day nine: wfc 2013 - lucky number thirteen

WE DID IT. WE FINISHED THE TOURNAMENT WITH A FINAL W.

Tonight we beat Hungary 6-5 in an insane overtime game. WE HAVE MOVED UP THE WORLD RANKINGS TO 13TH PLACE FROM 19TH.

My mind is blown and my heart is bursting, I am so happy and proud.

Too many amazing moments tonight.

I am going to do a full post tomorrow and reflect on all of this, but right now, I am going down to our team conference room and having a celebratory libation with my beautiful teammates.

LOVE YOU ALL AND THANK YOU FOR THE SUPPORT!

xoxo

come back soon.

The WiFi in our hotel is so awful, I can barely even get this post up.

I have drafted a post for each of the last six days but can barely maintain an internet connection for long enough to get it up.

Also, we barely have any free time in stretches longer than an hour.  And that hour is spent in treatment, meeting with linemates, and going out to get snacks/food/water for our games and practices.

In short, please come back soon for a slew of posts with photos.  Promise.

xo

LANDED.

Disclaimer: Super detailed post for my own memory's sake.

We are finally here in Prague, Czech Republic! What a crazy trip getting here.

First of all, I finally fit everything into my amazing new 55L backpack after a couple of Tetris moments.  This bag is unreal and I was RUTHLESS at packing for 30 days! Crazy minimal.  Not having our equipment toolbag really killed it for me though and my bag was pretty much busting at the seams. Thankfully, Lisa is gonna take some of my crap back to Toronto with her.

Early this afternoon (technically yesterday but I haven't slept so it doesn't count as new day in my head), we all met up at Pearson and were given a pretty awesome plaque, and Team Canada Olympic hat and mittens.  Swag. The British Airways folks were pretty great.  They took our picture on the conveyor belt (SO not normally allowed?!) and gave us a shoutout on the plane.

I got to sit between the two most adorable ladies - Beryl from England on one side and Jeannette from Scotland on the other. BEST PLANE GRANDMAS with excellent stories about cruises, scones, retiring, and British slang, and they took care of me!

The flight itself was pretty brutal - demonstration of sardines using humans, thanks. The fact that you can't even stand up if the person in front of you is reclined is alarming.  Forget about even crossing your legs. The plus side was a mint choice of booze, over which I bonded with Beryl, who taught me all the British ways of ordering whiskey.  Whiskey Dry = Rye & Ginger. Also watched 2 Gunz and Pain & Gain...too much Mark Wahlberg.  Took an hour long nap

Landed at Heathrow for an 8 hour layover and just vegged.  Our whole team just took over and napped everywhere.  Halfway through a nap I overheard someone talking about going to downtown London.  I sat up and decided to join them.  Once we got to customs, they gave us a bit of a hard time about the time constraint into the downtown core, which planted the seed of doubt in my mind.  The pace at which we walked to the train station confirmed that my body was in no state to do an Amazing Race tour.  Luckily the tunnel back to Terminal 3 was adjacent to the station and I turned around. SO MUCH SADFACE, but gotta think about the bigger picture.

Went back to the rest of the team, grabbed some food and then took another nap.  By the time I woke up, it was time to board the bus to the plane! Love outside stairways to the plane...makes me feel so fancy.

When we finally arrived in Prague a couple of hours later, our transports were pretty hilarious and we had to do some finagling to get everyone's luggage and person into a ride.  Loaded our stuff into our rooms and headed down for dinner.

Dinner was delicious.  Aside from the ridiculous amount of second hand smoke (how is smoking allowed in the poorly ventilated basement cellar restaurant of a hotel?), the restaurant is pretty cool.  Exposed brick, woodwork, etc.  We all got a plate of delicious pork tenderloin stuffed with sundried tomatoes on a bed of mashed potatoes.

After a quick team meeting, we are finally settling in and I'm sure sleep won't be an issue. I had my leg taped by Mara to reduce the swelling overnight - I hope it works, but only time will tell.  I have a feeling that I won't be able to play tomorrow though, but we'll see.

Gotta stay positive.

I'm super tired right now and will add photos tomorrow... too lazy and exhausted to upload and edit. 

the universe hates me.

We lost to the Lions in our TFL Competitive final last night...in shootout nonetheless. With two goalposts in shootout. Worst way to win/lose!  It was just brutal because it was 3-2 until the last 13 seconds, when Vesa scored from the point.  I swear it was like deja vu.  The exact same shot, same place, same time, same dude, finals, last year at Glendon.  Ah well.  But we played so much better than the past few weeks, so I was really happy.

Photo: Violet Asher

BUT, I didn't really get to play...because 20 seconds into the game, I stepped on a blade (I think? I know I fell...) and rolled my ankle.  WTF??!  Yeah, until my ankles are mad jacked, no low cut shoes for me EVER again, unless I'm fully taped and braced.  Idiot.

I am pretty damn distraught but I've had a good cry about it and know that there is nothing I can do except take it easy, maybe sit out the first practice/exhibition game, and heal enough to play during the Worlds.  F*cking hindsight is always 20/20.  Also, I was talking about long I've been injury-free and I swear, every time I have those kinds of conversations, the universe goes out of its way to spite me and remind me to never make claims ever again.  SHAKING FIST. I'm so angry at myself.  But only time will tell.

Anyway, no time for self-pity because at the end of the day, I AM GOING TO EUROPE WAHOOOOOOO! (As I keep reminding myself and chant "HEALHEALHEAL".)

sponsored!

I officially became a Salming brand ambassador today!  I was disappointed when I found out the national team sponsorship changed, but when personal sponsorship was an option, I jumped at the chance.  Salming has been the sponsor of the provincial and national teams since I started playing floorball, and I also had a brief stint working for FloorballPro.  Needless to say, I have acquired quite the collection of Salming equipment and gear. I know Salming equipment inside out and to know I will be using what works best for me is very comforting.  Plus, the equipment is something I will have no problem continuing to use, once the world championships are over.

That being said, I am also very thankful to Zone for sponsoring our national team, and providing us with tool bags, sexy uniforms and track suits, and an awesome winter jacket that will no doubt be put to good use.

Photo: Chris Bishop for FloorballPro

So much love for neon. Also, LULZ at my face. 

last pick-up of the year.

Going away for one month is doing strange things to me.  Everything I am doing, everyone I am seeing, I have an overwhelming sense of nostalgia and finality because it is the last time this is happening in 2013.  Plus, this year is ending in such a beautiful, exciting, nerve-wracking kind of way, everything feels so much more brilliant.

Last night was my last pick-up session of the year.  We had two goalies this week, plus a couple newbies, which was great.  The 3v3 format was much more energetic than the past few weeks and I got a good sweat in.  Pick-up actually runs until December 18, so I hope you all still continue to go.

I'm really happy Mike was able to come out and play this week.  After him being out of the country for so long, catching up, and doing something that I absolutely love to share, was really fun.  I hope I've converted him into yet another floorball lover. :)

Also random, my second cousin Wilson, who I have not seen or spoken with in over ten years, showed up! He actually played with some of the Aurora guys and was buddies with one of the guys who started coming to the drop-in sessions...how random! Seriously, this world is SO SMALL.

Really happy I was able to (and have been healthy enough) to play pick-up every week this season.

2014 feels so fresh and so full of promise.

seven days.

Holy crap.  In seven days I will be boarding a plane to the Czech Republic to represent Canada.  I can't believe how quickly time has flown and how insanely pumped I am!!! SO MUCH TO DO before we leave!

Anyway, last night was our semi-final game against Markham City Rangers.  Unfortunately, the core of their team decided not to show up and they only had four players.  Some players from the preceding rec crossover game decided to stay and utilize the free gym time (I would have totally done the same thing), so we actually got in a decent scrimmage.  I must say we haven't been playing well at all together, and this week wasn't that different.  We had a noticeable increase in passing, but it's hard to tell whether we were improving in that aspect, or if the other substitute players were just less skilled at covering the space.  Scoring was tight - also disappointing, but we ended up with a win.  I potted one, from a defensive flub, got a nice one-on-one with the goalie. Too bad it didn't even matter.

Went to the new Reds Tavern for post-game beers with the usual suspects and we were pleasantly surprised by their draught selection.  As crappy as it's been for us game-wise, it is always enjoyable to hang out with my teammates who are dear friends.

Finals are next week again the Lions.  It will be tough, and I hope we can relieve some of the growing apathy for at least an hour.

Then one sleep until floorball glory...

adding content.

It's the final week, I better start getting into the habit of posting.  If you know me, and if you follow any of my various blogs and tumblrs, you know that I am the absolute worst procrastinator and most easily distracted individual ever.

I am going to comb my other blogs and instagrams and back-cross-post floorball related posts over here.  It's important to document, and even better to keep it all in one place.

Keep checking back to get an idea of my history, if you care.

damn goalie.

Pick-up last night.  We found these awesome mini nets in the gym's equipment room.  Slightly bigger than regular mini hockey / floorball nets, and with a thick flat frame, making post deflections nearly impossible. Goals were only counted if the ball was perfectly cleared in the net, touching no posts or the helmet we added as a goalie.  And believe me, that helmet goalie was pretty darn good.

mmha celebrates hockey floorball tournament

Photo: Steve Creaser

Yesterday, Darkside FC took part in the Markham Minor Hockey Association's floorball tournament, as part of their MMHA Celebrates Hockey event.  MMHA and the Town of Markham have been super supportive of floorball and Floorball Markham.  In fact, two sets of floorball boards actually live at Cornell Community Centre!  Anyway, this was a free tournament organized to highlight floorball, especially to a community with so much potential.  Our team registered immediately when we were invited to participate (c'mon, is there a better combination in the English language than 'free' and 'floorball'?!).

There were three teams in total, and we had a great time playing in a funner tournament.  While we were missing some of our key players because of holidays, we all still enjoyed ourselves.  The tournament was very well-organized, and because it was a smaller event, we did not have a long wait in between games, which I think really kept the momentum going.

We won our games (one of the teams were a group of high schoolers...) and were surprised by some awesome prizes.  Definitely the way to showcase an amazing sport!

Big thank you to Steve Creaser and Chris Bishop for organizing and reffing!

game two.

*Cross-posted from Eye of Pie. 

We MOTHERF*CKING won. We took the whole series. I'm ecstatic! Plan is to go to Czech Republic in December for the World Floorball Championships, but I still have a chip on my shoulder.  I don't want to get my hopes up, in case. Just gotta keep practicing.

Do I have complaints about how some parts of the tournament went?  Without a doubt (you know me, I make Debbie Downer look like a f*cking ray of sunshine sometimes).  BUT, to represent my country is an experience that not everyone gets a chance to do and I feel so very lucky.  I can't predict the future, so I can only do everything I can in the now.

Me on the free hit. Photo courtesy of Floorball Pro.  I had to post the screenshot because the dude's comment is hilarious. I'm not sure whether it's good or bad that my reputation precedes me. 

Immediate post-game victory pile-up shot. Number one, baby. 

game one.

*Cross-posted from Eye of Pie

Raising of the flags and singing of the national anthems...it makes my heart burst.
Photo courtesy of IFF Flickr.

Today was the first game of our aggregate series of the World Floorball Championship Qualifiers.  AND WE FREAKIN' WON. 7-4, nonetheless!  It was poetic, given the battering we had received from the USA only two years ago. And every single line scored a goal, a testament to the depth of our huge roster.  The long bench also served us well, providing fresh legs.  The game was live streamed on YouTube but the feed is apparently still converting to a video.

Winning feels so f*cking good.  And to do it on home soil with over 200 spectators, especially my closest friends and family cheering for you? Oh baby.

 One of the few decent photos my dad was able to snap.  Typical me, with my samurai bun. 

After the game, the team parted ways (no celebration, as we still have another game tomorrow), and I had dinner with some of my favourites (basically our Darkside FC team) at Kelsey's.

Everything just feels so surreal right now. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

Darkside FC, all the time.