Josh recently ventured out and participated in a truly exciting, once in a lifetime experience. He was part of the team that went to Quebec, Canada to represent the Carolinas at the International PeeWee Hockey Tournament.
In this tournament hundreds of young boys and girls come to the city of Quebec, from all over the world, to partake in a wonderful 50 year old tradition. Our Jr. Hurricanes had the opportunity to play teams from England, Russia, Canada, America and Germany.
They started their time in Quebec with a game against Colorado Avalanche, coming out strong, as mom sat home and watched the game via live stream, on a postcard size screen on her laptop. Dad was fortunate enough to go along with Josh and be there live.
They played well and Josh was awarded an assist as he drove the puck right to the stick to one of his team mates who then scored the first goal. They scored two more goals within the game and won the game 3:1. What a start!
They had a few days off and were able to visit all the historic sites within Quebec, the rest of the time they spent with their billeting families, Josh and two of his team mates were billeted with a wonderful family that has four kids of their own. They also built a small ice rink in their backyard and that is where most of the time was spent when at the house, unless of course they were eating.
They also enjoyed many games of pond hockey which is a learning experience in itself, many unwritten rules have to be learned and if not observed, as our son experienced very quickly, will be "reiterated" by the locals.
The next game was against Germany. This time I couldn't watch since I was tied up at dance practice, but Stephen was sure to fill me in on all the details via text message.
They beat Germany 2:1 and were on to the next round. Final 8!!!
The boys were faced with the Hersey Bears, the team that made it in to the finals last year! They started the game out strong, I am now sitting at home watching the game via live feed on the laptop again, they scored with an assist from Josh, one nothing Canes. The boys went strong into the second period where they lost a little of their momentum, but kept the score at 1:0. They came out swinging again in the third and within 2 minutes of the end of the game one of our boys got a penalty. The penalty kill went well, but the Bears scored within 39 seconds before the buzzer sounded. It was off to a five minute overtime, at this point I had no fingernails to speak off, scoreless! The rules called for a shoot out!
When it was all set and done, the Bears won in the shoot out! What a devastating loss for the boys.
I watched, tears running down MY face, as they made their "thank you" round, with their sticks held high to thank the fans and people of Quebec. Their heads down, crushed.
The bears went on to win the tournament, finally facing the Colorado team that we beat in the first round. Amazing!
In spite of it all, the boys grew up over these 12 days in Quebec and will undoubtedly draw from this experience for the rest of their lives. When I speak to people that participated in this event years and years ago, their faces still light up and many of them come back every year.
What an opportunity for Josh! 18 boys from North and South Carolina have made this journey and will never forget it! Way to go boys!
