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
December 13, 2013
December 9, 2013
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
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
December 4, 2013
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.
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.
December 2, 2013
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.
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".)
Photo: Violet Asher
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".)
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