Field Hockey Canada |
 | 2002 European Tour |  |
April 15-16:  Steven Davis | April 17:  Scott Sandison | April 18: Peter Kendrick | ||
April 19:  Connor Grimes | April 20:  Dave Hammond | April 21:  Cregan Joseph | ||
April 22:  Mike Mahood | April 23: Kevin Stoll | April 24:  Rick Roberts | ||
April 25:  Peter Short | April 26:  Mike Oliver | April 27:  Paul Wettlaufer | ||
| April 28: Steven Davis |
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Today started off in a blur of excitement... at 6:30 am at YVR. The anticipation of my first tour with the Men's National Team, our new coach, and what can best be described as the beginning of a new era for this team. With the end-game of qualifying and achieving excellence in Athens 2004, our journey begins today. With so many new faces on this team, I'm sure that the learning curve will be very steep over the next 2 weeks.
Having been given the task of arranging the warm-up music for this tour, I found myself on Jon MacKinnon's computer until the wee hours of the morning, making sleeping a premium.
Both the men's and women's teams assembled on-time, and were ready to roll. The only clear violation of travel gear was Michael Mahood's gold corduroy pants and orange sweater, when it was meant to actually be khaki (SA pronunciation: "car-key") pants and black travel shirt. Yes Mr. Campbell, except for the lack of Birkenstocks, your prediction was spot-on. Even Rico Roberts looked like a million dollar dream in his khaki's.
The highlight of the morning was undoubtedly Eric Broom's successful plea to the ticketing agent to change Michael Mahood's plane ticket to go direct to Toronto... "Are you a family man? Well Mr. Mahood is... and he would like to see his new month-old nephew." Truly the stuff of champions - top drawer managerial skills.
Some were forced to fly via Calgary, but most flew through direct to Toronto. Michael Mahood and I were able to bus into Toronto to see his new 1-month old nephew Sammy (congrats Katie & Robin). After a 6 hour stop-off in Toronto, it was back on the plane, for 6.5 hour flight to Manchester.
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After our arrival, both teams managed easily (like stuffing a bowling ball into a sock) to fit into one bus, with ALL our gear, and begin the journey North to Inverclyde. All of the fire exits were completely blocked off with duffle bags, as were the stairs down to the washroom... you get the idea. Add to the mix 7.5 hours of MacKinnon telling bad jokes, and it made the already long travel day feel like an eternity. It's a good thing that we have travel insurance. Next time, we feel 2 buses might be a better choice. For the record, Kenny the bus driver, was NOT sporting a full set of teeth. "Fashion a drink for you governor?"
Eric Broom showed his worth in gold during the bus trip. Seizing the microphone, like a warrior seizes his sword, Eric began to weave an intricate story (ditty) about the history of Scotland, the importance of different areas, and fact that "petrol" was 2.5 times the price in the UK than Canada. We thought it would never stop... but it did... when Eric fell backwards down the stairs when the bus started moving. Eric is now in physio with Kevin, and is the only reported injury to date 
. Except for the injury (which isn't serious), Eric's bail was the highlight of the day.
After arriving at Inverclyde, the team settled into its rooms. Again, like stuffing a bowling ball into a sock, were are all in VERY tight quarters, with bunk beds and poor ventilation. I am in a room with Ravi, Wayne, and Jon "The Shadow" MacKinnon. "Look at my shadow!" We went for a quick team run down to the field (like 300m), to check out the turf. Much like Victoria's turf (same pile), but substitute the sand for water-based. A quick dinner later, cafeteria-residence style, and we were off to bed. Absolute exhaustion.
Being only 22 miles South of Glasgow... next time we feel that a flight direct to Glasgow might be a better idea.
Today, being our first real day of the tour, began with an early practice in the morning to shake out the cobwebs. We followed this session with some lunch and a walk around the facility to check things out. The complex here has everything we need and we're settling in quite nicely.
Most of us seem to be suffering from a bit of jetlag and we're doing our best to fight it off. It's pretty tough not to catch a quick nap after a long training session though and a few of the guys couldn't hold out. After our rest period we were back out on the field for another long session. Everyone is keen to get going, as for many of us, it's our first tour.
Dinner followed training and I think I've eaten beans and some form of potato product at every meal since I've been here.
We then had a brief meeting as most of the boys were struggling to keep their eyes open. As the meeting ended we were faced with a tough choice. It was about 7:30 and their was a friendly football match being televised here between Paraguay and England and the women's team were playing a warm up match against a select side from Scotland. Most of the boys made it down to cheer on the women with a few die hard stragglers staying behind to catch the other match. The ladies came out on top - well done girls. And by the way so did England.
This pretty much concluded the day as most of are still feeling the stress of our long journey.
Well, it's our second full day here in the rolling hills of Scotland. Today much like the first, started with a continental breakfast at 8, followed by a cooked breakfast at 8:15, then a full team meeting to cover the in and outs of Gene's new team text book. In the meeting we had an inspirational letter "read" by Connor Grimes from Sean Campbell, a truly missed member of the team.
We had two team practices today, in the first the intensity was high as we were going through at match pace. After practice we hiked up the hill to be greeted by our first haggis. Some were more adventurous than others and without doubt we'll see if it was a good idea tomorrow. Luckily our second practice was nice and easy with some feeling the wear and tear and looking forward to our first game tomorrow.
Dinner was a happy event as Mike Lee and Sue Tingley were lucky enough to have their birthday on tour and we celebrated for a solid 5 minutes with cake.
Back at the ranch house, a few members of the team decided to take the 25 minute walk to town while others opted for a much anticipated viewing of Zoolander. Unfortunately the 2 hour movie turned into a 3 hour ordeal as we moved from Gene's computer, to Wayne's, and finally with success, to Butch.
With eager anticipation we went to bed looking forward to the big day tomorrow where myself and several others will play our first international for the senior team.
Today marked the first international game for this new Canadian squad. With 6 new caps in the line-up, today is a big "growing up" day for the team. It started like every other day, with the usual cereal, eggs, beans and toast. The Scottish skies surprised us with some sunshine that held out until the end of our match. Our first game was changed from the original time of seven o'clock to five o'clock, which threw our schedule and preparation out a bit.
We started a little slow, but the final 25 minutes of the 1st half saw us dominate. The 1st half finished 0-0, with Canada on the offensive. The 2nd half was largely back-and-forth, with both teams exchanging good opportunities. Jon MacKinnon played well in the Canadian goal. Both of the Scottish goals were created off Canadian giveaways, instead of opportunities they created themselves. A pass from Scott Sandison to Mike Oliver created his lovely pivoting shot that put Canada in the lead, but was soon erased with 2 quick Scottish goals in the series of about 5-6 minutes. Scotland held on to the lead from there and ended up 2-1.
All in all the first game of hockey for me was exciting and I look forward to the next one.
The morning started with a wee jog in the rain through the grounds of the Scottish National Sport Center, followed by a stretch in the local shooting range - this would prove to be foreshadowing for the team's youngest member. After a typical breakfast of beans, stewed tomatoes and fried bread, and a team video session of last night's game, we headed down to the field. The pitch is nestled among the rolling hills of Larg, farmer's fields and bleating sheep. The "cottage" end overlooks the Irish sea and the islands beyond - a cracking view.
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The Scots had most of the possession for the first half and converted on a defensive lapse halfway through. Still, we won 2 strokes, but failed to convert on either. Shortly before halftime, however, Cregan crept into the D and slotted a nice touch from Mo to register his first international goal in only his second cap. His cries of joy were his first words of the tour.
The Scots scored twice in the second half after another team first: an ex-Albertan who will remain anonymous had the audacity to besmirch Tom Green's number 17 jersey by winning his first yellow card in an international match. The score ended an unsatisfactory 1-3.
After a quick bite back at the Sport Centre we returned to watch an entertaining match between the women's teams. The day ended with another video session and preparations for tomorrow's game.
A quick thank you to the team's supporters. Heather yule (née Andrews), the Mahood's, and the Davis' were on hand to watch the action. On a personal note, thanks to my girlfriend Jen who mailed off my thesis yesterday morning and thanks to my committee who will surely forgive its tardiness!
The day started with the usual breakfast of beans and mash. After breakfast, we had a light practice on one of the more "Scottish days" of the tour, but the fog and light rain didn't slow our hits and giggle sessions. Later on at our pregame meeting, cheers erupted as out team and staff was announced. This was our most enthusiastic meeting of the tour so far.
The rain fell as we started our mid-day game 3. The Scots controlled most of the first half. The Canadian Team had a few great scoring opportunities, but there was something missing in the Canadian playing...
Halftime seemed to spark the Canadian side. It was suddenly a completely different team. On defence, players were hitting the turf. Connor Grimes made a valiant effort in deflecting a dangerous ball off the sideline. On offence, our players created scoring opportunities as well as getting short corners. Ranjeev Deol and Peter Short had a few great runs down the wings. Unfortunately, it was not enough and the final score was 2-0 in favour for Scotland.
That evening, the guys were given a chance to relax and socialize. Rico stared a sing-a-long session. While strumming his guitar, Rico lead the group as they sang through the night. I personally did not participate in the concert. I'm sure tomorrow's diary writer will have more to say on the night's events! However, I did get a chance to watch one of the best movies ever, "The Usual Suspects", with my buddy Wayne. Having not seen it before, I was a bit unsure of how good it would be. By the end of the movie, I could honestly say it was one of the best movies I've seen.
The busy day officially ended at 12. This gave us a chance to head back to our rooms to pack and prepare for the 9 hour bus ride to Cardiff. That's... 9 more hours of Eric on the microphone !
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Today marked the 2nd major travel day of the tour, with an 8-hour bus ride from Largs (22 miles South of Glasgow) to Cardiff, Wales. Some of our players were a bit sleep-deprived from the activities of the previous few days, with 3 test matches, and a few friendly drinks post-game.
Last night ended our Scotland-half of the tour, with a few friendly drinks in the pub downstairs in the Sports Centre. We were joined by many of the players on the Scottish side. It was a great evening of socializing, seeing Dave Yule’s fiancé Heather, and singing. Many hilarious photos were taken. The highlight of the evening was undoubtedly Rick Roberts, accompanied by Aoibhinn Grimes, on the guitar. Everyone was singing, dancing, and enjoying their final evening in Scotland. We have grown a great deal as a team over the past few days, and we have been unlucky to leave empty-handed (in terms of wins). All 3 games were 50/50 in game-play, with them capitalizing on their opportunities, and us missing a few easy ones. Such is life for a new, and very young/inexperienced team.
This day was basically summed up by the huge bus-ride we endured. Everyone bet on the estimated arrival time of the bus, and put in a UK Pound to enter the contest. Well, as if there was ever a question... the contest was won by none other than Mr. “Stanley” Park. He bet 7 pm, and we arrived at 7:04 pm. What a shark. He was grinning, and laughing all the way to the bank!
A roast-beef dinner, Yorkshire pudding, and Gatorade ended off the night. A long day on the road, and some great team bonding!
Thanks everyone for all your support! We’ll do you all proud in Wales!
After a long bus-ride yesterday, the team was back on the turf for a 2-session day. We arrived at the Scottish Institute of Sport in Cardiff, after a 15-minute drive from the hotel. We are staying at a “Choice Hotel” in Cardiff. Everyone is beginning to feel the effects of training, and test-matches... as my work-load has seen a steady increase in the last few days. To date, I have had to treat everyone on the team, with the exception of Steve Davis, who appears to be the iron-man of the tour.
The day was largely uneventful, with both teams sharing a half of the field, and having light training sessions. The field is very worn, and quite bumpy. In fact, it is not unlike Livingstone Park, minus the interesting characters that walk around on the sidelines in Vancouver.
As the physio, it is a great honour to write a journal entry for this side. What a classy bunch of guys, with a very bright future.
Having shaken off the bus ride from Largs, and having recovered the use of my vocal cords after the marathon session of two nights previous, I woke with a clear mind, and sporting some really good bed head (Mahood has become a key supporter in the battle against the wishes of Lisa to tidy things up a bit up top). I headed downstairs to do a little quality control regarding the beans and eggs and fried bread. Noting that it was all up to par, I selected some canned grapefruit and pineapple. On the subject of food, the
potato farmers must be doing well, because we’ve been supporting them steadily. Sue Crawford would be pleased with the high-glycemic food intake.
Stanley (Mr.) Park is doing very well with his English. It has been a pleasure to spend a little time with him... he is a devoted student, and an excellent learner! He has a good handle of a few of the essentials needed to communicate in a group of twenty guys. His pronunciation of “Bulls***” is coming along well, and his situational use of this emphatic essential is improving!
We lunched at a pub near to the sports centre. It was a pleasant affair. Leverkusen and Man U were playing on the big screen (the Germs were down early, but got things straight in the dressing room, and played a super second half) und naturlich war ich sehr gefreuen zu sehen ein bisschen deutsches fussball. Too bad Shorty! We also had the pleasure of singing Happy Birthday to Hambone! It was his 28th… he tried to hide it from us, but he was unsuccessful.
Our game wasn’t really much to speak about. We won pretty easily, but the opposition wasn’t much to speak of... Not taking anything away from them, as they were a friendly side. We’ve had a few lovely evenings and this one was also a beauty, Spring in early bloom. There are several local roads lined with cherry blossoms and they are as lovely as lovely in “Saving Grace”, and that’s pretty lovely!! Oh ya... I guess I’d better mention that Steven Davis (Bigfoot, Can’t miss’em in the D, Van Wilderthanwilder, “Hey I’ve got a hot-tub... it doesn’t matter if you’re a little drunk and you forgot you swim suit", Mr. Triple Ripple BP) scored his first goal for the National Team. He deftly eliminated 3 defenders in the space of 2 yards from the top of the D, and slotted it bottom right! All the girls in Cardiff went wild and we had to get an armed guard for his hotel room, and that was actually just a decoy, and we very cleverly moved him to a different hotel for his own well-being. He’s complaining of the onset of carpel-tunnel syndrome after the autograph-signing session!
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I would like to hark back to whatever day it was that we played our first Test against Scotland. You see, it was a nice day for me, putting aside the loss of the game. It was the first time that I have captained the Canadian side. And, it just so happened that my lovely wife Lisa captained the ladies that day. And it just so happened that Paddy Conlon had his first cap for Scotland, and he kept it a secret that he was even going to be there and I didn’t even see him ‘til we lined up a centre and he was across from me. And six of our guys had first caps, and among those was Dave (Hambone) Hammond. So you see, it was as grand as can be for an old guy like me!
Today started like any other day. Davis and I hit the snooze button a few times before going for an early morning run and stretch. The boys were looking forward to a rest day and a chance to explore Cardiff. The bus left for picturesque downtown Cardiff at 10:30am. With the lack of Internet access in and around the hotel, most of boys headed straight to the local Internet café.
Davis and I currently occupy room number 69 on the main floor of the hotel. It is our second room in the hotel. We vacated our first room because of faulty sewage plumbing, or so Davis says. To make a long story short, the smell was dreadful!
My roommate and I decided to take the tour of the modern day castle rather than follow the masses to the Cardiff Castle. The Millennium Stadium is an amazing structure that can dominate the landscape of the city from certain angles. It seats 74,400 under a retractable roof. It boasts the largest dressing rooms of any stadium in the world. The tour lasted just over an hour. We went through the identical dressing rooms and proceeded down the unforgettable walk to the field where the shear size of the facility is overwhelming. Many great athletes have taken the walk through the tunnel, most notably David Beckham. The tour then proceeded to the upper levels where the stadiums worst seats have incredible site lines. The royal box seats were the last stop of the tour. Davis and I enjoyed the leather comforts that the Royal family has enjoyed in the past.
When hunger strikes in the UK, there is only three letters that can satisfy a couple of thirsty, famished hockey players. The Yates was a “stones throw away” from the Millennium stadium. There wasn’t a lot of time left for further exploration in Cardiff so we made our way to the rendez-vous to catch the bus at 2:30.
The time in the city was short but appreciated as the boys hadn’t had a day off the pitch besides our travel days since Day 1. The rest day was capped off with a video session where Gene got to show off the latest tool in our software collection, which has already proven to be a valuable asset. With well-rested bodies the boys should be ready for an impressive performance against the Welsh Under 21 side.
Today’s match vs. Wales U-21 was largely uneventful, with Canada dominating both territorially, tactically and physically. Many of their players play on the Wales Senior Team, but the lack of experience was obvious. We had many tactical objectives set-out, which were met for the most part. We finished with a 4-0 win. Peter Kendrick scored his first goal for the team today, after missing out on some dandy opportunities earlier in the tour.
The team played well as a unit. After a slow-start in Scotland, we are beginning to pick up steam, and everyone is looking forward to the weekend's games! We move on from here!
The day began like any other day, bacon, beans, hash browns, fried bread, sausages, and more bacon. Of course we did have our usual run and stretch. Kevin took us on a half marathon in the rain. I don’t know why we let the physio and the goalies lead the runs.
Wetty and I decided to write the journal for today and yesterday together because, although Wetty is a hockey god, his literary skills are lacking. This became evident after his 5th consecutive loss in Scrabble. Sorry Lee, but three letter words just aren’t going to cut it with the likes of Gene “words” Muller and Aoibhinn “the spelling queen” Grimes playing.
About yesterday... The Wales U-21 team suffered a sobering 4-0 defeat at the hands of an energized Canadian side. Jeevers had the game opener and eventual winner early in the game with a sublimely worked set piece from the corner of the circle. His diving backhand from a sharp angle caught the Welsh keeper as well as the Canadian bench off guard. Well done Ranjeev. I must personally apologize to the hockey god for neglecting to play him the “gimme” goal at the far post, instead deciding to play the goalies five hole for the third goal of the match. A late highlight was made, as Pete Kendrick fired a flick over the sprawling keeper, to score his first international goal. With his continued hard work, there could be more in store for Pete.
Today’s game began in a true patriotic fashion. Just writing about it puts a smile on my face and sets my spine tingling with pride. As we lined up for the national anthems in our usual way, Gene was standing on the bench joking that he wanted us singing along with the anthem. As it turned out, due to technical difficulties the anthem was not played. Both teams turned towards the field to enter their huddles, and a few of us, disgusted with the lack of an anthem, began singing. By the second verse, the team had joined in, as our singing grew louder. We entered our circle, joined arms, and proceeded to sway our way through to the end of the song. Not wanting to end the momentum we continued with the first few bars of the Hockey Night In Canada theme song, did our 123 Canada cheer, and took the pitch. It was the best pre-game I’ve ever seen, and I don’t think that any of us will ever forget it. It was also the perfect start for the hard-hitting, ice hockey style game that was to transpire.
The game was a hard-hitting affair with a playoff type atmosphere not unlike the last time we faced off against Wales. Although this one lasted longer than twenty minutes it wasn’t without a barrage of cards. The motion of a rock’em, sock’em video was put forth to our editing staff without much success. Regardless we feel that the tone was definitely set for tomorrow’s rematch. Our label as a robust hockey nation doesn’t seem to be fading, despite several new faces in the line.
I would be remiss if I failed to mention the support of the women’s team in the stands. Sometimes the hockey hasn’t been pretty but they have supported us through the good and bad.
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Well, today's outcome was long-overdue! Finally the team has begun to hit its stride... just in time for the team to head home! Many of us wish that the tour had been done backwards, with the harder games in Scotland being played last. I'm confident that if we were moving onto Scotland now, with the way today's game was, that there is no way that we would not have taken 2 of the 3 matches from Scotland. Missed quality opportunities we had early in the tour are now being capitalized on. I guess that is what happens to a
new team like this. We have all learned a ton of valuable new skills on this trip, which puts us in good stead for the future.
Today's match was a replay of yesterday's, with the hard, grinding hockey that all of games on this tour have been. The scoring was opened by Peter Kendrick on the diving "ninja" slide far-post, from a back-hand pass I played to him after beating the goalie at the top of the "D". The jury is out as to whether he actually stole my goal, but we'll take it nonetheless! Mike Oliver potted the next one, followed by a cracking shot by Ranjeev Deol to finish the Canadian attack. Strong play in the back from Ravi, Rico, and Mike Lee allowed our midfielders to receive attacking balls, and penetrate the Welsh "D" on numerous occasions. Cregan Joseph also had a fantastic outing for the team. Mahood was solid in goal.
The final whistle blew, and the Canadian side had won its first test-match 3-1 vs. Wales. It sets a good tone for this summer's re-match at Commonwealth Games!
A big thanks to Veronica, Kevin, Gene, and Stanley for their work on the tour... all the boys really appreciate all of your hard work! It has been a very enjoyable experience over the past 2 weeks in Scotland and Wales.
Thus ends the hockey portion of the trip! Perhaps we will head-out for a couple of cold pints tonight, before heading home in the morning. We have 9 rookie-rounds to get through! Again, thanks to everyone for all your support back in Canada. I hope that you have enjoyed reading all of the journals. I had the dubious task of chasing down guys to write journals for this tour... not always an easy task I assure you! That job now gets passed on to the next rookie... cause I ain't one anymore!
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