Day 8 - Team Turns the Corner

The Jr. Sharks returned to the Aréna les 2 Glaces de Val Bélair for the next day's exhibition games and finally turned the corner with a 2-2 tie against the Colorado Avalanche, one of the favorites to win the International B Class.  Cameron Ward got the team on the scoreboard with his trademark snapshot from the blue line, and Matthew Durst knotted up the game by slapping at a loose puck in front of the crease.

Next up was the Cole Harbour Red Wings (Nova Scotia), a team which was participating in the International Pee-Wee BSR Tournament.  The Jr. Sharks opened the scoring by catching the Red Wings on a full line change with Joe DiGiulio's blast from the top of the right face off circle.  The team went up 2-0 when the puck slowly squirted loose into the offensive zone with a foot race won by Joe who teed off from nearly the same spot.  Joey Cassetti then made the score 3-1 when he sniped a wrist shot that found the five-hole.  Then, in the last seconds, with the score 3-2 and the Red Wings goalie pulled, Cameron Ward somehow strong-armed the puck out of the defensive zone while flat on his belly to Chase Edwards for the empty netter.

Day 7 - Hockey, Hockey & More Hockey

The day's first exhibition game at Aréna les 2 Glaces de Val Bélair (Ice Arena 2 of Val Bélair) proved to be entertaining as well as controversial.  The team appeared to have tied Chaudière-Ouest Husky (Quebec) 2-2, but the referees seemed to be the only ones who had not seen Kurt Bench's backhand flip from the top of the slot go in.  Special mention goes out to Benoit Fournier, a billet family "dad", who made an impassioned appeal in French (or he may have simply been calling the referees "homers").  The team came up shy with an empty netter that made the final Chaudière-Ouest Husky 4, San Jose Jr. Sharks 2.  Joey Cassetti scored the first goal with a nice move on the goalie with a defender on his back, and Chase Edwards tallied the second goal with a one-timer.  Both goals came on power plays courtesy of Jarrett Chen, who drew three penalties.

The second exhibition game versus the Finland Selects, a favorite to win the Elite Class, was an eye-opener.  There weren't too many positives as the Finland Selects annihilated the San Jose Jr. Sharks 13-0 with many describing the Finland Selects offense as being in "constant motion".

In the evening, the team played pond hockey.  Again, I'll let pictures do the blogging.

Day 6 (Valentine's Day) - Second Tournament Game

Game Day at Club de Patinage Artistique de Charlesbourg (Figure Skating Club of Charlesbourg), a community recreation center-like rink fifteen minutes from the Colisée Pepsi.  The team started out much more competitively against the Sherbrooke Harfangs 1 (Quebec) tying the score 1-1 on a wicked Cameron Ward snapshot from the point, then going up 2-1 on a beautiful Joey Cassetti deflection.  Unfortunately, the momentum and lead were short-lived as penalties began to take their toll.  Final score: Sherbrooke Harfangs 3, San Jose Jr. Sharks 2.  Though the team was disappointed at being bounced from the tournament, smiles quickly returned as hot dogs from the snack bar were devoured and talk turned to attending the evening's Quebec Remparts game.  In fact, any lingering thoughts of the team's loss were all but forgotten as Jacob Kim showed his bag of Valentine's Day chocolates that his mother Nikki had given him before leaving for San Jose that morning.

Day 5 - Jr. Sharks, aka "Black Ops", Go to Valcartier (the snow park)

I'll let the photos do the blogging.

End of Carnaval de Quebec.  Au revoir, Le Bonhomme! (Winter Carnival mascot)

Day 4 - First Tournament Game & Brunch with Billet Families

Game Day at the Colisée Pepsi.  Outside the arena, though the day had begun sunny, it was extremity-numbing cold (I would later learn that the day's high was a mere 3 degrees Fahrenheit).  Inside, any lingering physical discomfort had been quickly displaced by nervous anticipation.  The venue, with seating capacity for 15,176, is normally home for the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, but was now hosting the 53rd Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament 2012.  Though many of the seats were unfilled, the cheers and shouts from the players' "natural" and billet families were genuine and encouraging.  However, on this day, our heroes did not play up to expectations with Kharkov Druzhba 78 (Ukraine) defeating our San Jose Jr. Sharks 10-2.  The bright spot was two quality goals: a Daylon Mannon slapshot and a Matthew Durst deflection.

After the game, we all went to brunch where we got to meet the billet organizers and our billet families, if we hadn't already.  It is absolutely amazing the generosity of their time and passion for this sport that these people exhibit!  When the team discovered that it was a billet organizer's birthday, they eagerly sang the birthday song only to fall comically silent at his name, which was "Ketan".  It was also a sight to see Robert Savoie wolf down a slice of sugar pie a la mode, a common dessert found only in Quebec.

Day 3 - Second Exhibition and a day with the families

On Saturday, the players had an opportunity to sleep in until 9 or 9:30. After breakfast they headed out to the rink...Arpidrome de Charlesbourg for the second exhibition game. This game against a team from Pittsburg. The kids did a little better, but still lost 1-5. The sole goal was scored by Nico Rubino.

Many of the Billette families stayed to watch the game, screaming "Go Sharks" and other things in French. Billette brothers and sisters also cheered their adopted siblings on. It was really fun to have all that support in the audience.

The rest of the day, each player went back to the house and did a variety of activities. Some went back to the Colisee to pin trade, many played pond hockey at the local outdoor rink and others had an opportunity to spend time with their "real" parents and billete parents while walking around the Old City of Quebec and the Winter Carnival.

The only common activity that all the players did was obey their 9:30pm curfew in order tone ready for the first game in the Colisee...the first game of the tournament on Sunday!

Until next time...good night.

Day 2 - Let the tournament begin...

After breakfast at their billette's houses, the players were dropped off at the Colisee by 8am. Many of them looked a little tired and glassy eyed. The first thing they needed to do was get credentialed and receive their VIP passes, which grants them entrance into the Colisee. Immediately following, they departed in the tournament vans for Arena Rejean Lemelin for the exhibition game against the NY Islanders PW99AAA.

The boys gather near the player entrance and wait for the tournament vans to pick them up

Once they arrive at the rink, they depart the vans gather their equipment which was brought over from the Colisee on the cargo truck and go outside for pre-game warmups.

Warmed up, it was time to go to the locker room and get ready to play some hockey!

Well...keep in mind that our players had just travelled 1000+ miles, were still a little jet-lagged, were not used to the 3 hour difference and the NY Islanders were in the Elite AAA division...for we lost 0-11.

After the game...the players headed back to the Colisee, where they did a little souvenir shopping as well as enjoying some of the food the Colisee had to offer. They also watched a couple of the tournament games going on inside. Around noon, Coach Sean and Coach Robert rounded them up and they headed over to the Tournament Cafeteria where the players and coaches can enjoy nutritious meals. Afterwards they headed to one of the best hockey equipment shops in Quebec and then back to the Colisee, where they hung out (watching games, trading pins, etc) until they were picked up by their billete families.

While the game today didn't have the kind of outcome we would hope for, the players have experienced playing hockey in Quebec and hopefully worked out some of the tournament nerves they might have. They also have a better feel for what their days may be like and have gotten to know their new families. So, it was a good day!

Jusqu'à demain. Au revoir.

(Until tomorrow...good-bye)

Day 1 - A long, long day of travel.

The day started early - wake up call was probably 4am for most, as everyone needed to be at SFO by 6am in order to check in luggage for the Air Canada flight. After the hockey bags were brought over to the oversized luggage area, several players decided to rest while waiting for all to show up.

The hockey sticks were saved until last - until Coach Savoie showed up with the large stick bag which held all the sticks and made it easier to transport them all.

Once the whole team was accounted for...and all the bags and sticks were checked in, it was time for one last team photo before the players went through security.

The march through security was uneventful (Yahoo). We boarded the plane around 7:30am. Everyone getting on and trying to seat themselves near their teammates. Not too difficult of a task, for reservations were made as a group and we were all pretty much seated in the same area.  The 4.5 hour flight (or 5 hours from gate to gate) was long, but most of the players found watching the movies available - like Puss in Boots - or tv shows kept them entertained...as well as all the games on iTouches, iPads and iPhones. A few kids were found doing homework, believe it or not. In fact, Daylon finished his persuasive essay and had several of his teammate perform peer critiques. An interesting exercise with this group of kids.

We landed in Toronto right on time and were greeted with bright sun and not a pile of snow to be found. We went through customs without any problems. And after going through Toronto security, everyone gravitated to some type of food source, the favorite being...

While our layover wasn't too long, it was long enough for the group to congregate on the floor of Gate D5 to enjoy their food as well as iGames with the teammates.

The last leg of our trip was on Air Canada Express an 80 passenger jet...small, yikes! Two seats on one side and two on the other...no middles, always a plus!

Quebec greeted us as we decended with a full moon, the color orange, reflecting on the St. Lawrence River. The cold air hit our faces was we departed the airplane and made our way to the baggage claim to gather our belongings. Good news...no luggage was lost!!!

Outside, Gaetan and his son, Dave, were waiting for us. They are the Captains of the San Jose Jr. Shark Billette Group. They instructed all the players to, first, put the hockey bags in the special cargo truck followed by all their luggage. Afterwhich they needed to board the tournament vans which would transport them to the Colisee and their awaiting billette parents.

Once at the Colisee, the players were matched up with their families. Some of the kids looked a little nervous, but by all accounts they seemed very excited and pleased as they started to leaves.

Once they were "adopted" by their Quebec family, they were gone to their new home, where they would reside for the next 11 days. The first day came to an end...it was a good day, just a long one.

Jusqu'à demain. Au revoir.

(Until tomorrow...good-bye)