Last Day of the Tournament

Yesterday was the end of the tournament.  I can't believe it is already over!  We had our morning meeting to review the games from the previous day.  At this meeting some of our clothing finally arrived.  We got really nice track suits with the IIHF logo on them as well as a polo shirt.  And the best part is they actually fit so I can wear them!  It is a shame they were stuck in customs all week, they would have been great for our ice practices and just to wear around the hotel. After the meeting a few of us went to the hockey shop at the rink to get gifts for our supervisors.  In the past we have always gotten them something from the tournament but since this tournament had no merchandise for sale we went with some t-shirts and scarves from the local Zlin hockey team.  After shopping it was back to the hotel for lunch and a little pre-game nap.

Dina, Stephanie, our standbys (Maria and Malin) and I all headed to Prerov around 1:00.  We had the 3rd and deciding game between Russia and Switzerland, the winner stayed up in A pool and the loser moved down to division 1.  It turned out to be a great game, Russia scored an early goal to go up 1-0. They scored again not long after but Switzerland was able to score with about 10 seconds left in the first period to make it a 2-1 game.  Switzerland scored again in the second period to tie the game at 2.  Despite numerous opportunities for both teams, nobody scored in the third period so we went to overtime.  Somehow I'm not surprised, everyone who refs with me knows that I am the overtime queen.  If there is going to be an overtime game in a tournament, there is a good chance I'm working it.   In the relegation round they play a 5 minute 4 on 4 overtime.  If nobody scores it goes to game winning shots.  Russia scored a really nice, clean goal with about 2 minutes left in the OT to win the game and stay in the top division.  I almost got killed by all the stick and gloves that were thrown as all the Russian players came flying off the bench to celebrate.  You would have thought they had won the gold medal if you had seen their celebration.  It is always fun to be on the ice for something like that, you can really feel the passion of the players and the pride they feel for winning for their country.  I was just happy that someone won it in overtime and we didn't have to go to a shootout.  I can't think of a worse way to get sent down a division - to lose in the 3rd game of a 3 game series in a shootout.  We did find out after the fact that if the Russians had lost they would have lost a lot of their funding, so I'm happy they were able to stay up in the top division, it is good for women's hockey.   It was a fun game to work, both teams played really hard.  Stephanie has a very similar style to me on the lines so we had a good time working together and it is always nice to work with Dina.  

After the game we got undressed as quickly as possible and raced to the rink in Zlin to catch as much of the US/Canada final as we could.  We got there with about 12 minutes left in the 2nd period and Canada was up 2-0.  The arena was absolutely packed which was great to see given that the Czech team wasn't playing.  The game was fast, end to end hockey that was fun to watch.  The second period ended and the score was still 2-0.  During the 3rd the US had several powerplays and a few great opportunities to score but the Canadian goalie played a great game.  Canada scored on the powerplay with about 4 minutes left to go to shut the door.  The final score was 3-0 Canada.  Despite the fact that the US team lost, it was fun to be there to see the Canadians celebrate their gold medal.  When their national anthem finally played the players held each other arm in arm and sang so loudly the entire arena could hear them.  Keyoko, Cheiko and Anna worked the game and did a great job so I was really happy for them.  Even though us Americans and Canadians were disappointed we couldn't work the game, we were talking about how lucky we are to see this high level hockey on a regular basis; the girls from other parts of the world rarely see high level girls hockey.  This was also a historical day in that it is the first time a Japanese official was on the final for an A pool tournament so naturally Kyoko and Chieko were really excited. 

After we all got back from the game we had a typical Czech meal of soup, roast beef and dumplings (not the Chinese style, these were more like bread in a thick sauce.)  We then had a little presentation from the Fins - they had put together a little competition for us to "earn" the Finland items they were giving out as gifts.  They split us into different teams (mixed nationalities and mixed refs/lines) and we did their version of the GPS test.  Each team got a map of the meeting room and two of the team members were blindfolded while the 3rd team member had to give them directions to follow a specific route to get to certain locations within the meeting room.  We had all been drinking as well so that added to the fun.  Mary Anne had to direct Chieko, who speaks very little English, so she got Kyoko to write down the Japanese words for each directions.  It was absolutely hysterical watching Mary Ann try to direct Chieko in Japanese, we were all cracking up.  It was a fun way to end a really great week.  

I'm so thankful to have been given the opportunity to work another IIHF event and am especially proud that I worked an A pool tournament.  Overall I think I had a decent tournament and am excited that I was selected to work on the last day.  It was another fantastic experience that I will never forget.  Hopefully there is another opportunity in my future, but as I have said after every tournament I've worked, even if there isn't I'm proud of the fact that I even got here and I left everything on the ice, I have no regrets.  Now it is on to the vacation portion of the trip!