Home Sweet Home

There's no place like home!  After a snowy but great day in Montreal, the alarm went off at 3:15 to head to the airport for my 6:30 am flight.  Whenever I have an early flight like that I can never sleep because I'm paranoid I'm going to sleep though my alarm.  I got to the airport at 4:15 and when I put my bags on the scale they weighed 57 and 51 pounds respectively.  Luckily, the lady at the gate was super nice and when I told her I was coming from the Women's World Championships and had gotten so much stuff she said to me "just get it close and I'll send it though."  I pulled out my winter coat and a sweatshirt and got it to 52 lbs and she tagged it.  Funny thing was I then had to drag my luggage over to customs so as soon as I walked away I put the coat and sweatshirt back in the bag and was good to go!  It was strange, I had to go though US customs in Canada instead going through once I landed in Philly.  I didn't realize that is how they handle flights to the States.  My flight was a little delayed so I ended up landing in Philly at 8:40 and had my bag by 9.  My mom picked me up and dropped me off at my house where I immediately threw in a load of laundry and passed out for 3 hours.  It felt so good to sleep in my own bed.  The rest of the weekend has been all about catching up with life.  I'm not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow but I am looking forward to getting back into a healthy routine - eating better and exercising regularly.  

Over the weekend I've had the chance to talk to a number of family members and friends about the tournament.  I am still on cloud 9, the whole thing was such an amazing experience.  The tournament staff treated us like rock stars, the group of girls I worked with were all so nice and the hockey was awesome.  The entire experience exceeded my wildest expectations.  I really can't express how thankful I am to so many people for making this 2 weeks that I'll never forget.  A shout out to USA Hockey for giving me the chance and trusting that I could get the job done, the other girls at the tournament for being so supportive, our supervisors and the amazing volunteers.  I also need to thank so many people at home for helping me get to this level - all my camp instructors over the years, evaluators, other officials, friends and family for their support.  

My hockey season is now officially over.  My equipment is in the wash and will be put away for a little while.  That doesn't necessarily mean the training will stop, I'm a firm believer in the quote "hard work beats talent that doesn't work."  But that does mean a little more down time and a chance to spend more time with my family and friends.  I hope to have an opportunity to work another top level tournament like this at some point in my career.  But even if I don't, I can hold my head high.  The fact that I have worked the best women's hockey in the world isn't something I take lightly.  There are so many people that would absolutely kill have that opportunity.  I don't know what the future holds but I can only continue to work hard take care of the things I can control.  

This blog chronicles my experiences at 4 different IIHF tournaments, all of which have been awesome in their own unique way.  I was looking back at some past entries and every time I have ended with something along the lines of who would have ever thought this would all happen to me.  I am going to say the exact same thing here, I never ever thought it was possible that I'd be on the ice with the best women's hockey players in the world when I started officiating.  Fingers are crossed that I'll get to blog again at another tournament and I'll have more cool stories to share.  Thanks for reading, until next time!

 

Montreal

After sleeping in and getting breakfast yesterday, we headed out to the Olympic Village and the botanical gardens.  Montreal hosted the summer Olympics in 1976.  Apparently the city basically went broke building the facilities.  First we went up to the top of the Montreal Tower, which is the tallest inclined structure in the world.  It is built at a 45 degree angle.  By comparison, the leaning tower of Pisa is only at a 5 degree angle.  From the top we had an awesome view of the city, harbor and surrounding areas. After coming down from the tower we walked all around the park.  As a whole, the entire area was surprisingly run down.  I think part of the issue is that since the Expos left in 2005 the stadium hasn't had a tenant.  It did look like they were doing a lot of work, we went into the arena where the swimming and diving events took place and there was all sorts of construction happening.

After exploring for a bit we walked across the street to the Botanical Gardens.  This was a series of linked greenhouses that housed all different plant specimens from all over the world.  While I must admit that I'm not a huge garden person, it was pretty cool to see some exotic flowers from the rain forests and from Asia.  The highlight of the Botanical Gardens was absolutely the butterfly room.  One of the greenhouses was the home to hundreds of butterflies.  They were all different shapes, sizes and colors and were flying all around.  They had fruit set out so could see them eating, different plants that they could blend in with and even an area where they were still in their cocoons.  It was pretty cool, we must have spent an hour just wandering around looking at all of the different butterflies.

We then headed back towards the hotel and grabbed lunch in this cute little cafe.  The area of the city we are staying, Old Town, has a ton of great little restaurants and cafes and is right along the harbor.  For anyone coming to Montreal, I would absolutely recommend staying here.  After lunch we decided to walk up to St. Catherine's Streets.  This is apparently the heart of downtown Montreal with tons of shopping.  In addition to the shopping, to our surprise there were a ton of strip clubs and sex shops.  Definitely not what we were expecting but still fun to explore the area.  We walked about 4.5 miles all around the city then headed back by our hotel, where we had dinner in this awesome little Italian restaurant.  Following dinner (and several glasses of wine) we came back to the hotel and crashed.  Our goal was to get an early start to Friday because the weather forecast was calling for 5-8 inches of snow during the day, with the worst of it coming in the early afternoon.

We woke up early today and went to a cute little crepe cafe for breakfast.  It had already started precipitating but it was a sleet/freezing rain mix that made it pretty miserable outside.  We took a quick walk over to the Notre Dame Cathedral, but on the way we stopped in several shops for no other reason than to get out of the cold.  The Cathedral was pretty amazing, it reminded me of some of the churches I've seen in Europe.  We then headed over to the Science museum.  We figured an indoor activity would be good on a day like today.  The science museum was really cool! It reminded me of the Franklin Institute back at home.  They had a shark exhibit that was really interesting.  I found out my brother lied to me when he told me sharks don't hang out around dolphins - that was one of the top 10 shark myths.  So that means I can go back to being scared that I will get eaten by a shark when I do my ocean triathlon swims!  We ended up staying in the museum for a long time and when we eventually looked outside there was several inches of snow on the ground and it was basically a white out.  When we left the museum it was after 4:00 and we starving so we decided to do an early dinner.  We went to this cute little pizza restaurant and had an awesome dinner.  Several Montreal observations - great restaurants and cafes, pretty wild nightlife and lots of smokers (we saw people on every street corner smoking - way more than I see in the US).  We headed back to the hotel after dinner and relaxed in the hot tub before packing.  My flight is at 6:30 am tomorrow morning so my wake up is at 3:45...ugh!  Montreal is a pretty cool city, I'd definitely come back, hopefully next time the weather will be a little better!

We made it to Montreal!

After sleeping in yesterday and getting breakfast, I went to go attempt to pack.  We have gotten so much swag this tournament that I can almost guarantee one of two things is going to happen: 1) one of my bags will be overweight or 2) I will look like the Michelin man wearing about 7 layers of clothes on the plane! Everyone else is in the same boat, we all had to do the sit on your suitcase thing to get them closed.  Obviously in order to help with this we all took another trip to the Lululemon to buy a few more things.  Manuela, one of our supervisors, came with us for the first time and she said to me "I hate you for bringing me here" as she had an armful of clothes at checkout, haha!  One of the cool things that I didn't realize was they put us all in their research and development program because we are "national level athletes."  This means I'll get a discount anytime I shop there, even in the US!  Pretty cool that they respected us enough as athletes to do that!

After shopping a few of us went up to Parliament to do the tour and go up in the clock tower.  There were some great views of the city from the top of the clock tower.  It was interesting, one of the security  guards asked us if we were involved with the tournament and we told her we were.  She told us she volunteered as part of the security detail and said she was actually rooting for the US team in the final because they were so nice to her - she said the Canadian team was just miserable (and this is before the gold medal game).

Following our little tour we met up with everyone for a late lunch.  The other North Americans had all left but the Europeans were all flying out in the evening.  I'm not sure why the airlines here make most of their flights to Europe overnight - I think it is harder to adjust to the time change that way.  Following lunch we said our goodbyes, promised to keep in touch and then headed up to Montreal.

It was only about a 2 hour drive to Montreal and we found our hotel pretty easily.  Ian, one of my friends, travels to Montreal often and suggested we stay in a section of the city known as old town.  It was a great suggestion as we seem to be right in the middle of all the things we want to see.  Coincidentally, Sue Halpern, another official from the states who moonlights as a lawyer, was in town to take a deposition.  Laura is really good friends with her from Dallas and I worked a USA hockey camp with her this summer.  We picked her up from the airport and she graciously took us out for a congratulatory dinner.  We all had an awesome meal, thanks so much Sue!  Following dinner we crashed for the night and today we are going to do a bunch of sightseeing.  Should be fun!

I can't believe it is over!

Yesterday was the last day of the tournament.  These 9 days have absolutely flown by, I feel like we just got here.  Everyone else feels the same way too, one of the rink guys saw Joy yawning and asked if she was tired.  She said it was probably jet lag, to which he responded "you've been here a week, I doubt it is still jet lag!"  We started the morning off with a group meeting.  It was pretty cool, Rene Fasel, the president of the IIHF and Tony Rossi, the tournament director, came in to thank us and presented us with medals commemorating our participation in the tournament.  After we reviewed logistics and got paid for all of our games we all had individual meetings with the supervisors.  It was definitely a little nerve racking, they had one chair in the front of the room and you faced all 4 of them sitting behind a table.  I've been in that position before, but more recently I've been on the other side of the table!  Let me tell you, it is a lot more comfortable when you are on the side with several people.  My meeting went really well, we discussed what I did well, what I can improve on and a little bit about what the future holds.  I felt really good when I left the room and can leave Ottawa with my head held high.

On to the fun stuff though, the games.  We got to the rink early because they were offering all those with credentials 40% off tournament merchandise.  Following the shopping excursion, I got some massage therapy on my hip flexor just in case I had to go in to the bronze medal game.  Holy crap did that hurt, I was near tears but it did feel a little better once she was finished.  Finland and Russia played a really good game and Russia pulled the upset and won 2-0.  It was only the Russian's second ever medal at worlds and first in 12 years so they were clearly pretty excited.  One of the cool IIHF traditions is at the end of the game after the player of the game awards they play the winning teams national anthem.  The Russians were singing and many of their players were crying as their anthem was being played.

Next up was the gold medal game between Canada and the USA.  The arena was packed and loud, with fans chanting "CANADA, CANADA."  Krissy and I both agreed it gave us the chills.  Canada scored in the first to take a 1-0 lead but the US had a large lead in shots.  USA scored early in the 2nd to tie the game on an absolutely gorgeous goal, then they took the lead on the powerplay.  Canada came back to tie the game on the powerplay with about 2 minutes left in the period so it was 2-2 after 2.  USA was able to score about 7 minutes in to the 3rd period and held on the rest of the way for the victory.  It was a fantastic game and the US team played really well, outshooting the Canadians 30-17.  After the awards ceremony the tournament ended with the US national anthem being played.  Let's just say that I'm glad singing is not the career choice of may of those girls, haha!

And with that the tournament ended and we headed back to the hotel to celebrate a job well done.  It was a pretty late night and some had pretty early morning departures.  Fortunately I was able to sleep in because Laura and I are driving up to Montreal for a few days.

This has been an absolutely amazing experience and I am so thankful for the opportunity.  I'll blog while I'm in Montreal and will do a little recap once I'm home and have had a chance to let it all sink in.  Just a fun side note, as I'm sitting here typing this I have the Canadian version of Sportscenter on.  They led off the show with highlights from the gold medal game, did two subsequent reports and had two of the goal in their top plays of the day.  Cool to see how much respect the Canadians have for the women's game, that would never happen in the US.  Off to Montreal for a few days of sightseeing!

The Home Stretch

I seriously can't believe I've been here for over a week now and the tournament ends tomorrow.  Time really flies when you are having fun!  Laura, Melanie and I had game 2 of the relegation series at Napean, Czech vs Sweden.  This was a huge game because if the Czechs lost they would be relegated for the 2015 worlds.  Yesterday's game between these two teams ended in a shootout so we knew it would be tight.  The first period ended scoreless but the Czechs dominated, leading the shots 10-2.  The Swedish coaches must have had one hell of a pep talk because the next period was the complete opposite, Sweden dominated the Czechs.  The difference was Sweden was able to score twice to take a 2-0 lead.  The Czechs came out hard in the 3rd but about halfway through Sweden scored a pretty weak goal to make it 3-0.  This completely deflated the Czechs and the game ended up 4-0 (Sweden scored power play goal with 30 seconds left).  I had so much fun working with Melanie and Laura.  Laura and I both agreed that we felt even better about our game today than we did the first time we worked together.

After our game we headed over to Scotia Bank to watch the two semifinal games.  I checked in with my doctor friend over there and he helped to loosen up my hip flexor.  It is nowhere near as bad as it was the other day but it is definitely still pretty tight.  I have a feeling this is going to be lingering for a few weeks which will definitely cramp my style.  The USA played Finland in the first semi and surprisingly, it was scoreless until there was 7 minutes left in the game.  The Finish goalie absolutely stood on her head as the shots were 43-11 but the final scored ended up only 3-0 (one of the goals was an empty netter).  Canada played Russia in the second semi and to no surprise, Canada won 8-1 setting up a rematch with the USA in the finals.

Tomorrow I'm the standby for the bronze medal game.  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed that I'm not working but at the same time I've also worked every other day of the tournament when the other girls have had a day or two off.  And this is my first A pool tournament, all of the other girls have been here before and have a lot more experience.  I'm excited for the girls that got games and I'm looking forward to watching some great hockey tomorrow!  Have a good night!

Maple Syrup!

Today we had another day off.  We slept in until 10:00, had breakfast then headed off to tour the Sugar Shack.  The Sugar Shack is where they make maple syrup, which you can buy in just about every gift shop in the Ottawa area.  We probably should have checked the weather first because when we arrived it was freezing and drizzling.  None of us had worn enough clothes!  Once we checked in we got on a horse drawn flatbed and went for a 5 minute ride through the forest.  The guy driving the sled was telling jokes nonstop (some were better than others) but when he found out we were involved with hockey he was all over those of us who are not Senators fans.  He especially loved taking digs at Melanie who is a Montreal fan!  Once we got off the flatbed they showed us how they tap the trees for sap and collect it.  After that we moved into a little cabin where the sap (which looks just like water) is heated to a specific temperature by a wood fire and the water is evaporated.  Apparently 4 liters of sap will make only about 1 liter of syrup.  Once we were finished in the evaporator room we headed in to another cabin to eat brunch/sample the syrup.  After eating, we headed back outside where we made syrup taffies.  This was pretty neat, they poured a line syrup on a bed of crushed ice then you took a popsicle stick and rolled it.  The ice crystallized and you now have a taffy!  It probably had the highest concentration of sugar I've ever tasted.  I can't imagine parents who take their kids on this tour, they have to be bouncing off the walls after eating one of these things!

Remember when I said I wasn't worried about packing for this trip because if I forgot something I could just go buy it?  Well I discovered a few days ago that I forgot to pack a bathing suit or shorts.  A group was going to the hot tub and I wanted to go in help loosen up my hip (which is definitely improving today) so I decided to go buy a pair of shorts.  Our hotel is attached to a mall so I had plenty of choices but there is a Lululemon right at the entrance so we stopped there first.  Now I have to preface this with I've always loved lulu clothing but I could never bring myself to spend that much money on workout clothing.  But, the store was offering us a discount with our credentials and I needed shorts so I figured what the heck, I'll splurge and buy a pair.  Let's just say I think I have my new favorite shorts and I may be on my way to becoming a lulu addict like some of the girls at my gym!  And I'm definitely not the only one who was a fan, some of the other girls spent a small fortune in there.  We are definitely contributing to the local economy!  Since I'm on shopping, one thing I have learned over the past few days is apparently Canada is pulling pennies out of circulation.  So whenever you buy something that isn't ending in a 5 or 0 they just round.  I'm a big fan, I wish the USA would do the same thing!  The fewer coins I have to carry around the better!

Following our shopping spree and hot tub time we all showered and went to an italian restaurant for dinner.  Therese, Denise and Joy have a little tradition where they wear matching outfits one day during the tournament.  It started one year when they were at a tournament and all bought these black and white stripped bathing suits to wear in the pool and it has been tradition ever since.  They broke out the 2013 edition of their outfits tonight, complete with a black & white striped blazer, red pants and matching shoes.  Everyone got a good laugh out of it!

Time for bed, big day tomorrow.  Laura and I are working the relegation game between Sweden and Czech.  Sweden won game 1 of the series in a shootout so I expect this one to be really close.  Also, for those not on facebook, here is a cool article the IIHF did on the officials at the tournament.  They messed up a few of the things we told them but you get the idea. http://www.worldwomen2013.com/en/news/2013-ww-officials/

Game Day #4

The hockey gods were not smiling on us this morning.  We got up very early and headed to Scotia Bank for pictures and testing.  The pictures took longer than expected so we had almost no time to warm up prior to our testing.  Myself and several other girls super tight in the hips and groin area while we were skating so it was a little tough.  There was also a little mishap during one of the skating tests.  Ilona, who is my size, collided with Anna, who is probably 5'10" and solid.  Poor Ilona went down really hard but fortunately she was ok.  Then, on the way back to the hotel one of the vans (not the one I was in) rear ended someone.  Again, fortunately everyone was ok as well but it definitely created for an interesting morning!  

I was assigned the first quarterfinal game, Germany vs Finland.  It was an all North American crew as I was working with Krissy and Denise.  Obviously it was a really big game - the winner would move on to face the United States in the semifinals.  Finland controlled the play and scored a goal with about 5 minutes left in the 1st.  The Fins continued to get the majority of the chances but could not seem to finish (no pun intended).  The game ended up staying 1-0 but the shots were 43-13 in favor of Finland.  Clearly the German goalie earned her player of the game award.  It was a fun game to work and we North Americans worked really well as a team.  My hip and groin felt like crap after the game so I had the trainers try to stretch me out and he discovered my left hip was about 3 inches higher than my right because the muscles were so tight. They brought over some crazy machine and massaged the crap out of the muscles in that area and adjusted my lower back. A big thank you to the trainer because it helped a ton (and my hips are back to being even).  It is still a little sore but I'm hoping after a day of rest tomorrow (we have no games) it feels 100% again.  

It is pretty important that it does because I am working the relegation game with Laura and Melanie on Monday.  This is a huge game as the Czech's are fighting for their lives since the lost in a shootout today.  It is also really important for Sweden as they are scheduled to host the 2015 championships and cannot afford to be relegated.  I'm super excited to work with Laura again, we worked great as a team last time so I expect more of the same.   The game is at 12:00 and will be on fasthockey.com.  

Tomorrow is an off day and we are planning on doing some more sightseeing.  Looking forward to spending another day with this great group of girls!

Game Day #3

Today games started back up again.  We had the morning free so after breakfast I took care of some work emails and went for a walk.  Joy, Laura and I grabbed lunch at a local restaurant and then I headed to my game at Napean.  Because Germany beat Czech in the earlier game, Sweden needed to beat Russia in my game in order not to go to the relegation round.  That in itself is pretty unbelievable, Sweden has always been at the top of that next tier of teams behind the USA and Canada.  Their starting goaltender blew out her achilles at the start of the tournament so I'm sure that has something to do with their struggles but I also think the rest of the world is catching up, which is really nice to see.

Russia came out really fast and scored a power play goal early in the first.  At the end of 1 it was 1-0 Russia but they really controlled the play.  Sweden came out fast in the 2nd but Russia was able to score 2 more goals to make it 3-0.  The 3rd was back and forth but Russia was able to hang on and won 4-0 (with an empty netter).  With that result, Sweden will play Czech in a best of 3 series to see who gets relegated to Division 1 following the Olympics.  I worked the game with Joy and Zuzana and it was the best I've felt all tournament.  I think I'm over the nerves and was able to just go out there and have fun.

After our game we drove over to Scotia Bank to watch Finland vs Canada.  Because all of the youth teams are in town for Provincials (the equivalent of our districts), the arena was completely sold out.  The announced attendance was over 18,000!  It was such a great atmosphere - the building was rocking!  Krissy, Joy and I were all saying how it gave us chills that this many people came out to watch a women's hockey game.

I'm off to bed, we have our photo session and testing early tomorrow morning.  Goodnight!

Free day!

Today was our first off day of the tournament.  We had the entire day free, no skating or meetings or anything.  After sleeping in and getting some breakfast, a group of us walked all around Parliament hill and the market - an area of downtown Ottawa with a ton of shops and restaurants.  The weather was really nice so it was a good day to go for a walk.  The buildings reminded me a lot of some of the parts of Europe I have visited.  After walking around for awhile and getting some lunch we headed back to the hotel and relaxed until dinner.

This would probably be a good time to talk about who all is at the tournament. We have 4 supervisors - Matt (USA), Manuela (Germany), Anna (Finland) and Konstantin (Russia).  Obviously I have known Matt for a long time.  Manuela was one of the supervisors in Czech last year, as was Anna.  Anna also came to the US this summer and helped teach Regional Camp, which is the first of several USA Hockey camps you have to attend in order to be considered for an IIHF license.  I made sure to remind her that "Team Kate" beat "Team Anna" in the annual ice ball tournament!  Most of the officials here are really experienced at this top level tournament - in fact I think Stephanie, Krissy and I are the only 3 who haven't worked a Women's Worlds before and several have worked the Olympics!  The referees include Melanie (Canada), Nicole (Germany), Aina (Norway), Krissy (USA), Marie (France) and Joy (Great Britain). The linesman are Therese (Sweden), Denise (Canada), Stephanie (Canada), Laura (USA), Michaela (Slovakia), Ilona (Czech), Zuzana (Czech) and Johanna (Finland).  Everyone speaks really good English so communicating has been easy.  Every time I go to a tournament like this I am so impressed with how people speak multiple languages.  I wish I could speak a 2nd language half as well as these guys speak English.

Dinner tonight was courtesy of Hockey Canada.  We went to a great little restaurant in the market area. At dinner, the group I was sitting with started discussing the various tournaments we have been to in the past.  It was fun and really interesting listening to other's experiences.  Denise went to a tournament in North Korea so she told us all about how they took her passport and phone and how they had guards 24/7.  Joy talked about the two Olympics she attended in Vancouver and Turin.  Manuela talked about a tournament in Italy and the Nagano games, Aina and I both mentioned China (we attended different tournaments there) and the list goes on.  It really goes to show you how fortunate we all are to be involved with the IIHF and the really cool travel opportunities we all have had.

After dinner a big group of us went to the pool.  There are now a ton of kids at our hotel for the provincial tournament (similar to USA Hockey districts) being held in conjunction with worlds.  They had basically taken over the pool so we took over the hot tub.  All of us are sitting there minding our own business when 3 kids who were probably 10 tried to jump in.  Nicole, in her thick German accent, says to the kids "are you 16? you must be 16 to come in here."  The kids took one look at her and got out of the faster than they got in! It was funny, Nicole said she was just enforcing the rules like she does on the ice!

Tomorrow games start up again.  I have Russia vs Sweden with Joy and Zuzana.  It should be a great game, there is a lot on the line for both teams as neither one wants to end up in the relegation round.  I found out that all the tournament games are being broadcast on fasthockey.com so if you are bored around 4:00 feel free to log on and look for me!   Have a good night!

Game Day #2

Today was the 2nd day of games.  We had a 9:00 meeting this morning where we reviewed some things from the previous days games.  After the meeting I had only about 45 minutes to go back up to my room to get ready to head to the rink.  I was on the 12:00 game (Czech vs Russia) at the other venue, Nepean Sportsplex.  This rink is obviously a much smaller than Scotia Bank (I think it holds about 3000 people) but it was really loud.  The announced attendance was 1045 so that many people in a much smaller space made the atmosphere a lot of fun.

I was working the game with Laura and Nicole (from Germany).  Laura and I had a blast working with each other.  We have worked together in the past so it as easy - I knew where she was going to be and vice versa.  Russia scored the first two goals of the game but then Czech scored to make it 2-1 going into the 3rd period.  With about 6 minutes left Czech was on the powerplay when a Russian player intercepted a pass, went in on a breakaway and scored a beautiful goal to put them up 3-1.  Russia held on to the lead despite some late pressure from the Czech team and was able to win the game.  Strange moment of this game happened about 6 minutes after it had started.  A Czech girl just fell in the middle of the ice.  She tried to get up and fell again.  I figured she was having an issue with her skate blade but I didn't expect the issue to be that her skate blade just fell out of the holder!  Poor girl basically had to crawl to the bench!  I've seen blades break but I don't think I've ever seen them fall out of the holder in one piece.

After the game we stuck around to watch Germany vs Sweden.  This was another great game, with Sweden winning 3-2 in OT.  Following that game we headed back to Scotia Bank to catch the Canada vs Switzerland game.  We left after the 2nd period when Canada was up 8-0.  The final score was 13-0.

Tomorrow is an off day.  We are thinking about going to tour the Parliament here in downtown Ottawa and we have a dinner hosted by Hockey Canada tomorrow night.  Goodnight!

First Day of Games!

Sorry for the late post!  By the time we got back from eating after the last game it was late and I just needed to get some sleep.  Tuesday was the first day of games!  We didn't have a meeting in the morning so we were all able to sleep in a little before heading down to breakfast.  My game was at 3:30 so we didn't leave the hotel until 1:00.  That gave me plenty of time to relax, review the rules one last time and go grab a sandwich to bring to the rink for between the two games.

We arrived at the rink about 2 hours prior to game time.  I was at Scotia Bank so I took the opportunity to just walk around the arena and take it all in.  To be honest, they are treating this whole tournament just like I imagine they treat the Ottawa Senators.  It is absolutely amazing.  Our locker room was stocked with every possible product we would ever need (they even included tampons knowing it is a women's tournament!) and we have a team services rep there constantly checking on us.  And just walking around the arena, seeing all the signage and merchandise, this tournament is just on a whole different level than any other tournament I've ever worked.

So on to the game, I had Finland vs Switzerland, which was a rematch of the bronze medal game last year.  I worked with Melanie (Canada) and Michaela (Slovakia).  It was a really good game, with Finland winning 2-1.  We got through the TV timeouts with only one issue (the people in the scorebox forgot the first one!) and really the game went pretty smoothly.  I'm not going to lie, I was pretty nervous stepping out on the ice for the first face off but as the game got going I got comfortable and just did my job.  The announced attendance was 3300 fans, which is pretty good when you consider it was a Tuesday afternoon and the home team wasn't playing.  One funny moment that happened during the game, there was a little scrum in front of the net and a Finnish player fell on top of a Swiss player.  Once they both got up, there was a jill laying on the ice.  Non hockey friends, a jill is the female version of a cup so how it got there I have no idea.  The girls all started laughing when I said "whose is this because I'm not picking it up."

After the game I showered and changed into my track suit because I was the standby for the USA/Canada game.  The announced attendance was just under 12,000 so as you can imagine, it was pretty loud in there.  USA was up 2-0 after 2 and was largely controlling the game but Canada woke up in the 3rd and really put the pressure on.  They scored a goal about 10 minutes in then tied the game with 2 minutes left.  The place went nuts when they scored the tying goal.  After a few close chances in OT, the game went to a shootout.  Canada won the shootout 2-1 so as is tradition with the IIHF, the Canadian national anthem was played after the game.  The girls working the game did a great job, the atmosphere was awesome and it was just a fun game to watch.

Today I'm super excited because I'm working with Laura for Russia vs Czech. It should be a good game, Czech upset Sweden yesterday and Russia beat Germany.  Looking forward to getting back on the ice!

April Fools & TV Timeouts

Today was rather uneventful compared to yesterday.  We got to the rink this morning and the photographer was nowhere to be found so we skipped the pictures and just skated.  The ice was good but man was it hot out there!  I was sweating the moment I stepped on the ice.  I can't imagine what it is going to be like when all the lights are on and there are people in the stands.  After our skate we came back to the hotel, had breakfast then headed into our meeting.

During the meeting we reviewed a lot of the rules and logistics for the event.  At IIHF events the host country typically provides goal judges for all the games except their own.  For those games the linesman take care of goal judging.  For my non-hockey friends, a goal judge sits directly behind the net and turns on a light when the puck crosses the line.  Back in the days before video review it was a pretty important job but now with video they are just another set of eyes out there to help the officials on the ice.  A few years ago the NHL moved the goal judges out from behind the net upstairs to a video room.  They use the camera to know when to turn on the light.  Matt, one of our supervisors started off the meeting by saying because we were in an NHL building the goal judges would have to go through this crazy procedure of waving a flag and then waving to someone upstairs to hit the button for the light.  I'm thinking this sounds reasonable since the NHL doesn't have a spot for us to sit.  After going though this whole long explanation and I have taken a half page of notes, Matt says "April fools, we don't need to goal judge at all."  We had all totally fallen for it!

One of the procedures we did review that is new to me is TV timeouts.  At some of the other events I have worked the games have been televised but we never had to worry about TV timeouts.  Now, twice a period, we have to look for a red light.  When the light is on there is a TV timeout and both teams go to their benches for 70 seconds.  I must admit, I'm a little nervous I'm going to forget to look for the light!

After the meeting we got our credentials for the building.  You know this event is a big deal when they make you show your passport and sign a release in order to get your credential!  Following that we had the rest of the day free.  Our hotel is attached to a mall so we explored for awhile.  A small group of us headed out for dinner then we just spent the rest of the evening relaxing. Games start tomorrow so I think we are all a little nervous but excited.  I'm working Finland vs Switzerland at Scotia Bank at 3:30 then I am the standby for the USA vs Canada game at 7:30.  I'm really excited to watch that game.  Hopefully we won't have a repeat of last year where someone gets hurt and I have to go in!  Either way I will be more prepared this year.  Off to bed, goodnight!

Easter = Christmas

Hello from Ottawa!  I made it here with no issues!  The Philly airport was like a ghost town - clearly people don't like fly on a holiday!  The plane up to Ottawa was super small, I think it held about 40 people and was only half full.  We arrived in 1:10 and I was able to get through customs pretty quickly.  After exiting customs I found our guide waiting for me with Marie, who had just arrived from France.  He took us back to the hotel which was only about 15 minutes from the airport.  On the way we drove along the famous Ottawa Canal.  During the winter the canal freezes and people skate up and down the city.  Unfortunately it is a little too warm right now and the ice has started to melt but I imagine that has to be a pretty neat way to get around.

Once I got to the hotel, which is really nice, I found out that I'm rooming with Stephanie Gagnon from Canada.  Stephanie was with me in Czech Republic last year and is super nice so I was excited to find out I was with her.  I was able to unpack my bags and get settled just in time for our meeting at 7:00.

The 7:00 meeting was quick but very eventful.  First received our meal money (in Canadian currency) and breakfast passes for the week.  Then we received per diem money from the IIHF in Swiss Francs.  Thank goodness there is a safe in the room because between Stephanie and I there is a ton of cash in here!  After getting paid we received all of our gear for the tournament.  I was given a jersey, helmet, small visor (so glad I didn't buy a new one before I left!), track suit, polo and a really nice jacket.  And shockingly, just about everything fits!  The only thing that is a little big is the sweater but at least it is wearable this year, unlike last year where it was literally a dress (for my hockey friends, I was given a 48 last year - I normally wear a 44 women's cut).  After getting all of our gear, the supervisors gathered us up and gave us the plan for tomorrow.  We have to meet early in the morning at Scotia Bank (the big arena) to have our headshots and group photo taken in all our new gear.  Following the photo session we are going to skate a bit to allow everyone to get used to the ice and get a sweat in.  After the skate we'll have our big meeting where we will go over all the details for the tournament.  Before we broke away for the night they sent us into a meeting room where we all had a welcome basket waiting.  We were all pretty speechless when we saw everything that was in there.  Along with a bunch of information on the city, there were two nice little bags, playing cards, stationary and some snacks.  However, the theme of the basket was clearly alcohol because also included was a bottle of cider, a bottle of Crown Royal, a flask, a shot glass, and a wine stopper, all with the tournament logo (including on the bottle of Crown Royal).  It was awesome!  I have to laugh though, does the tournament committee think we are going to need all this alcohol?  Plus I never drink during these tournaments anyway so if anyone likes Crown Royal stop by my house when I get home.  Regardless, they clearly went all out and it is very much appreciated, we all thought it was awesome.

After taking our haul back to our rooms, many of the Europeans crashed.  I feel their pain, adjusting to a new time zone that is 7+ hours different is really tough. A few of us ran out to a local pub to get a quick bite to eat before retiring to our rooms.  Early morning tomorrow so as soon as I'm finished this entry it is time to crash.  Happy Easter everyone!

Leaving today!

Happy Easter!  I must admit, it is a little strange not to be with my family today but if there was ever a good reason to miss a holiday this is it.  My friend Alison is picking me up and taking me to the airport in about 30 minutes (thanks Alison!).  I can't believe after all the months of training and getting ready it is finally time to leave!

As is standard practice before I go away, I was up until 2 in the morning last night doing laundry and packing.  One would think I would have figured out that part of these adventures by now but not so much.  And in typical fashion, I absolutely over packed!  Good thing I have a scale this time to weigh my bags, the one bag is 49lbs!  When I went to China I had to run over to my friends house at 12:30 at night to borrow her scale to weigh my bags, only to find one was overweight.  My mom read about it on this blog and when she picked me up from the airport she had a scale waiting for me in the car, haha!

Now that it is time to leave I look back over the past 6 months and I feel as though I'm in a really good spot.  One thing I did a little differently this time around is I was able to get more opportunities to line.  For the IIHF I'm a linesman but when I work college hockey I typically referee. While the two positions are similar, they are also very different - different positioning, things to watch for and even a different mindset.  I was able to line number of games in the Atlantic Junior Hockey League which was great experience.  A lot of the boys who play in that league go on to play D3 or even D1 hockey so they are big and fast - probably much faster than everyone but USA and Canada.  You have to have a lot of awareness when working that league because 17-20 year old boys are testosterone filled idiots who do stupid things behind the play so it was great preparation.  Physically I feel great.  I am stronger than I've ever been.  I continued to do crossfit 4 days a week, swam once a week and ran some.  This winter I really focused on working on my efficiency and worked on my weaknesses and the improvement has shown.  I finished week 4 of the Crossfit Open this week and my results are definitely much better than last year.  And mentally I feel ready.  I know I've put in the work so I'm confident.

Lastly, a little bit about the other two Americans going with me.  Laura Johnson (from Rochester) is the other linesman going.  She is one of my closest friends in the officiating community so I'm thrilled to share this experience with her.  We were roommates at several camps as well as in China and we get along great. We always joke around that we are the perfect pair because she under packs and I over pack so she just wears my extra clothes!  Krissy Langley is the other American going.  She is a referee from Minnesota.  Krissy is also one of the nicest people you will ever meet.  We worked 4 Nations Cup together in Lake Placid as well as a number of national team events and national tournaments.  I'm so psyched to be traveling with both those girls.

Time to go to the airport, next post will be from Ottawa! Also, good luck to my men's league team in the deciding game of the championship series tonight! I'll be there in spirit!

Tournament Details

My out of office message at work is up and I am officially on vacation!  Now that work is taken care of I can get really excited and focus on getting packed and ready.  As I mentioned before, I leave on Sunday afternoon and arrive in Ottawa Sunday evening. I have to admit, it feels bit strange to be going to a World Championship tournament where my flight is shorter than the time I'm going to have to be at the airport in advance of said flight!  When I found out I was going to A pool in Ottawa, I was so excited because it is the top level tournament but I'm not going to lie, from a travel perspective this is the most "boring" location I've been to (compared to China, France and Czech Republic).  That said, it does make life much easier, I don't have to worry about packing food or the time change and if I forget something it will be pretty easy to go buy.  And working a tournament in Canada should be an amazing experience since hockey is their national sport.

So on to some of the tournament details and how the IIHF works.  I'm going to the Women's World Championship A pool tournament.  On the women's side, the IIHF sponsors multiple World Championship tournaments at both the senior and u18 levels.  At the senior level, there are 6 "levels" of tournaments.  The winner of each tournament moves up a level and the loser moves down.  Each Olympic year, the top 6 ranked teams automatically qualify and the lower teams have to go though Olympic qualifiers to try to earn the last 2 spots.  The first IIHF tournament I worked was Division 2 in France so I saw the mid-level countries - France, Italy, Great Britain, Denmark, etc.  Last season I worked the u18 A pool tournament, so I saw the top level teams in that age group.  This year I'm at the top level senior tournament, meaning the teams and players I see on the ice will look very similar to those that are on the ice in Russia next year.  Pretty exciting!

This year at the A pool tournament the following countries will be participating - USA, Canada, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Russia, Czech Republic and Germany.  In women's hockey, the USA and Canada are years ahead of the other countries, simply because the player pools are deeper and the national federations give the women's programs plenty of funding.  Because of this, in pasts worlds there were lots of blowouts in the early rounds.  In order to make the games more competitive, the IIHF changed the format last year.  The teams are placed in two pools, A pool and B pool for the round robin portion.  The A pool teams are the top 4 ranked teams from last year - Canada, USA, Switzerland and Finland.  B pool includes Sweden, Russia, Germany and Czech Republic, who moved up from Division 1 last year.  This means the very first night of the tournament will feature a USA/Canada game, which is always a battle.  After the round robin portion, the 3rd and 4th place team from Pool A will play a quarterfinal game with the 1st and 2nd place teams from Pool B.  The top two teams in Pool A will receive a bye to the semis and the bottom two teams in Pool B will play a 3 game relegation series, with the loser dropping to division 1 in 2015 (there are no worlds during olympic years).

The games are being played at two different venues in Ottawa.  A pool round robin games are being played at Scotiabank place, home of the NHL's Ottawa Senators.  B pool round robin games are being played at the Nepean Sportsplex, a smaller arena that seats several thousand.  I've read many of the team Canada games are close to being sold out so skating in front of 20,000 fans will be a new experience for me.  Many of the games are going to be broadcast on TSN and I believe a few games may be broadcast on the NHL network so keep a lookout.  Here are some links where you can follow the tournament:

Official Website - http://www.worldwomen2013.com
Hockey Canada's Site - http://www.hockeycanada.ca/en-ca/Team-Canada/Women/World-Championship/2013.aspx
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/WorldWomens?ref=ts&fref=ts

I'll probably post one more time before I leave.  I'll talk about my packing adventures, who I'm traveling with, how I prepared and what I'm doing after the tournament.  Have a good Friday!

You're leaving the country for two weeks?!?

Over the last few days at work I've been busy trying to tie up loose ends before I go away.  When I've gone to tournaments in years past I've had no access to my work email, which is both a blessing and a curse.  It is nice because it is the only true vacation I get where I'm completely unplugged but it is also so overwhelming to come back to hundreds of emails. However, as technology evolves companies figure out more ways to keep their employees connected.  The Hartford has some new technology where I was able to download an app to my ipad that will allow me to check my work email while I'm gone.  I can't decide if I'm happy about that or not, we'll see.  Regardless, I've had a number of conversations with both clients and internal business partners that if they need something from me I need to know about it by Friday since I will be out of the country for 2 weeks starting on Monday.  Inevitably, I immediately get asked the question "oh where are you going?" At that point I can go one of two directions - I can either just say I'm going to Canada and leave it at that or I can explain what it is I'll actually be doing.  More often than not I go with the latter, just because saying I'm going to Canada for two weeks doesn't sound very exciting!  Most of the time when people say they are leaving the country they are going to a warm beach or some sort of European adventure! 

So when I decide to explain a little further, I've been starting the conversation with "Fun fact about me - I moonlight as an ice hockey official and was selected to go to Ottawa to work the 2013 Women's World Championships."  The reactions have been entertaining - some people are totally shocked, like they had no idea that girls hockey even existed or that I was involved in sports at all.  For the most part, once they get over the shock factor most people are pretty interested in hearing more about how I got started and what exactly I'll be doing so it turns into a 5-10 minute conversation.  In those conversations I learned that one of my clients is an NCAA lacrosse official and one of the home office employees I work with has a daughter who started playing hockey this winter.  It is always nice when you can connect with work colleagues on a more personal level.  I thought about going into some details on here about exactly how I got involved in officiating but in the interest of time I'm going to recycle an entry from last year. Click here for that blog entry. 

I'm on the road most of the day tomorrow at meetings then tomorrow night I'm playing in game 1 of the championship series for the Penn Men's League.  My team pulled off a big upset Sunday night in the semifinals to move on to the championship!  Game 2 is Thursday night and game 3, if necessary is on Sunday night after I leave so we need to just take care of business in 2! While I'm totally excited we made the championship and happy that I'm staying on the ice all week I'm a little stressed because that is less time I have to get stuff done before leaving.  Alright, off to bed.  Next entry I'll give some more details about the actual tournament that I'll be working.  Goodnight!

Ottawa in a week!

As I promised, I will continue this blog in memory of my Grandma.  I hope she is reading this from up above! If you don't know the story, read my "letter" from Feb. 2nd, 2012.

Well here we go for Round 4!  Last time I posted, it was 181 days until the start of the tournament.  I don't know where the time has gone but this time next week I'll be in Ottawa for the Women's World Championships!  Every year the IIHF announces the tournament assignments in early October.  Last year, when I went to u18's, I only had to wait 3 months and the tournament occurred at the halfway point of my season.  Anyone involved in hockey knows the season can get to be very long.  The travel wears on you, physically and mentally you just get tired.  I must admit, I struggled a little bit mentally after the tournament last year because my big event for the season was over.  This year the scenario is much different.  I have had this huge reward all season to look forward to.  So on those cold, dark winter days when the last thing I felt like doing was driving to another ice rink, this kept me motivated and working hard.  It hit me today when I was getting changed after my last game before I leave - I've put in the work all season, now it is time for the reward.

So at this point here is what I know - I leave Philadelphia on Easter Sunday at 3:30 and arrive in Ottawa at 5:15.  Beyond that I really don't know much about the tournament in terms of where we are staying or our schedule.  That said, it doesn't really matter because the only thing I can think about right now is how much stuff I take care of before I leave!  The to-do list includes taking care of a bunch of stuff at work, sending in my tax returns, do the Crossfit Open workout #4, and running a 5k that supports a charity near and dear to my mom's heart (lbrun.org if you are in the Philly area). And did I mention laundry, packing, cleaning the house and paying my bills!  It's crazy how much I have to do to prepare to leave the country for 2 weeks!  In between getting all that done, I'll try to update this blog a few times with some more details about the tournament, my preparations and how I got to this point.  Off to meet my parents for dinner and give my mom my referee pants to hem (at least I can check that off the list), have a great Sunday!