Kitten shopping!

Practice this morning was just like every other practice, same shooting drills, same skating drills.  Very uneventful!!! Than again we have another practice in 3 hours from now.  I don't want to sound all soft, but I'm heading out to go look at, possibly adopting a cat.  Key word, possibly. One of the guys on the team and his Fiance are going to adopt one so I'm tagging along to "possibly" adopt one.  The chances of me bringing a cat home today are slim, but I'm a softy when it comes to kittens. I'm not to sure how my dog back home Jett would respond to a cat, considering there hasn't been any wildlife within 3 miles of the house because of this beast of a dog.  Plus bringing the cat back to the US might cause some problems at the end of the year when I head home. Who knows maybe Ill get two. Ill let you know what happens later today. 

Last nights practice.

Lunch!!!!!

So we had a day off on Saturday, and did we ever pay for it on Sunday. It was NOT Sunday fun day at all. Practice started off with normal drills, but suddenly everything went terrible. We were skating the entire 2nd hour of practice. Guys were struggling hard, obviously because we were all out having a good time. The coaches knew that we were out, but they gave us the green light to have some fun, but we paid for it on Sunday.  Surprisingly I'm feeling OK today. I just got back from the gym where I was on the bike for 30 mins and got a quick lift in too. Now I'm eating 4 egg whites and some toast to get some energy back for our next practice in 3 hours.

blocked shot

Ohhh yeah forgot to tell you all that I blocked a shot while in Germany, which the puck hit me in the shin pad, but I have a bruise the size of a bowling bowl. I don't want to sound soft, but my shin is still throbbing 7 days later.  During warm ups I noticed that one guy on the other team that played in the NHL at one time had a hard slap shot. Well I found out how hard it really was!!!!!

Bostonian!!

Our New Place!!!!

Its official, Jenn and I will be moving into our new home Sept 1st in Boston.  Jenn has been living with my old college room mate Steve Sanders (not Steve Sanders 90210), since August 15th and both Jenn and I are very thankful for Steve providing a place for her to stay. Living above Steve is my other room mates from college Mike Morris and Chucky Tomes.  Jenn says its been an exciting 2 weeks with these boys and its time to move into our new place.  GO RED SOX!!!!!

Love that dirty water, Boston your my NEW home!!!

Danish Beer, Tuborg.

Yesterday was a practice that everyone was looking forward to, strictly because the new imports (me) had to buy beer for the entire team to enjoy after practice. The guys on the team told me they do this every year, where the new guys buy beer for everyone. I still think that they are pulling my leg, oh well. So I asked the Danish guys what beer I should buy, most of them said Tuborg or Carlsberg. Ive had Carlsberg before so I chose Tuborg.  Tuborg is a Danish brewing company founded in 1873 by Carl Frederik Tietgen. Since 1970 it has been part of Carlsberg. The brewery was founded in Hellerup, a northern suburb of Copenhagen.
So after practice, sitting in smelly hockey equipment and drinking beers with all the guys while listening to the Danish music, it was off to the towns end of the summer, tent party.  To get into the  tent party you pay a ticket of 150 danish Krone (25$), which covers your dinner. Oh yeah we missed dinner so I paid 25$ for nothing. After getting settled a table with some of the guys I made my way up to the bar, buying a pitcher of beer. "That will be 180 Krone please". Quickly I do the math, that is 30$. I walk away and think to myself did the stupid American just get ripped off. I thought back to my college days where I paid 6$ for a pitcher of beer, and still I was upset. So I walk over to the table and asked the Danish guys is it really 180 Krone for pitcher. Yeap!!!!  I drank my beer very slowly and enjoyed every sip after that.  I won't say how many pitchers I bought last night. It was a fun night out in Vojens Denamrk!!!

Meet my wingers!!!!!

Being a center you are always wonder how your wingers will be and if you will jell with them. Considering they are both Danish players I sometimes feel out of the loop on the ice when they are talking about a play and I just nod my head like I understand.  Frederik Storm (top pic) is born in 1989, yes 1989 two years younger than my younger sister Jenna. Do I ever feel old. Frederik is a quick skating player that loves to shoot the puck before passing.  I like playing with him because hes always getting open when I have the puck, which makes my job much easier. His nickname is Stormy but lots of the Danish guys call him "yeahbut".  They call him "yeahbut" because when coach or anyone speaks to him in English and tells him something, he always replies with  "Yeah But".

Christoffer Kjaergaard  (bottom pic)  nickname Stally is born in 1980, he hands down has the hardest snap shot on the team. Playing center and having him as one of my wingers is perfect because he shoots to score every time. Coach says to warm up the goalies during the first few drills in practice and Stally clearly is looking to score. He has the ability to score every night. Playing on a line with Stally  is great because hes not only a great goal scorer, he has great hockey sense and makes solid plays all the time.  Stally is a more laid back guy and has been in the league for many years, hes a wise veteran.

Big win!

Last night we played Hvidovre, a team in our league located in the city of Copenhagen. The game started out with no music in warm ups and maybe 25 people in the arena, already it was a hard exhibition game to get up for.  Puck dropped at 730pm and from start to finish we had much more intensity than Hvidovre.  They were a young team that had a style of working hard, but not working smart.   Hvidovre struggled the entire game, where we came away with a 5-2 win, but it seemed much worse.  I came away with a goal and two assists. I was happy with my play, but I still made some  mistakes that will be corrected come regular season. Our next exhibition game is an away game Sept 2nd.