lines between the teams. Surprisingly, it didn't matter. It was a great game. And the crowd loved it.
Before lining up for aftergame photos and presentations of sweaters etc, the players had one last scuffle. I think only the first had been of a majorly serious level, but there had been no lack of aggression in the game (nor the resulting penalties). The crowd was a bit bemused, but entertained at this swansong mano a mano.
The aftergame rituals were new to us, we don't usually hang around. However, having front row seats, we did this time. After the teams had presented themselves for photos and applauded what was left of the crowd, they again lined up in the centre. Then, spectators who'd paid big dollars for various of the player's game jerseys got to come out and meet 'their' players and receive their jerseys. A few of the players were signing signatures by going to the barriers for the fans to hand down whatever was to be signed. B, of course, being a kid, 'had' to do that - 'because you have to if you're a kid!'
A player by the name of Harvey had been pretty popular in our corner. Pretty feisty bugga. B had him about to sign his tee shirt when Harvey decided he'd get a texta from thirty metres away. And then he had to work his way down again toward B, signing as he went. By this time the organisers were trying to close it all down, started to shepherd him towards the tunnel exit. Harvey (bless him) shrugged the official off with a barely disguised snarl, pointed to B and said he'd made a promise, continued signing things before eventually getting to B and signing his tee shirt. B was pretty chuffed. Sweet, I thought.
Things got better, however, when Rutherford (aforementioned #91) came over, also signed B's tee shirt. This was extra cool because he had been B's favourite player almost from the start. B had been cheering him by name throughout (although it was only in the final period that he had noticed us specifically, looking up at B's call of "Rutherford, you're awesome!" and returning a look of identification to the subsequent raised thumb from the corner). B was by this time approaching ecstasy as he held up his tee shirt.
But Rutherford didn't immediately leave. Instead, he looked at B and said, 'do you want my sweater?' In response to B's puzzled look, he continued, "here, I'll give it to you," and proceeded to take it off and hand it up (signing it as he did so), "just don't tell anyone." The look of B as he turned around to the crowd was priceless. The cheers they awarded him equally so. It's moments like these of which hockey is made.
It wasn't much later and we were out of there. A nice walk along the Yarra into town, with a bit of a moment half way to check out the photos and videos that had been taken. Then, an impulse ride on horse and carriage through the parklands at midnight for a bit of a magical wind down from a magical evening.
Three times that night I had to explain to some poor non hockey goer in the city why there were thousands of people wearing Canada gear. "There was an Ice Hockey game," I'd say by way of explanation. They invariably nodded their heads sagely, only demonstrating the link between Canada and hockey - even in Australia. It is kinda appropriate that this unofficial 'Canada Night in Melbourne' is inextricably linked with a hockey game!
Exhausted, we finally got back to our apartment. The next day, the sweaty sweater and the chipped puck were proof it had not been a dream.
Most excellent. Hope to do it all again some time!
*
Off ice, last night (Wednesday) I did an upper body circuit. Had been shown earlier in the day a couple new variations on various exercises I've been doing by a friend with a lot of experience. Started evolving the workout to build in what he'd suggested.
Today, I think I could feel that oh so slight and non painful tightness in the shoulders, upper back and arms that maybe is coming from muscle growth. If so, amazing! This is only my third week, afterall.
I made today a rest day. Tomorrow, core and lower body.
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