The Dragons sent an elite squad to the World Ice Hockey 5s tournament in Hong Kong, May 7-8th. Despite our 0-5 record we proudly proclaim ourselves 6th best in the world for 3 on 3 hockey! Stats from the tourney can be viewed at http://www.hockeynightinasia.com/Hockey/stats_team.asp?vartour=4&vartask=6 then clicking on the International Division .Please note that these stats are incorrect in many cases (many of our players changed jerseys and numbers part way through the tournament and we are missing one game) Bobby G was seriously robbed of many of his goals and assists. Adrian will pay good money to anyone who can recall a single assist he believes he made! Kudos to Gabe who stopped 120 shots in 22 hours (he failed to stop several shots of gin during an early morning practise in Wan Chai though!) More photos and the whole story below.
Hong Kong Hockey Trip – May 6-9, 2004
It was Thursday, May 6th and the 6 Ice Dragons – Adrian Conradi, Caleb Morton, Blake Defieux, Craig Engelson, Gabe Kemp (the goalie from Dalian) and Bobby Gibson - were packed into the van outside Maple Leaf School in JinShiTan (where they are all teachers), ready to head out to the airport. Time was tight, and traffic would be tough, but need and desire forced the team to stop off at McDonald’s in Kai Fa Qu en route to Dalian airport. A rolling stop brought a bagful of McD’s goodness into the van (along with Caleb’s girlfriend) and the team was bee lining for the airport.
Traffic was tight, and there was some construction on the freeway slowing things down. But the driver was good, hugging the shoulder (basically driving the whole way on the shoulder) and getting the team to the airport in time to check in, go through security check and walk right onto the plane. Everything was going perfect, almost too easy, then it happened – Morton says this exact phrase and the plane was grounded.
The Dragons and the rest of the passengers sat in the plane – unable to de-board – with occasional updates from the pilot: “at this time we are not permit to take-off”. As the dragons were on a road trip, they needed a few road pops (which were supposed to be air pops, but the plane hadn’t taken off yet), and drank the plane dry before take-off. Through communication with people on the outside, we learned that the plane was grounded due to military manoeuvres. Three hours after the scheduled take-off time, the plane was finally airborne.
At about midnight, the Dragons landed in Guangzhou. The next trick was to get into Hong Kong and their hotel so they could get some rest before they had to play the next day. After a little bartering the Dragons secured a min-van/mini-bus to take them to Shenzhen (for a mere 700RMB). The ride was a little more than an hour. Then there was customs. The Dragons, each toting a large hockey bag on wheels, weaved through the crowds, up and down stairs, through turnstiles and finally made it through Chinese customs. Outside they found a bus (hidden somewhere in all the puke between the borders) to take them to the Hong Kong side. Ah, finally in Hong Kong, where there are fines for “hawking”.
After a full-scale planes, trains and automobiles assault, the Dragons finally pulled into their hotel at about 4am, leaving them with lots of sleep before their 10am wake-up call to get to the rink.
As everyone knows, Hong Kong is a huge metropolis with infrastructure. The MTR set-up is really quite amazing. A few interwoven lines with change-over points all along made it quite easy for the Dragons to get to the rink, located in “the Dragon Centre” right off the Tsam Shui Po MTR stop.
All the Dragons were pumped up for the game, and equally as excited at the prospect of getting their skates sharpened - first time since the summer. The team wandered the Mall for a little, checked out the rink shop (selling everything you’d need to equipped for hockey, a sight that the Dragons hadn’t seen in a long time), and fuelled up for the first of 3 games that afternoon.
The Dragons had been talking strategy for the past few days, but as game time approached they all knew that they’d be in good shape, ‘cause the lower numbers meant they would have really good “flow”. The other teams were all going to have too many players, and the 3-on-3 format would make it difficult for them to establish any kind of rhythm. Al Arnett (a teacher at Maple Leaf last year, now working in Hong Kong) arrived at the rink and rounded out the Dragons contingency for Hong Kong.
Game 1: Ice Dragons vs. Hong Kong Selects
First game for the Dragons, and they were feeling good. Finally familiar with the format of the tourney (3-on-3, two 15min periods – straight time, no stoppages – played more like shinny, clear the zone and the game continues, no icing, fast, fast hockey), the Dragons took to the ice for their first game. Getting into warm-up the whistle blew to start the game – warm-up is 2min long, Gabe hasn’t had any shots. Okay, the game isn’t the only thing that’s gonna be fast. The Dragons take to the ice with Adrian, Caleb, and Al leading the first charge.
The game was fast, furious, and tough for the Dragons. The rink was very humid and the team all sporting their great-looking home-knit sweaters tailor made for Haerbin, they were all overheating within the first few minutes. The game ended with the score-board showing a total of 8 – 2 for Hong Kong (but the tally didn’t continue on the board once they hit 8). Gabe was shell-shocked and the entire team was completely wiped out. One thing will be memorable from the end of that game, cries of: “oh yeah, they didn’t have any rhythm, we’ve only got 6 skaters, we’ll be able to establish a lot of flow!” Most of the flow belonged to the Hong Kong team, although the Dragons fought through to the end.
Game 2: Ice Dragons vs Changchun (the only other team not from Hong Kong)
The Dragons were a little scarred from the first game, but armed with lighter jerseys, they were ready for the next game. This game was to be a bit familiar to them, as the team from Changchun is also from the mainland and all members of the team except Bobby G were at last year’s little brawl in Changchun. The Chief came over and talked with the crew before the game and it seemed like there were no hard feelings. The Dragons were getting ready for the game when Adrian spots something that gets the team’s blood boiling – Daniher’s stick!!! The team all remembers when the Changchun team went on a bit of a “borrowing spree” during last year’s tournament and a few of the team’s possessions went missing. Adrian jumped and grabbed the stick, which said, plain as day: Chris Daniher Dalian Ice Dragons on the shaft.
Fuelled with new emotion, the Dragons took to the ice for their next game. The Dragons had a really tough first half, being down by a couple goals. But, after having finally adjusted to the format, the Dragons were able to establish some good “flow” on the ice, and won the second period. Sadly, the team was down too many from the first half, and dropped the game 7-5 to the Changchun squad.
It is important to note that the Chief came over to explain for the mix-up with Danaher’s stick. He said that the player who stole it isn’t with the team anymore, and that it’s the only stick he has. Graciously, Adrian agreed to let him borrow it for the tourney as the Chief said he’d bring it back at the end – the stick was never returned.
Game 3: Ice Dragons vs. Hong Kong Sunday
Game 3 and the Dragons were fresh off a great game with Changchun. The team was on a high, as it was slowly getting used to the heat and humidity in the Dragon Centre and they were fresh off of a victorious period. Morale was up and the team was feeling good about the upcoming game.
The Dragons were getting smart as Gabe would stretch before he went on the ice and actually get some shots before all the pucks were called in. The Dragons were in this one the whole way. There was one point where the game was knotted at threes. Sadly, the Dragons ran out of gas – with 6 skaters and 3 games in 5 hours, the minds were willing, but the bodies were shutting down. The game ended with the Dragons giving up a couple goals in one shift and coming up short by a score of 6-4.
Hong Kong Sunday had a pretty eclectic mix of players. They had their own Zoolander (local male model, who was quite the whiney little bitch on the ice, but turned out to be a solid guy, and quite good-humoured about the whole Zoolander thing), and they had one premier player: Dave Saunders who played 56 games for the Vancouver Canucks in 1987/88 and had 20 points. He also played 6 games with Team Canada in 1988 and spent a few years in the minors. He was a very smooth skater and had a hell of a shot.
Game 4: Ice Dragons vs Hong Kong Cathay Pacific
Saturday’s first game pitted the Dragons against the fly boys in Hong Kong. The Dragons were fairly fresh. The game was slated for early Saturday morning (about 10:30am) and so the boys were fairly calm on Friday night. The team strolled the streets of the Wan Chai area, and after not finding much all worked their way back to the hotel by about 12:30 – 1 o’clock. So, the bodies were willing once again Saturday morning.
The game started much better for the Dragons than previous games as they got up to an early lead. But, once again the legs grew tired by the end and the Dragons ended up on the losing end by a score of 7-5.
Game 5: Ice Dragons vs Hong Kong Outback
Getting better every game, the Dragons were looking forward to their 5th and final game. The action had been intense and the bodies were getting weary. Still, the Dragons felt they had one more in the tank.
The game started out in the Dragons favour as they took the early lead. In fact, the Dragons were leading at half, but in the end, fatigue caused a momentary lapse in the defence and the Outback team scored 2 quick ones. This all but deflated the Dragons as there were only a couple minutes left and the team had been running on fumes the entire game. In the end, the Outback team edged the Dragons 8-6. The Dragons felt really good about the game, having fought hard until the end and having 2 players get natural hat-tricks. Adrian scored the first three goals for the Dragons, and Bobby G potted the final three.
Before the finals, the tournament star, Canton Pop Star – ISABELLA made her appearance at the rink, complete with skates, stick, gloves and all. Somehow, Bobby G managed to get in with the press and was on the ice for the entire photo session, but was edged out by security and not allowed to ask any questions. To make matters worse, the request for a team photo was granted by Isabella, but denied by her publicist as she was picked up and whisked off the ice as Bobby G turned around to get the team out there. At least the team made off with several tourney posters with her picture on it.
All in all, the tournament was a great success for the Dragons, despite the 0-5 record. The Dragons were improving with every game and The Goalie from Dalian – Gabe Kemp – played remarkably, all the Dragons did. All the Dragons were on the scoreboard and Craig finally scored his first goal in China. It was great to have Hong Kong Al back in the Dragons unit, and Margaret was fantastic as the team’s photographer.
Saturday night was the Awards Banquet at Cooperstown (a bar in WanChai) and it was the only part of the tourney that was a little disappointing to the Dragons. As most of the teams were from Hong Kong, it was a bit of a familiar affair that the Dragons felt a little on the outside of. Still, everyone was friendly and the tourney was very well run.
After the banquet the Dragons took to the streets of WanChai, and slummed it up Dong Bei Ren style. Highlights included some home-made, high DEET off (a mixture of gin and Gatorade) and hung out on the corner trying to find a place that was suitable for the young stallions. The team ended up in this one bar that had a great live band and some sweet tunes. The team was up on the floor dancing the night away and Craig was showing all the locals how to do the Icelandic Shuffle.
Sunday turned into a comedy of errors. First Blake was beside himself as he had to go back to the rink and collect his helmet. This mentioning of losing his helmet caused Bobby G to remember seeing (and picking up) a helmet he thought was his the night before when the Dragons went back to watch the final. He frantically looked through his bag to realise that he too had left his helmet at the rink. The two of them went off and couldn’t find anything. The two didn’t feel too stupid, as at least they both had the idiocy to leave their helmets behind. The team gathered at the hotel and went off to the ferry terminal to get to Shenzhen and then finally back to Dalian. At the ferry terminal, Adrian stuffed a few things into his hockey bag and realised that he too had left his helmet at the rink. As it seems, in the tired rush to get a team picture at the end of the game, all three had abandoned and forgotten their helmets. Nice work. At least the team got a pair of goalie pants out of the whole deal (the tournament organizer gave the team a spare set they’d had lying around for some time).
The trip home was very smooth. The team arrived in Shenzhen with enough time to squeeze a ½ hour massage in at the airport before strolling onto the plane. Morton didn’t jinx the team with any comments of the smoothness of the transition of ferry to plane. The only thing that hampered the return was the fact there wasn’t any beer on the plane.
The team arrived back in Dalian at about midnight, all glad that they’d partaken in the tourney and very proud of the team’s determination, effort and pride.
