Where am I :-)

If you do get to this blog, you may wonder why it isn't very active. These days, I use my Wordpress blog, so go have a look at:

http://leaveonlyfootprints.wordpress.com/

Flat Stanley Arrives

Flat Stanley arrived in Australia today. It was a long trip from Wellington Florida. He isn't any worse for wear. A bit of a stretch and he was as good as new.

My niece Megan sent me Stanley since he wanted to see what being Down Under was all about.

He has already met our two dogs, Holly the Labrador and Bebe the Golden Retriever. He will certainly have fun with him.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Flat Stanley, have a look at the two references below:

Wikipedia on Flat Stanley
Flat Stanley Project

We'll get some photos of Flat Stanley as we go.

André

Photos from the Championships

I'm very happy to announce that you can view/purchase images from the Championships from SMP Images. The site can be found at:

http://www.smpimages.com.au/

Just go to the Ice Hockey section to find the photos from the various games. Photographer is yours truly :-)

Wednesday's Results - Day Two

Today was day two of the tournament. Tuesday was actually a team practice day so there wasn't any games scheduled.

• China seems to love those nail bitters. They managed to defeat Iceland in a closely fought contest of 5 - 4, again with penalty shots to determine the outcome of the game.
• Mexico was just too good for New Zealand in the second game of the day. Mexico got ahead in the first period and managed to pad their lead in the second. Final result, 2 - 0 for Mexico over New Zealand. We were treated to the Haka for this game. It was a very disappointing loss for New Zealand. The Ice Blacks would need to win at least a game against either Spain, China or Australia. They would certainly be the underdogs so looks like New Zealand may get relegated to Div. III for next year.
• The game the local fans were waiting for did not disappoint. Australia played Spain in the last game of the evening. By the end of the second period Australia was trailing 3 - 2 thanks to some great playing by Spain and some bad luck on Australia's side. The final period saw Australia score three unanswered goals so Australia finishes with a second win, beating the Spaniards 5 - 3.

Monday's results

The championship got off to a great start on Monday. Results for the day:

• China defeats Spain in a nail biting overtime shootout, final result 5-4. This was a great opening game to the championship
• Following Iceland pushing the zamboni off the ice :-)  (more on this later), they continued on to defeat New Zealand 6-3. It was a very fast moving game and I thought New Zealand played better then the score reflected.
• Due to the zamboni problems, the Australia - Mexico game started almost two hours late but that didn't stop Australia dominating the game and beating Mexico 7-1.

I'll post some game details a bit later.

If you are interested in ice hockey in Australia and you happen to be in the Newcastle, NSW area, get some tickets and go an enjoy a game. It is well worth it. Just go to the Ice Hockey Australia link on the right.

See you at the game ;-)

Team Practices

I was at the rink this afternoon to check out the lighting with some players on the ice, looks great. Mexico, followed by Iceland were having a final practice prior to the start of competition.

All the flags of the participating nations were up on the rafters, advertising was up on the boards, each team had their dressing room assigned, so it pretty well is ready to go. There were still some final preparations to complete but all that should be ready to go for the start on Monday 1PM with the Spain vs China game.

2008 IIHF World U18 Championship Div. II Group A

The Australian U18 team has finished at the bottom of the Division II Group A round robin tournament held in France. This relegates the Australian team to Division III for the 2009 Championships.

For the Championship's results, go the IIHF site here.