That said, as Murphy would have it, my camera batteries died the moment I tried to take my first picture, so I am waiting on pictures from a couple other people to post here. And amazingly, less than an hour after I initially wrote this post, Toni graciously braved the Jeddah traffic and drove right to my compound so I could download the pics to my tablet. So I will leave my original post intact and edit in the pics and some other text.
Here's Toni at his rink.
I think he owns at least one version of every NHL jersey.
I arrived at the rink around 8 AM this past Friday morning and as I was dragging my goalie bag to the door, I was greeted by a diminutive, but cheerful man in a Montreal Canadians jersey with number 21 and "Gionta" on the back. I knew right then, this was going to be a good day.
It's A Great Day for Hockey (In Saudi)
This diminutive and gracious young man was Toni, from Lebanon. He is the hockey coach for literally all the registered players in Jeddah, all 32 of them out of three plus million people. In spite of a small language barrier, it was obvious that Toni loves the game as much or me than I do! He was genuinely excited to have the group skate and took pictures with each of us as if we were pros! It was humbling to be sure to see his enthusiasm for a bunch of beer leaguers.
Ivan getting some assistance strapping on the pads.
The fearless leader from KAUST Andrew Zeinchuck
Players began to arrive in small groups around 8:30 and as we all were getting dressed, the common theme was that no matter how many times you play, it is truly a surreal experience playing ice hockey in Saudi. I would have to agree, especially since this was my first time. Surreal for sure. There are hockey boards, the ice surface is small, there is real glass in places and in other places, no glass at all, and there is an odd shaped bump out on the one long side of the ice, but it was still awesome.
A little pre-game chat. Note no glass
and the tables and chairs next to the rail.
"Spectators must be aware of the puck at all times..."
and the tables and chairs next to the rail.
"Spectators must be aware of the puck at all times..."
We were thinking of playing with a foam puck so as to not do any damage to the facility, but after some skating and shooting with everything from street hockey balls, real pucks, foam pucks and even a tennis ball, we settled on using a bandy ball. If you don't know what bandy is, look it up. It's like soccer on ice with a heavy corked ball about the size of a handball and it looks like a blast to play. A goalie's nightmare for sure, but I loved every minute of it. The Finn who skated with us was an awesome bandy player and the most challenging skater I have played against in some time. Half my age, twice my speed. Which I guess in retrospect does not give him enough credit! When he saw the Swedish jersey, he immediately changed languages on me to see if was "real" Swede. Obviously, I turned out to be a poser and got busted for it!!!
Foam puck.
We played four on four and had two subs per side. The pace, both because of the smaller ice and the bandy ball was quick. What a great time we all had. We had all skill levels and everyone on the ice "got it" when it came to having a great workout and a great time.
Making the save on the bandy shot. Tough to stop a BB.
Game on! Note the real glass on the left.
We ended up playing nearly two hours and we were all truly physically exhausted, but ecstatic about being able to play the game we all love. I met people from all over Canada, a Swede, a Norwegian, a Finn and a fellow Minnesotan. What a great time. Looking forward to the next skate. As soon as I get some pictures, I will edit this post and insert them.
The bandy player having a rest.
Playing hockey when I did was probably better for me mentally than I would care to admit. I worked so hard that as I write this post two full days later, I am still sore and I am in the best shape I have been in years. But that said, I am still looking forward to the next skate!
Tired, but happy!
According to Tony, I could be skating with some of the National Team guys this Thursday!
Toni looking cool in his ride.
Enjoy the pictures.
A couple random snaps.
This is what it's all about.
The Finn burying the bounce off the wall.
Making the save off the rush.
No comments:
Post a Comment