INTERESTING OBSERVATIONS OF RUSSIA

Here's a few of the little things here in Russia that have caught my eye.

The children here at the rink are having the time of their lives. They're constantly dancing, chanting and cheering on their team. At the game Friday night between the Russian National team and Team Slovakia there was a group of fans in the corner of the rink that didn't sit for the entire game. They were waving their flags constantly, clapping and chanting various players names throughout the game.

The Canadian players are like little celebrities here. The locals want to get to know them. They're constantly asking questions and being very friendly. They have made everyone's experience here in Russia very comforting.

When it comes to the games, the way they announce penalties and goals on the public address system is a little different. They will say announce it when it happened from the duration of the drop of the puck to start the game. For example if a goal was scored at 12:43 of the second period, they will announce it as happening at 32:43. It is the same for when they put the goals on the old scoreboard at the rink we played in for the exhibition game in Moscow vs. the Russian Junior Select Red Stars.

And the PA announcers will announce everything. They will announce when a team is at full strength even on a powerplay goal. They will say it even after the announcement of a powerplay goal.

When announcing the rules for overtime and a shootout, they will say "if the game remains equal, there will be a five minute overtime and a shootout competition."

There have been a few fights at the tournament. When Canada got into a few fights in their first game, mostly double minor roughing penalties were assessed. Today in the game between Slovakia and the Russian Junior Select Red Stars, 5 minute majors for fighting were handed out. But no game misconducts.

Whenever one travels to a foreign country the food is always something that one wonders what it will be like.

There are somethings that are different compared to back home. First off all, they put dill on nearly everything. To quote Assistant Coach Colin O'Hara "It's the Russian parsley." At some of the meals they will serve bread with slices of ham on them as a side dish.

At dinner yesterday when we arrived back at the hotel, they served what I guess the locals would call a salad. Personally it's hard to figure out what it truly was. The best way to describe it was beets that were on top of a layer of some raw fish. Then on top it had some mayonnaise that was colored pink from the beets. I tried it at least be adventourous. It didn't taste that bad, but I decided I wouldn't eat that much for the sake of possibly regretting it later.