Thunderbirds
Cold and rainy in Saskatoon but we all warm up to hockey
It’s a cold, rainy night in Saskatoon, quite the opposite of the weather we’d been having here since the Thunderbirds arrived late last week. Now it feels more like Canada in November. They expect maybe an inch or so or snow..nothing to those up here but a full blown panic for all of the people from Seattle that have made the trip. It’s been quite a trek from Seattle through Montana and up to Saskatchewan and it will be a long trek back home as well but in between there is some hockey to play.
It’s funny how you look forward to an off day, especially after all of the miles logged in a car. Then when it gets here you don’t know what to do with yourself. You begin to look forward to the next game. Not very long to wait as the Birds will face the Blades Tuesday night.
After spending the night in Moose Jaw we took the drive up to Saskatoon this morning. About a two hour drive which after the long journey from Seattle seems like driving around the block. Luckily we get to spend three days here because the team will make the short trip up to Prince Albert on Wednesday night and then come back to Saskatoon right after. Then it will be on to Regina on Thursday for an off day before taking on the Pats Friday night. After that it’s off to Swift Current for the final game of the road trip on Saturday night.
When you do all of this travel you begin to understand how tough it must be to play at a high level every game. I could hardly get through a workout today. Just because there was no game today doesn’t mean the guys didn’t have some work to do. It was right to practice after they took the bus ride up.
One of the best aspects of these trips is that you are finally able to put a face, if you will, to the names of the towns you hear about so often. Moose Jaw isn’t nearly as bad as they claim in those commercials that poke fun at them (“Moose Neck!”). In fact the town has its charms. The “crushed can” as they call the Civic Arena is an odd building to say the least. It looks like it was built by skater Tony Hawk as the roof is in the shape of a half-pipe. The middle of the roof is so low that pucks regularly hit it so play has to be called dead. It certainly is unique. It is the last year for the arena as they are building a new one a couple of miles up the road. It looks much bigger and it should be a great home for the Warriors.
As you go from Moose Jaw to Saskatoon it’s a bit of a culture shock because Saskatoon is so large in comparison. I guess you can call it a smaller version of Vancouver. It’s actually bigger than I had expected. There is even a “Bay” mall! One of the good things about a small town is that it’s easier to find the hotels. It took us a while to find this one.
There are several parents of players as well as billets that have made the trip from various places in the U.S. and Canada so the hotels have been close to being sold out. It’s nice that so many have taken time out of their busy lives to come cheer on and support the players. I hope they appreciate it.
While the games may be the main reason why everyone is here there is much going on before and after the games as well. It’s always a good time when the fans, parents, billets and sometimes even the players, get together to eat and talk hockey. This is something you really don’t get a chance to do at the pro level. It’s one of those things that makes junior hockey so special.
Well it’s another big day coming up as the Birds play a very good Saskatoon team so some rest is in order. As I look outside the cold rain continues to fall. Did I mention that it’s supposed to snow?
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