At these tournaments the typical schedule is 2 days on, 1 day off. We have had 2 days of games so here we are with a day off - no meetings or anything scheduled. I planned on getting a really good nights sleep but unfortunately I tossed and turned the whole night, there was a terrible storm going on and the wind and rain hitting my window kept me up. I met the girls for breakfast at 9 then came upstairs to shower and get ready for the days activities. The showers in our hotel room are interesting - you either have a giant tub that is about 3.5ft off the ground (no exaggeration there) or a shower where the shower head is chest level and the entire thing is surrounded by mirrors. My room has the latter option.
As I mentioned yesterday, Kim, one of our supervisors, is from Copenhagen. Since Copenhagen is only a 35 minute drive from Malmo he planned a full day of touring for us. It started off with a typical Dutch meal at a cafe near his home. We had a mix of items on our plates - a fish with a really good sauce on top (loved), some roast beef over rye bread with another interesting sauce (ok), a chicken salad type thing with bacon (ok), some potatoes with a mustard type sauce (not a fan), an egg with another unique sauce (loved) and some crackers and brie (excellent). Then they brought us out this decadent apple pie type dessert which was awesome. One of the unique things we observed at the restaurant was multiple people left their baby strollers, with baby in them, outside while they sat inside and ate. Every once in awhile they would go outside and check on the baby. In talking with Kim and Anna (from Norway), apparently that is standard operating procedure over here. File that one in the category of different customs that would NEVER work in America. After lunch we walked to the metro station to take the train downtown. It was freezing and super windy, we were all huddled up at the station trying to keep warm (yet another reason we found the baby thing so strange). It took about 20 minutes to get downtown where we had a canal cruise scheduled. Prior to boarding the boat we walked around the Royal Palace grounds and took the typical tourist pictures with the guards. Katie even got one of them to crack a small smile! The canal cruise went all around the city and pointed out some of the main attractions. A bunch of us decided we want to try to go back on our next off day and see these things from land. After the cruise we walked around a very pedestrian friendly area of town with lots of shops and cafe's. It kind of reminded me a little bit of old town Zurich. As we were walking we found one of our supervisors in a Fish Feet Spa. What is that you ask? It is where you sit with your feet in what is basically a fish tank for 25 minutes. The fish apparently suck the dead skin off your feet and the water helps reinvigorate your skin. You do this while sipping a glass of champagne. Bianca said it felt strange but very good...not sure I want to try it though! We all met in front of city hall to head back to Malmo. Copenhagen is a really cool city and I definitely want to try to spend a little more time there before heading home.
On the way back to Malmo the Swedish girls let us know that they were able to secure tickets to the Malmo Redhawks hockey game that evening. From what I understand there are many divisions of the Swedish pro leagues but the Swedish Elite League is their equivalent to the NHL and the Swedish Hockey League is equivalent to the AHL. The way they work it is the last place team from the Elite League plays the top team from the other league in a 7 game series with the winner playing in the Elite League next season. This was game 6 of that series with Malmo trying to move up to the Elite League. If I had to guess, the stadium holds around 15,000 people - it was a little smaller than the Wells Fargo Center at home but not much. If you didn't know you were at a hockey game you would have thought you were at a soccer game. They were beating drums and constantly clapping and chanting. It was a lot of fun, they fans were really into it! Some other interesting observations from the game were as follows:
-Advertisements everywhere. On the ice, players jerseys, refs jerseys - you name it they had an ad on it.
-To start the game they drive the puck out to center ice on a remote control mini zamboni!
-They play full scale commercials on the jumbotron in between whistles. One of which was a guy wearing a cup and getting hit with a puck there! We were cracking up every time they played it because we had no idea what it was for!
-The Redhawks goal song was the same as the Chicago Blackhawks and they were also the same colors.
-There was significantly less hitting than you see in the NHL/AHL.
It was a really cool experience and I'm glad we had the opportunity to go. After the game we took the train back to the hotel and am now getting ready to crash. It was a long and fun day off but it is back to work tomorrow!
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Monday, March 30, 2015
Game Day #2
Today was the 2nd day of game. After losing an hour of sleep (again, not happy about that) we got up and had a meeting to review the previous days games. After our meeting I immediately went back to my room to take a nap! I swear, I do more sleeping and eating at these tournaments than I do the entire rest of the year. After my nap it was time for a quick bite to eat prior to getting ready to head to the rink. Sweden again had the early game so I was able to catch a bit of it on tv before leaving. Although I understand zero Swedish, I did see they were talking about girl on the team named Lisa Hendergen. The reason I mention this is she is actually the cousin of one of my co-workers in New York. I took a picture of the TV and sent it to him!
My crew then headed to the rink for our game. Again, due to IIHF regulations I can't talk specifics but it was a very good, competitive game. After the game we headed back to the hotel to eat. One new thing this year, the IIHF set us up with a sports massage therapist so I decided to take advantage. She was awesome, really helped work out some of stiffness in my neck and shoulders from all of the travel. After my massage a group of us decided to go back to the rink to watch the USA vs Finland game. We were adventuresome and took the bus since our credentials allow us to use it for free. Part of the thing that made it a little intersting is nobody in the group speaks a lick of Swedish! After almost getting on going the wrong direction we figured it out and made it in time.
Now is probably a good time to talk about some of the people I'm here with. There are 19 officials and 4 "official" supervisors (we have some observers here too). The referees and linesman are:
Gabby - ref from Canada
Anna - ref from Switzerland. She was the one I visited last year in Zurich!
Draha - ref from Switzerland
Gabby - ref from Sweden
Katie - ref from USA
Nicole - ref from Germany
Jamie - ref from USA
Kaisa - ref from Finland
Marie - ref from France
Katarina - ref from Sweden
Bettina - lines from Austria
Stephanie - lines from Canada. She was my roommate in Ottawa and sent me a little care package last year!
Jenni - lines from Finland
Veronica - lines from Sweden
Kaire lines from Estonia
Lisa - lines from Germany
Ilona - lines from Czech
Anna - lines from Noray
As you can see, we have people from all over the world. I've worked with many of these girls in the past and everyone has seemed to click and gets along great. Tomorrow we are off and Kim planned a trip for us to his hometown of Copenhagen. As his email said, we are off to the land of the little mermaid, Tivoli Gardens and Legoland! Looking forward to it!
My crew then headed to the rink for our game. Again, due to IIHF regulations I can't talk specifics but it was a very good, competitive game. After the game we headed back to the hotel to eat. One new thing this year, the IIHF set us up with a sports massage therapist so I decided to take advantage. She was awesome, really helped work out some of stiffness in my neck and shoulders from all of the travel. After my massage a group of us decided to go back to the rink to watch the USA vs Finland game. We were adventuresome and took the bus since our credentials allow us to use it for free. Part of the thing that made it a little intersting is nobody in the group speaks a lick of Swedish! After almost getting on going the wrong direction we figured it out and made it in time.
Now is probably a good time to talk about some of the people I'm here with. There are 19 officials and 4 "official" supervisors (we have some observers here too). The referees and linesman are:
Gabby - ref from Canada
Anna - ref from Switzerland. She was the one I visited last year in Zurich!
Draha - ref from Switzerland
Gabby - ref from Sweden
Katie - ref from USA
Nicole - ref from Germany
Jamie - ref from USA
Kaisa - ref from Finland
Marie - ref from France
Katarina - ref from Sweden
Bettina - lines from Austria
Stephanie - lines from Canada. She was my roommate in Ottawa and sent me a little care package last year!
Jenni - lines from Finland
Veronica - lines from Sweden
Kaire lines from Estonia
Lisa - lines from Germany
Ilona - lines from Czech
Anna - lines from Noray
As you can see, we have people from all over the world. I've worked with many of these girls in the past and everyone has seemed to click and gets along great. Tomorrow we are off and Kim planned a trip for us to his hometown of Copenhagen. As his email said, we are off to the land of the little mermaid, Tivoli Gardens and Legoland! Looking forward to it!
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Game day #1
Today was the first day of games! We had a nice leisurely morning with breakfast at 9:30. I love that in Europe breakfast consists of lunch meat and fresh bread. I should just take continue this trend at home, even though it isn't necessarily socially acceptable! After eating we received our jerseys, complete with a huge advertisement sewn on the front and back. I've always seen the European referees and players have ads all over them but never have I had to wear one myself! Unfortunately the jerseys are the one thing we received that are mens sizes so mine is huge! I told the girls, if I skate slowly it is because my jersey is like a parachute slowing me down.
Following breakfast a bunch of us decided to take a walk around town to get outside and loosen up the legs. After the walk I relaxed in my room and re-familiarized myself with the IIHF rules and procedures to prep for my game. That is always the challenge in coming to these tournaments - the rules and procedures are different than NCAA and USA Hockey and I don't use this rulebook very often. While in the US I know the rulebook inside and out and can handle most of those strange situations that occur here I need to refresh and learn. Fortunately most of the Europeans use the IIHF rulebook all year so I can somewhat lean on them, however you don't want to be completely dependent.
Sweden was playing the first game and it was being televised which was pretty cool. When the first period ended I met my crew downstairs for lunch. We were able to hook a laptop up to the projector in our meeting room and streamed the rest of the game on the big screen, it was almost as good as being there live! Once the game was over I headed back to my room to get ready to head to the rink. USA and Canada were playing at 4:00 so I definitely wanted to catch that game. After the game my crew went over to a sports bar that is a 5 minute walk from the rink to grab some dinner. We haven't had many choices for food at the hotel so it was nice to have a big menu to choose from. After eating we headed back to the rink to warm up and get ready for our game. While I can't share a ton of details, just know it was an awesome, evenly matched game and a first for me at an IIHF championship - game winning shots! We then headed back to the hotel, had a snack and went to bed. If you read my blog last year you may remember that Europe does their daylight savings at a different time than us and unfortunately today was the day they lose an hour. So lucky me has gotten to lose an hour twice! The world really needs to coordinate on this and get on the same page, it is so silly that North America does it on a different weekend than Europe! So we are now 6 hours ahead of home instead of the 5 were were when I arrived. Off to bed, we have a meeting in the morning to review todays games. Goodnight!
Following breakfast a bunch of us decided to take a walk around town to get outside and loosen up the legs. After the walk I relaxed in my room and re-familiarized myself with the IIHF rules and procedures to prep for my game. That is always the challenge in coming to these tournaments - the rules and procedures are different than NCAA and USA Hockey and I don't use this rulebook very often. While in the US I know the rulebook inside and out and can handle most of those strange situations that occur here I need to refresh and learn. Fortunately most of the Europeans use the IIHF rulebook all year so I can somewhat lean on them, however you don't want to be completely dependent.
Sweden was playing the first game and it was being televised which was pretty cool. When the first period ended I met my crew downstairs for lunch. We were able to hook a laptop up to the projector in our meeting room and streamed the rest of the game on the big screen, it was almost as good as being there live! Once the game was over I headed back to my room to get ready to head to the rink. USA and Canada were playing at 4:00 so I definitely wanted to catch that game. After the game my crew went over to a sports bar that is a 5 minute walk from the rink to grab some dinner. We haven't had many choices for food at the hotel so it was nice to have a big menu to choose from. After eating we headed back to the rink to warm up and get ready for our game. While I can't share a ton of details, just know it was an awesome, evenly matched game and a first for me at an IIHF championship - game winning shots! We then headed back to the hotel, had a snack and went to bed. If you read my blog last year you may remember that Europe does their daylight savings at a different time than us and unfortunately today was the day they lose an hour. So lucky me has gotten to lose an hour twice! The world really needs to coordinate on this and get on the same page, it is so silly that North America does it on a different weekend than Europe! So we are now 6 hours ahead of home instead of the 5 were were when I arrived. Off to bed, we have a meeting in the morning to review todays games. Goodnight!
Friday, March 27, 2015
Day 1 in Malmo
I made it through my first full day here in Malmo and the jet lag is finally starting to go away. I suppose getting 10 hours of sleep last night helped! The tournament is being played at 2 rinks - the main arena is where the World Juniors took place a few years ago and the secondary arena will host one game a day. Our main locker room where we can store our equipment is at the secondary arena so we headed there early in the morning with gear in tow. After doing all of our head shots and several group photos we warmed up and did the GPS test. This is the first time I've ever done the GPS test and let me tell you, there is a reason they call it that. Backwards around these cones, forwards around these, drop a puck here, pick up a puck there, it was very confusing. You could clearly tell who had done it before and those of us that were rookies and struggling to figure out where to go next! Following the GPS test we had some fun and played iceball. Iceball is a version of handball on skates that we play at all of the referee development camps. Since we are in Sweden we did the blonds vs the brunettes and it ended in a 1-1 tie. It was a lot of fun and great to skate without having to think about where you were going next!
Following our skate we came back to the hotel for our big meeting. At this meeting we reviewed some rule changes as well as some procedural items for this tournament. One cool thing that I don't think I mentioned is we are making history here as this is the first IIHF Women's World Championship to use the 4 official system as opposed to the 3 official system you saw at the Olympics. It makes so much sense as the players are so fast there is no way one person can keep up and have great sight lines. We have had the 4 official system in college hockey for a number of years now and there are just so many advantages. The only challenge is making sure you and your partner are on the same page in terms of a standard, which is something we talked a lot about today. Another big change this year is the IIHF will be using the hybrid icing that you see in NCAA hockey and now the NHL. This adds a new challenge for us linesmen but it makes the game significantly more exciting.
After our meeting we had the rest of the day free. Although the weather wasn't great (drizzling and in the mid 40's) a bunch of us went for a little walk around town. Malmo is very cute, lots of cobblestone streets with big squares where there was a ton of activity going on. The city has flags up everywhere for the tournament so I'm hoping we get a good turnout at the games. During our walk we were able to find a grocery store where I was able to get some much needed diet coke, or coca cola light as they call it here in Europe! Follwing our walk I took a quick nap then had dinner with the group. Dinner was some sort of mystery meat that none of us (including the Swede's) were really sure what it was but it did the trick. After dinner we all hung out for a bit before heading up to our rooms to get ready for bed. Games start tomorrow so everyone is both anxious and excited at the same time. There are 4 great games on the schedule tomorrow, Sweden vs Japan, Germany vs Switzerland, USA vs Canada and Russia vs Finland. IIHF rules prevent me from saying which game I will be working but they post the assignments here so feel free to take a look! I'm excited for games to begin, this is what I've been working towards all season! More to come tomorrow!
Following our skate we came back to the hotel for our big meeting. At this meeting we reviewed some rule changes as well as some procedural items for this tournament. One cool thing that I don't think I mentioned is we are making history here as this is the first IIHF Women's World Championship to use the 4 official system as opposed to the 3 official system you saw at the Olympics. It makes so much sense as the players are so fast there is no way one person can keep up and have great sight lines. We have had the 4 official system in college hockey for a number of years now and there are just so many advantages. The only challenge is making sure you and your partner are on the same page in terms of a standard, which is something we talked a lot about today. Another big change this year is the IIHF will be using the hybrid icing that you see in NCAA hockey and now the NHL. This adds a new challenge for us linesmen but it makes the game significantly more exciting.
After our meeting we had the rest of the day free. Although the weather wasn't great (drizzling and in the mid 40's) a bunch of us went for a little walk around town. Malmo is very cute, lots of cobblestone streets with big squares where there was a ton of activity going on. The city has flags up everywhere for the tournament so I'm hoping we get a good turnout at the games. During our walk we were able to find a grocery store where I was able to get some much needed diet coke, or coca cola light as they call it here in Europe! Follwing our walk I took a quick nap then had dinner with the group. Dinner was some sort of mystery meat that none of us (including the Swede's) were really sure what it was but it did the trick. After dinner we all hung out for a bit before heading up to our rooms to get ready for bed. Games start tomorrow so everyone is both anxious and excited at the same time. There are 4 great games on the schedule tomorrow, Sweden vs Japan, Germany vs Switzerland, USA vs Canada and Russia vs Finland. IIHF rules prevent me from saying which game I will be working but they post the assignments here so feel free to take a look! I'm excited for games to begin, this is what I've been working towards all season! More to come tomorrow!
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Hello From Malmo!
Hello from Malmo! After a long travel day I finally made it here and am getting settled. My flight from Philly to Frankfurt was about 8 hours during which I watched Foxcatcher (good movie), ate and unsuccessfully attempted to sleep. The guy sitting next to me was clearly not a believer in personal space because his elbow must have hit me in the arm or side at least 15 times during the flight. What is so hard to understand about the armrest being the dividing line?!? I arrived in Frankfurt a little before 8am local time and had to go through customs. The customs officer asked me where I was going and what I was doing. I told him I was headed to Malmo for the Women's World Championships and he was very excited - he said he knew a player on the German team.
After making it through customs I went to find my gate for my next flight to Copenhagen. While looking for that gate I ran into the 3 Canadians who are working the tournament. For some reason they were on a different flight to Copenhagen than I was so after hanging out for a bit we went our separate ways. The flight to Copenhagen was pretty short, only about 1:20. I headed down to baggage where they had monitors telling you the approximate wait time for your bags, all of which were well under 15 minutes. Philly International, you should come here and take notes! After collecting my bags I found someone waiting to drive me to Malmo. It is only about a 30 minute drive and to get there you have to take the Oresund Bridge. This is the longest road bridge in Europe and goes for 2.5 miles underwater and 5 miles above water.
Once in Malmo we went straight to the hotel where I was able to check in and get into my room. For the first time in my IIHF career we all have our own rooms. While I have enjoyed getting to know my various roommates over the years I have to admit it is nice to have my own space. I had 30 minutes before lunch so I decided took a quick shower to try to wake myself up a little bit. Lunch was a small buffet that had pasta and Swedish meatballs. They were delicious. If you've ever had the Swedish meatballs at Ikea these were very similar. Speaking of Ikea, I keep laughing because every time I looked at a random sign on the way here I kept thinking "I wonder if this is a line of furniture at Ikea because it sure looks like it!" I was so excited to take a nap following lunch but then I was told I had to go to the main arena to get my accreditation. By the time I got back I only had about an 1:30 minutes until our first meeting. I layed down and slept like a rock. Thank goodness I set an alarm, otherwise I'd still be sleeping. At our meeting we did introductions and got all of our new gear - track suits, helmet, jacket, hoodie, etc. We then ate dinner and here I am, sitting in bed at 8:00 fighting to stay awake just a little longer so I adjust to the time change better.
Tomorrow morning we have a skate followed by our big meeting where we are reviewing some more of the procedurial items along with the rule changes. As far as I know we then have the rest of the day free to explore the area a little more. Should be fun!
After making it through customs I went to find my gate for my next flight to Copenhagen. While looking for that gate I ran into the 3 Canadians who are working the tournament. For some reason they were on a different flight to Copenhagen than I was so after hanging out for a bit we went our separate ways. The flight to Copenhagen was pretty short, only about 1:20. I headed down to baggage where they had monitors telling you the approximate wait time for your bags, all of which were well under 15 minutes. Philly International, you should come here and take notes! After collecting my bags I found someone waiting to drive me to Malmo. It is only about a 30 minute drive and to get there you have to take the Oresund Bridge. This is the longest road bridge in Europe and goes for 2.5 miles underwater and 5 miles above water.
Once in Malmo we went straight to the hotel where I was able to check in and get into my room. For the first time in my IIHF career we all have our own rooms. While I have enjoyed getting to know my various roommates over the years I have to admit it is nice to have my own space. I had 30 minutes before lunch so I decided took a quick shower to try to wake myself up a little bit. Lunch was a small buffet that had pasta and Swedish meatballs. They were delicious. If you've ever had the Swedish meatballs at Ikea these were very similar. Speaking of Ikea, I keep laughing because every time I looked at a random sign on the way here I kept thinking "I wonder if this is a line of furniture at Ikea because it sure looks like it!" I was so excited to take a nap following lunch but then I was told I had to go to the main arena to get my accreditation. By the time I got back I only had about an 1:30 minutes until our first meeting. I layed down and slept like a rock. Thank goodness I set an alarm, otherwise I'd still be sleeping. At our meeting we did introductions and got all of our new gear - track suits, helmet, jacket, hoodie, etc. We then ate dinner and here I am, sitting in bed at 8:00 fighting to stay awake just a little longer so I adjust to the time change better.
Tomorrow morning we have a skate followed by our big meeting where we are reviewing some more of the procedurial items along with the rule changes. As far as I know we then have the rest of the day free to explore the area a little more. Should be fun!
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
It's Finally Time!
Phew!!! I'm sitting at my gate at the airport and am ready to go! It has been a whirlwind 3 days trying to get everything both work and personally situated. At least this year I wasn't in Connecticut the day before I left and am not settling on a house the day I get back! It always is a little crazy preparing to leave the office for 2 weeks, every time it seems like those weird situations that I need to handhold occur the day or two before.
You would think having done this a number of times I'd have the packing routine down but not so much, I was still up until 2:30am. However, I will say I was definitely more organized this year than in years past. The hardest thing is figuring out what all to bring - I have to pack all my hockey equipment and corresponding under armour, dress clothes, normal clothes and workout clothes. To try to fit that into two bags continues to be a challenge, especially when you are a notorious overpacker like I am. The victory this year though was I was able to not have to expand my one large suitcase and was able to take the smaller motherload ebags ref bag (all my referee friends will know what I'm referencing). However we'll see what I forgot, I already realized forgot my neck pillow and had to buy a new one at the airport
My dad picked me up from my house at 4:00 and we had an uneventful ride to the airport. After dumping my luggage I went to go through security. Unfortunately the international terminal at PHL does not have a pre-tsa line so I was definitely a little annoyed that I had to take off my shoes, coat, etc. It is amazing how quickly I forgot what a pain that was! For anyone that travels more than once or twice a year, pre-tsa is the best $100 you could ever spend. After going through security I actually walked over to the B terminal and caught up with my mom whose flight had just arrived from Colorado. When we were in Colorado together last month she turned me on to the mega m&m's, which I quickly became addicted to. Wouldn't you know she put her half open bag in my purse for me to finish! The goal is to not eat the entire thing before arriving in Malmo, we'll see how much self control I have.
After my mom left I went back to my gate where I am now waiting to board. I'm flying Lufthansa. Similar to Southwest, you can't pick a seat until 24 hours before unless you have a certain fair class. Last night I logged in exactly 24 hours before to make sure I got a window seat. There were a ton of empty seats so I was thinking the flight might be relatively empty but when I got to the airport they offered me a free ticket to wait a day since the flight was oversold. Unfortunately I don't have that option because I certainly would have loved another free flight to Europe! And so much for my hope that I'd get an empty row that I could stretch out in, now I just have to hope I get a nice small skinny person next to me! Alright we are getting ready to board and I'm going to pass out immediately after only getting a few hours of sleep. Next post will be from Europe!
You would think having done this a number of times I'd have the packing routine down but not so much, I was still up until 2:30am. However, I will say I was definitely more organized this year than in years past. The hardest thing is figuring out what all to bring - I have to pack all my hockey equipment and corresponding under armour, dress clothes, normal clothes and workout clothes. To try to fit that into two bags continues to be a challenge, especially when you are a notorious overpacker like I am. The victory this year though was I was able to not have to expand my one large suitcase and was able to take the smaller motherload ebags ref bag (all my referee friends will know what I'm referencing). However we'll see what I forgot, I already realized forgot my neck pillow and had to buy a new one at the airport
My dad picked me up from my house at 4:00 and we had an uneventful ride to the airport. After dumping my luggage I went to go through security. Unfortunately the international terminal at PHL does not have a pre-tsa line so I was definitely a little annoyed that I had to take off my shoes, coat, etc. It is amazing how quickly I forgot what a pain that was! For anyone that travels more than once or twice a year, pre-tsa is the best $100 you could ever spend. After going through security I actually walked over to the B terminal and caught up with my mom whose flight had just arrived from Colorado. When we were in Colorado together last month she turned me on to the mega m&m's, which I quickly became addicted to. Wouldn't you know she put her half open bag in my purse for me to finish! The goal is to not eat the entire thing before arriving in Malmo, we'll see how much self control I have.
After my mom left I went back to my gate where I am now waiting to board. I'm flying Lufthansa. Similar to Southwest, you can't pick a seat until 24 hours before unless you have a certain fair class. Last night I logged in exactly 24 hours before to make sure I got a window seat. There were a ton of empty seats so I was thinking the flight might be relatively empty but when I got to the airport they offered me a free ticket to wait a day since the flight was oversold. Unfortunately I don't have that option because I certainly would have loved another free flight to Europe! And so much for my hope that I'd get an empty row that I could stretch out in, now I just have to hope I get a nice small skinny person next to me! Alright we are getting ready to board and I'm going to pass out immediately after only getting a few hours of sleep. Next post will be from Europe!
Sunday, March 22, 2015
Travel Plans
I've blogged about some of my past officiating experiences and how I got to this point but I really haven't written much about the tournament I'm going to! First a little background - The IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) is the governing body for all 37 nations that have a national women's ice hockey team. Each year, the IIHF sponsors world championship tournaments at both the senior level and the u18 level. Now because it would be next to impossible logistically to have a 37 team tournament as well as the vast differences in level of play, they split all of those countries into 6 divisions. Each division has their own World Championship tournament, with the team that wins moving up a division and the team that is in last moves down a division. It is the goal of all nations to reach the top level, as those are the teams that play at the Olympic Games. The goal is the same for us on ice officials, we all strive to work the highest level tournament possible.
This year I'm fortunate enough to be headed to Malmo, Sweden for the Senior Women's top division tournament. Competing at the tournament will be Canada, USA, Russia, Finland, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and Japan. The tournament splits the teams into two brackets - the top 4 teams (A pool) and the bottom 4 teams (B pool) each play a round robin. At the end of the round robin, the top two teams from the A pool get bye's into the semifinals. The bottom two teams from the A pool as well as the top two teams from the B pool play in the quarterfinals and the bottom two teams from B pool play a 3 game relegation series, with the loser moving out of the top level World Championship tournament next year. This format is somewhat new and has made for some very competitive games over the past few tournaments. USA and Canada play on the first night of the tournament (a rematch of the gold medal game in Sochi) so it is sure to start off with a bang.
Now on to my travel plans. First, where is Malmo, Sweden? That is a good question, I had to look it up on the map. Malmo is the 3rd largest city in Sweden and is in the very southern tip of the country. It is actually a short ferry/train ride from Copenhagen, Denmark which is actually where I will be flying in and out of. This year my flights are pretty good, if you remember last year I had 2 layovers, one of which was 5 hours! I leave Philly at 6:50 on Wednesday evening and fly direct to Frankfurt. In Frankfurt I have about a 2 hour layover before the short 1:20 flight to Copenhagen. Once I arrive in Copenhagen there will be someone waiting for me to help me get to our hotel in Malmo. The tournaments officially kicks off on Saturday, March 28th and the final games take place on Saturday, April 4th. Here is a link that contains the schedules and more tournament details: http://www.worldwomen2015.com
As I've mentioned previously, one of the wonderful things about working these tournaments is the opportunity to travel after. This year, my good friend from college Kathleen is coming over to travel with me. I am going to meet her in Copenhagen after the tournament ends. From there, we are taking an overnight cruise to Oslo, Norway. We will spend a day/night in Oslo then take a train to Stockholm, Sweden. After another day/night in Stockholm we will take another train back to Copenhagen before heading home on Thursday, April 9th. I'm super excited to be able to travel with a friend and am looking forward to exploring Scandinavia. I'll be leaning on some of my fellow officials who are from those countries to point us in the right direction in terms of what to see and do - just another benefit of having friends from all over the world.
Alright I'm off to bed, there is lots to get done both at work and personally in the next 72 hours. I'll leave you with a funny story. Today I worked my last game prior to leaving, just a local women's league game. I got my haircut this past week for the first time since the early part of the season. I had to adjust my helmet fit because my hair wasn't fitting right! #femalerefproblems
Saturday, March 21, 2015
Soapbox Post
I had a couple of things happen in recent weeks that have really annoyed me. I typically don't use this as a forum to complain but I think I'm going to get up on my soapbox for an entry. Last year at Worlds, one of the officials from Switzerland gave out riot pads (little note pads we carry in our pockets on the ice) that on the cover said "No refs no game." There is no truer statement, without refs you can't have a game. And if people continue to abuse officials, nobody will be willing to put on the stripes. The number of registered officials is declining and while I think there are a number of reasons for that the biggest one is people are sick of taking the abuse.
Now as a referee you have to have a thick skin, it comes with the territory. And believe me when I tell you I've put up with some brutal stuff over the years. But I also think the abuse has gotten a lot worse in the last few years. I know I'm not dreaming because I have seen more articles about fan/coach altercations with youth sports officials in 2015 than I have in the last few years combined. Over the last month I've worked a number of games for various leagues and every other official I spoken with has said the same thing "I can't wait until hockey season is over, I'm sick of the bs." I don't remember it being like that in years past. Listen, I will be the first to admit that I make mistakes out there. And trust me when I tell you nobody beats themselves up over it more than I do. I made a mistake earlier this season that I saw on video after the fact and I swear I didn't sleep for 3 days, I kept replaying it over and over in my head, thinking about how I could have done better. There was a fantastic article that I read (click here to read it) earlier this year about hockey referees and game control, blown calls and other misconceptions. I said it should be required reading for all parents and coaches before the enter the ice rink, both at the beginning of the season and again come playoff time. That way, when I have a coach of a u14 team tell me that because I called a penalty in OT on his team I "stole the game from his girls and broke their hearts" I can say, have you read that Sports Illustrated article? (True story, by the way).
Another example, a few of us officials were sitting up in the snack bar area at the district tournament. I'm fairly certain the mother at the table next to us knew we were the refs because she certainly had a lot to say about the officials, both those who were working the current game her daughter was playing but also those that had worked the game those same two teams played earlier in the day. Heaven forbid little (insert name here) ever does ANYTHING wrong - it was always the ref's horrible call. It took everything in me to walk down to the locker room, grab a whistle out of my bag and slam it on the table in front of her and say "if you think you can do better, there is a certification seminar on April 12th, I'd love to see you there." Because to me, if all you can do is complain and talk about how horrible the refs are why don't you do something about it.
Those are just a few recent examples, it has really been going on all season. And not to pull the girl card but I think it is even worse as a female. I was fortunate enough to be the first female to work a boys Flyers Cup Final this year. After that game, the one guy in the penalty box came over and was chatting with scorekeeper (a sophomore on the West Chester University women's hockey team) and I. The guy asked the girl if she would ever try to be a referee - he reasoned she would make a lot more money on the ice vs sitting in the score box (a very true statement, I made 5x what she made that game). Her response "I couldn't handle being yelled at by parents and coaches." It is sad that this young girl won't try officiating because she knows she is going to be abused.
Speaking of females, part two of my rant is about to occur. Back in 1997 the IIHF made the decision to go with all female referees for their World Championship Tournaments (read about it here). While I'm certain there were some growing pains, in the end it was a fantastic move as there are so many great officials around the world who now have something to work for. USA Hockey and the IIHF have done a fantastic job of promoting female officials. They work hard to put us in situations where we can learn, grow and succeed. NCAA hockey, on the other hand, still isn't where we need it to be in terms of supporting the female officials. The Frozen Four for both D1 and D3 are taking place this weekend. They bring in 3 4-person crews for each level. Of those 24 people selected, guess how many were women? If you guessed 2, you are correct. How sad is that? Are you really trying to tell me that there aren't more than 2 qualified women working NCAA hockey? I struggle with this greatly. NCAA hockey is, for all intents and purposes, the best women's hockey in the world outside of the national teams and the small pro league that exists in Canada. How can we only have 2 women working the WOMEN'S championships? It doesn't have to be me personally out there, I just want to see more of us females out there.
Something needs to change but I'm not sure what the answer is. If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them. This post has turned into way too long of a rant. I promise I'll get off my soapbox now. If you ever read my blog again, my next post will be way more fun. It will include all of my travel plans and some details about my specific tournament. I can't believe I leave on Wednesday!
Now as a referee you have to have a thick skin, it comes with the territory. And believe me when I tell you I've put up with some brutal stuff over the years. But I also think the abuse has gotten a lot worse in the last few years. I know I'm not dreaming because I have seen more articles about fan/coach altercations with youth sports officials in 2015 than I have in the last few years combined. Over the last month I've worked a number of games for various leagues and every other official I spoken with has said the same thing "I can't wait until hockey season is over, I'm sick of the bs." I don't remember it being like that in years past. Listen, I will be the first to admit that I make mistakes out there. And trust me when I tell you nobody beats themselves up over it more than I do. I made a mistake earlier this season that I saw on video after the fact and I swear I didn't sleep for 3 days, I kept replaying it over and over in my head, thinking about how I could have done better. There was a fantastic article that I read (click here to read it) earlier this year about hockey referees and game control, blown calls and other misconceptions. I said it should be required reading for all parents and coaches before the enter the ice rink, both at the beginning of the season and again come playoff time. That way, when I have a coach of a u14 team tell me that because I called a penalty in OT on his team I "stole the game from his girls and broke their hearts" I can say, have you read that Sports Illustrated article? (True story, by the way).
Another example, a few of us officials were sitting up in the snack bar area at the district tournament. I'm fairly certain the mother at the table next to us knew we were the refs because she certainly had a lot to say about the officials, both those who were working the current game her daughter was playing but also those that had worked the game those same two teams played earlier in the day. Heaven forbid little (insert name here) ever does ANYTHING wrong - it was always the ref's horrible call. It took everything in me to walk down to the locker room, grab a whistle out of my bag and slam it on the table in front of her and say "if you think you can do better, there is a certification seminar on April 12th, I'd love to see you there." Because to me, if all you can do is complain and talk about how horrible the refs are why don't you do something about it.
Those are just a few recent examples, it has really been going on all season. And not to pull the girl card but I think it is even worse as a female. I was fortunate enough to be the first female to work a boys Flyers Cup Final this year. After that game, the one guy in the penalty box came over and was chatting with scorekeeper (a sophomore on the West Chester University women's hockey team) and I. The guy asked the girl if she would ever try to be a referee - he reasoned she would make a lot more money on the ice vs sitting in the score box (a very true statement, I made 5x what she made that game). Her response "I couldn't handle being yelled at by parents and coaches." It is sad that this young girl won't try officiating because she knows she is going to be abused.
Speaking of females, part two of my rant is about to occur. Back in 1997 the IIHF made the decision to go with all female referees for their World Championship Tournaments (read about it here). While I'm certain there were some growing pains, in the end it was a fantastic move as there are so many great officials around the world who now have something to work for. USA Hockey and the IIHF have done a fantastic job of promoting female officials. They work hard to put us in situations where we can learn, grow and succeed. NCAA hockey, on the other hand, still isn't where we need it to be in terms of supporting the female officials. The Frozen Four for both D1 and D3 are taking place this weekend. They bring in 3 4-person crews for each level. Of those 24 people selected, guess how many were women? If you guessed 2, you are correct. How sad is that? Are you really trying to tell me that there aren't more than 2 qualified women working NCAA hockey? I struggle with this greatly. NCAA hockey is, for all intents and purposes, the best women's hockey in the world outside of the national teams and the small pro league that exists in Canada. How can we only have 2 women working the WOMEN'S championships? It doesn't have to be me personally out there, I just want to see more of us females out there.
Something needs to change but I'm not sure what the answer is. If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them. This post has turned into way too long of a rant. I promise I'll get off my soapbox now. If you ever read my blog again, my next post will be way more fun. It will include all of my travel plans and some details about my specific tournament. I can't believe I leave on Wednesday!
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Reflections
As I sit here with a jug of Gatorade and box of saltines (thanks stomach bug) I'm slightly panicked that this time next week I'll be on a plane on my way to Sweden! So how did this all happen? I've done some detailed posts on this in the past so here (click here to read my very first post) so here is the readers digest version:
I started officiating my senior year of college for extra cash. When I graduated and got a "real" job, I wasn't going to continue until I fully understood how expensive it was to play hockey in the Philly area. I figured I could ref on the side and basically make enough money to pay for my hockey dues. Opportunities started to present themselves and I became more entrenched in the officiating community. Several development camps later I earned my IIHF license in 2008 and was selected for my first IIHF assignment that fall, the 4 Nations Cup in Lake Placid. It was there that I worked my first USA vs Canada game - that will always be a very special memory. I started my current job at the Hartford right after I got home from 4 Nations. The following week, Matt Leaf at USA Hockey emailed me and asked if I'd be able to go to China for 2 weeks in February for the World University Games. I was a little nervous going in to ask my boss for two weeks off in a job that I had literally just started but fortunately the Hartford has a generous PTO policy and my boss at the time understood this was a once in a lifetime opportunity and allowed me to go. That tournament allowed me to get on the IIHF's radar and now I'm fortunate enough to be headed to my 6th tournament.
I was working this past week with another female official who has a ton of potential. She was asking a little bit about my upcoming trip but then she asked me a really tough question - what has been my favorite tournament? That is such a tough question because every experience has been amazing in its own unique way. China will always be special just because it was my first IIHF tournament abroad, I got to travel with one of my closest friends in the officiating community and it was such a unique place that I would have never gone to on my own. The next tournament was in France, this was my first official World Championship tournament. It was a lower level tournament so while the hockey wasn't great it was in such a cool city. After that tournament one of my best friends came over and we traveled to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam together. I think this was definitely my favorite "post tournament" travel experience. In 2012 I was selected for my first A level tournament, u18's in Czech Republic. That was special in and of itself as it was the first time I got to see the top countries in a world championship. Ottawa 2013 was just amazing - my first senior A pool, in a country where hockey is religion and again I got to travel with one of my best friends. Budapest was another A level u18 championship in another phenomenal location. It was after this tournament that I got to visit an IIHF friend in Zurich, which really shows how fortunate I am to have friends all over the world. Finally here we are, getting ready to head to Sweden for my 2nd senior A level championship. While I am stressing about being ready to leave in a week, I can also reflect on how lucky I am to have had all of these experiences and can only be left to wonder what will make this tournament unique!
Next post will include my travel details, which were just emailed out yesterday!
I started officiating my senior year of college for extra cash. When I graduated and got a "real" job, I wasn't going to continue until I fully understood how expensive it was to play hockey in the Philly area. I figured I could ref on the side and basically make enough money to pay for my hockey dues. Opportunities started to present themselves and I became more entrenched in the officiating community. Several development camps later I earned my IIHF license in 2008 and was selected for my first IIHF assignment that fall, the 4 Nations Cup in Lake Placid. It was there that I worked my first USA vs Canada game - that will always be a very special memory. I started my current job at the Hartford right after I got home from 4 Nations. The following week, Matt Leaf at USA Hockey emailed me and asked if I'd be able to go to China for 2 weeks in February for the World University Games. I was a little nervous going in to ask my boss for two weeks off in a job that I had literally just started but fortunately the Hartford has a generous PTO policy and my boss at the time understood this was a once in a lifetime opportunity and allowed me to go. That tournament allowed me to get on the IIHF's radar and now I'm fortunate enough to be headed to my 6th tournament.
I was working this past week with another female official who has a ton of potential. She was asking a little bit about my upcoming trip but then she asked me a really tough question - what has been my favorite tournament? That is such a tough question because every experience has been amazing in its own unique way. China will always be special just because it was my first IIHF tournament abroad, I got to travel with one of my closest friends in the officiating community and it was such a unique place that I would have never gone to on my own. The next tournament was in France, this was my first official World Championship tournament. It was a lower level tournament so while the hockey wasn't great it was in such a cool city. After that tournament one of my best friends came over and we traveled to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam together. I think this was definitely my favorite "post tournament" travel experience. In 2012 I was selected for my first A level tournament, u18's in Czech Republic. That was special in and of itself as it was the first time I got to see the top countries in a world championship. Ottawa 2013 was just amazing - my first senior A pool, in a country where hockey is religion and again I got to travel with one of my best friends. Budapest was another A level u18 championship in another phenomenal location. It was after this tournament that I got to visit an IIHF friend in Zurich, which really shows how fortunate I am to have friends all over the world. Finally here we are, getting ready to head to Sweden for my 2nd senior A level championship. While I am stressing about being ready to leave in a week, I can also reflect on how lucky I am to have had all of these experiences and can only be left to wonder what will make this tournament unique!
Next post will include my travel details, which were just emailed out yesterday!
Monday, March 9, 2015
Time Flies
Wow, time flies! I can't believe it is the middle of March already. I feel like it was just a few weeks ago that I was sitting in Connecticut at a leadership council meeting for work obsessively checking my email because I knew IIHF assignments were due out any day. That email came shortly after I finished a presentation to senior leaders and it took everything in me not to jump up and start dancing around the room in excitement - I found out I was headed to the Women's World Championships in Malmo, Sweden.
Fast forward 6 months and tons of hockey games later and here I am, starting this blog again. It is funny, every time I get selected to work an IIHF event I think I am even more excited and thankful than I was the last time. I still can't believe I'm leaving for my 6th World Championship tournament in 2 1/2 weeks. There are over 26,000 registered officials in the United States and 22 were selected for international assignments this year. How crazy is it that not only am I one of those 22, but I'm now doing this for the 6th time? Wow. I've worked really hard over the years (and had some luck on my side) but I am truly amazed, humbled and proud to be given this opportunity. I've had so many people help me along the way and I just can't thank them enough for their support.
For those that are new to my blog, I started this in 2009 when I got my first IIHF assignment, the World University Games in Harbin, China. Remember, way back in 2009 I don't think I owned an iPhone and iMessage didn't exist so this blog was my way of keeping everyone at home informed of what I was up on the other side of the world. I had a lot of people tell me they really enjoyed following my journey, but the person that enjoyed it the most was my Grandma Casanave. When she passed away in 2012 (read that entry here) I decided to continue this blog whenever I traveled to a tournament in her memory.
Over the next few weeks before I leave I'll try to do a few entries that cover how I got to this point, some details about the tournament itself and my travel plans after. Once I'm in Sweden (I leave March 25th) I'll try to blog daily about my experiences. Looking forward to a fantastic tournament and more great memories!
Fast forward 6 months and tons of hockey games later and here I am, starting this blog again. It is funny, every time I get selected to work an IIHF event I think I am even more excited and thankful than I was the last time. I still can't believe I'm leaving for my 6th World Championship tournament in 2 1/2 weeks. There are over 26,000 registered officials in the United States and 22 were selected for international assignments this year. How crazy is it that not only am I one of those 22, but I'm now doing this for the 6th time? Wow. I've worked really hard over the years (and had some luck on my side) but I am truly amazed, humbled and proud to be given this opportunity. I've had so many people help me along the way and I just can't thank them enough for their support.
For those that are new to my blog, I started this in 2009 when I got my first IIHF assignment, the World University Games in Harbin, China. Remember, way back in 2009 I don't think I owned an iPhone and iMessage didn't exist so this blog was my way of keeping everyone at home informed of what I was up on the other side of the world. I had a lot of people tell me they really enjoyed following my journey, but the person that enjoyed it the most was my Grandma Casanave. When she passed away in 2012 (read that entry here) I decided to continue this blog whenever I traveled to a tournament in her memory.
Over the next few weeks before I leave I'll try to do a few entries that cover how I got to this point, some details about the tournament itself and my travel plans after. Once I'm in Sweden (I leave March 25th) I'll try to blog daily about my experiences. Looking forward to a fantastic tournament and more great memories!
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