Today I worked my last game prior to leaving for Budapest. It was a pretty low key women's league game at the rink closest to my house but it was nice to get a little skate in this weekend. Looking back on the season I'm pretty happy with how it went. One of the challenges I face each season is I'm a referee for NCAA hockey and a linesman for international hockey. There is a different mindset and different type of skating for each of those positions so I have to work hard to make sure that I get enough experience lining during the season to stay sharp. I feel like I was pretty successful finding the right balance this season. In years past, I'd work as much NCAA hockey as I could and fill in with line spots wherever I had room. Hockey is a LONG season and I'd end up working so much that I'd feel a little burnt out by the end of the season. Last season I cut back a little bit and tried to balance my schedule with more line spots and a little less travel, even if it meant blocking some weekends from the NCAA. As a result I felt better prepared when I went to worlds so I tried to follow the same model this season and for the most part I feel ready.
One of the highlights of my season was the opportunity to work the 4 Nations Cup in November. Anytime you get to work the national teams of any country it is exciting, but when you get to work the top 3 ranked teams in the world (USA, Canada and Finland) 2 1/2 months before the Olympics it is even more special. The tournament took place in beautiful Lake Placid and all of the games took place on the same sheet of ice where the 1980 Miracle on ice occurred. I've been fortunate enough to skate on that ice a number of times over the course of my career but it really never gets old - you can just feel the magic in that building. At that tournament we had a miracle of our own when Finland beat the US to earn a spot in the finals. For those that aren't familiar with the women's hockey world, the US and Canada are pretty far ahead of all of the other countries in terms of talent and funding. While the other countries are closing the gap, it is still pretty rare that any other country beats the US or Canada so when it happens it is big news. Finland's goalie absolutely stood on her head and the US just couldn't score on her. It was exciting to watch. I had the opportunity to work 4 great games that week, including the gold medal game between Finland and Canada. And while working the gold game was an honor and a lot of fun, the highlight of the week for me was having the opportunity to work USA vs Canada. In those games, you basically have 40 of the top 50 women's hockey players in the world on the ice at one time. It's funny, one would think that even though they are rivals they would have a mutual respect for each other, especially when you consider that most of the Canadian girls spent time in the states playing NCAA hockey. Wrong. They HATE each other. It really is unbelievable, words cannot do it justice. I can't remember a game where I had to work that hard to keep it from exploding. My partner and I actually discussed what we would do if there was a fight because it felt like one could happen at any minute. There was a situation where a US girl was hit behind the play and started to chase after the Canadian girl who hit her. I started yelling "17 don't do it, don't do it." She turned around, looked at me, shook her head and went to the bench. That's the type of thing we dealt with all game. It was so much fun to work, definitely something I'll never forget. And it was pretty cool to watch that same game 2 1/2 months later in Sochi and think about how I was on the ice with those teams earlier this season.
I'm so excited to be leaving in a few days! I've put in the work all season both on and off the ice so I'm feeling ready and prepared to go to work. Off the ice it is a different story, I'm going slightly insane trying to get everything that needs to happen done before I leave. It is going to be a long few days but I'll be sitting on that plane before I know it!
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