2002-03 National Women's Under-22 Team

Captain's Log : 05

February 7, 2003

We were on the move today and we traveled about an hour from Salzgitter to Hannover, where the rest of the tournament takes places. What a change in venue. The rink in Hannover, which was built for Expo, is an N.H.L. style rink that is new, massive and quite beautiful. A bonus is it's a no-smoking zone (although someone needs to remind the rink staff!). The dressing room is huge.

By the way, cars sure go fast on the Autobahn, as our own Julie Healy experienced first hand. The trip that we took today in an hour she completed on Thursday in 30 minutes. As a passenger she went 225 kms/hr and the driver (Andreas, our host in Hannover) said he would go faster except that's the max the car would go.

Our hotel is also great, much bigger than the one in Salzgitter (we will loose that family-like atmosphere we had in Salzgitter) but it is very modern except for the fact there is no public computer for internet… sorry everyone back home but we won't be able to keep in touch by email anymore. The food is still amazing.

Prior to our game we went for a team walk however it quickly turned into a massive snowball battle. It was great because it woke us up from the bus trip.

We were way better prepared tonight to play hockey and it showed as we dominated Switzerland, controlling the play from the very first face off. The few chances they had were turned away by Rachel (Barrie) – we never give our goaltenders an easy shut-out!

The game also saw Jackie Friesen and Becky Klein-Swormink get their first international goals. We played extremely well as a "team" and everything has come together as we head into the game against Germany tomorrow (even our CD player is working again) A win in that game means we capture the Air Canada Cup, which would be great because that is what we came here to do.

Our time here has gone by so fast – tomorrow is our last day and its feels like we just got here. We have learned so much, especially about how to deal with things out of our control such as late flights, late buses, lost baggage and smoky arenas. Our team has become a family and it will be a little sad to leave everyone and go back to our teams all over North America. We promise everyone back home that we will do our best to represent Canada in a way that will make you proud. Game time is 7 p.m. here in Germany, which is 1 p.m. in Toronto. Until tomorrow… au revoir.

For more information:
Kalli Quinn Director, Female National Teams | Équipes nationales féminines