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!