Saturday, December 31, 2011

December 30th - 350km to Olomouc and a tournament

It looked like traveling around our neck of the woods.
We left the hotel and traveled 350km to Olomouc for a hockey tournament. 

We got some snow....less than 1cm, but we got some snow!

We brought our Canadian Flag and 17 kids to come and play some hockey.
They were an extremely quick team that moved the puck well across a large ice surface.

We got some goals, however not enough to win.

The boys after the game having some lunch - goulash, goulash and more goulash.

The player of the game.
We are still learning the differences of a large ice surface as well as different rules when it comes to hooking, interference as well as sending a puck over the boards is an automatic 2 minute penalty.

December 31st, 2011...last day of the year....

Hesperia Hotel in beautiful Olomouc.
We woke up and had a great buffet breakfast at Hesperia Hotel in Olomomouc. The food was great with some real meats like bacon & sausage and other staples that our digestive system was able to recognize.


We had a team meeting to discuss strategy and outline what we were going to do in Boskovice. 
Team strategy meeting.

We boarded the bus and 'the best bus driver, Rolly' was at the helm for the the trip to Boskovice. Milan and Darcy are great tour guides, however we felt having Mike Schenk provide his own personal insight on the trip would help speed the 61km to Boskovice.
Mike Schenk providing insight into our travels.


As we traveled down the roads past the many farm fields, we learned interesting tid bits on winter wheat, alfalfa, turnips as well as why the root stocks are able to be exposed in this more temperate climate than the clay soils of Napanee and area.
It could be turnips, winter wheat or some other stuff growing out there....
we really weren't listening.....
The beautiful rink was a great venue.


We had a great time in Boskovice and the parents were just awesome. Many provided homemade beverages in the stands to warm our hearts. They even brought in Miss Prague to watch the game (as well as some Senator, but no one really paid much attention to him).



Napanee MidgetAEs warming up before the game.
We won the game and traded jerseys as well as had a shoot out with our new friends.


Greg keeping the game in check (or is that Czech...)

Friday, December 30, 2011

Touristy Photos from Prague...

As is turns out, not only did we come to play some hockey, we came for the sight seeing as well..

We walked several kilometers during the day around the Palaces and churches of Prague. Buildings that were built in 1400's were on the tour of this magnificent city.

The downtown area of Prague - beautifully lighted with Christmas decorations everywhere.

We got back before the last chiming of the ancient clock.


Sheryl, Greg, Lori & Geoff make it to the top of the Church.

Kenn, Fred, Darrell & Alan discuss why they didn't go to the top of the Church.

Napanee 3, Krulpy 4

Our Canadian Flag was proudly hung by center ice.
We played a very good team from CZ and were not skating very well in the first and second period. After being down 3-0, after the second period, we got a break away and Corey Prinsen was able to get the puck past their net minder. We were then down 3-1, but that showed us that we could get back into the game. We were able to get the game close with a 3-4 loss, however it was great to see us able to play on the larger ice surface and get the game figured out (who knew our game had different rules over here?)

The boys were ready for the game...

After the game, we had everyone get together for a group shot.

Then we exchanged jerseys and got another photo...

And then were then the winning team...

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Sparta 3, Vary 2

We bussed over to the arena to watch our first professional game. The accuracy of the passes, the speed and the team supporters at the end of the rink were absolutely incredible. We lost Cassibo, Griffin & MacDougall for half an hour and found then drooling at the other end of rink. Evidently the cheerleaders thought the one with the mullet was the "cutest".


At the end of the game, the winning team lined up to have the fans cheer to show appreciation for the win. The goalie who was one of the stars, came back out and cheered on the fans as they had a cheered him on....pretty cool.


Oh, we are thinking of replacing some of Napanee's rink guys with the four 'winged' ice cleaning women....






Wednesday, December 28, 2011

We are in Munich

We made it to Munich in just over 6 hours as there was a strong tailwind. Everything went extremely well. All luggage made it to Munich except for our OMHA REM, Cheryl (note - don't sit near Cheryl for the next ten days as she didn't bring a set of additional clothes).


Scott Mills said "Watching the Smurf's at 37,000 feet was absolutely incredible, I would give that movie a 4 out of 5 and definitely worth watching"


We had lunch in Pilsen (the home of Pilsen Beer) with a traditional Czech lunch, complete with dumplings and gravy. Some boys had their first beer and said it was the best beer they ever had.



We are now checked into the hotel in Prague and in an hour we are leaving for a pro game. From there, we are heading back to the hotel to sleep. We are scheduled to be up at 0700 for breakfast and a tour of a huge castle.

All is well and good night from Munich! (Sparta beat the other team 3-2 in case you were wondering).

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Dec 27th - we are good to go

December 27th - 10:30am
- confirmed flights are good to go
- overcast in Napanee, however there is a snowstorm coming later today (see below)
- Darcy (our tour guy) is flying from Toronto to Montreal. He will meet us when the bus arrives at Pierre Elliott Airport
- airline has WiFi
- Lufthansa is serving Pasta or Chicken this evening



- all we need is the bus to show up at 1:00pm so we can travel down the 401 to Montreal where our journey will begin








A low developing over the southern United States will push into central Canada on Tuesday and rapidly intensify.
Precipitation will start as light rain, but as temperatures drop Tuesday evening, the rain will change to snow. Parts of eastern Ontario, including the Ottawa Valley, could see up to 15 cm by Wednesday.
In Quebec, snowfall amounts could be even higher, with Montreal expected to see about 20 cm of snow.
Snowfall warnings are in place for both cities; a winter storm warning has been issued for Quebec City, the Laurentians and the Saguenay region.
The system will also bring a wintery mix to parts of southern Ontario, including Toronto, Hamilton, Niagara, Kitchener-Waterloo, Kingston and cottage country.
The region will also initially see rain throughout the day Tuesday, but a cold front associated with the system will cause temperatures to plunge Tuesday night, meaning any subsequent precipitation will be snow.
Weather Network meteorologist Chris Scott says it's still too early to say whether the Greater Toronto Area will see any significant accumulations, as it will depend on how quickly the system sweeps through.
“A slight change in the timing of the temperature transition can change the outcome significantly,” he explains. “While the GTA doesn't get the worst, this will likely be the first time this winter that travel will be dicey for most of the population as the slop of Tuesday evening freezes up overnight.”

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Dec 26 - the team



MidgetAE Stars are at day -1, with only one more sleep to go...
- Christmas is over with and the tree is down and sitting at the curb
- players received their official 'Napanee Red Away Jerseys'
- hockey bags are returning to SPC at noon all freshly cleaned by Quinte Fresh Gear (how would you like to spend Christmas cleaning hockey gear?)


In 26 hours, we are off to Montreal, Munich and everywhere in between.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Thank You to our Sponsors

The Stars were able to raise over $10,000 through the support of our Community. The team held a Euchre Tournament, Garage Sale, Cheese Sales, Pizza Sales, Maple Leaf Ticket Raffle as well as through donations from sponsors. 


The following Companies provided financial support and we thank everyone for their donation:


Napanee District Minor Hockey
Moffat Foster Building Contractors
TI Flooring
Greater Napanee
Strathcona Solar Initiatives
Sy's Cleaning
Country Traditions
All About Signs
Moffat & Graham Family
TD Bank
OPSEU Local 467
Davis & Davis
CC Limestone Services
Don Hart Construction
Lyle Hamilton Physiotherapy
Lynja Injection
Windowdoorman
Shelin Pools
Free Flow Gas Bar