CCHL News
CJHL Prospects Daily Journal - Day 2
Date: Dec 09, 2009
Day 2 Prospects Tournament
Hey everyone, Beams here with the CJHL Prospects Tournament day two report. I hate bringing up bad news but today didn't turn out like we all would have hoped. We had our first game today at 1:00 PM and took Team West too lightly from the first puck drop. The stands were filled with over 1200 kids from local elementary schools, along with the NHL, NCAA, and every other possible league imaginable. Sadly for us, we came out flat and dropped the prospects opener 8-1. We will do better tomorrow in the second game. We owe you that.
9:00 AM: Day started off very early once again (for hockey players), with a team breakfast, and quick meeting with tournament staff. We met the organizers of the tournament, and got some insight in to the type of crowd we were to soon meet. Coaches went over the magnitude of the tournament, and the amount of scouts that were to be in attendance. If we didn't know the pressure was on before, we sure did now. Nothing really exciting about breakfast other than its fuel in the tank, as everyone was still half asleep due to a poor nights rest.
10:30 AM: Team departed for the arena, and began to prepare for the game. Everyone began to grow anxious as we inched closer to game time, knowing the magnitude of what was to occur. We stepped on the ice at 12:30 for warm up, and everyone seemed to be feeling good. It wasn't until the game started that everything fell apart. We started slow, and quickly got behind by a couple of goals. It didn't help with 1200 screaming fans cheering for the other team, but we all know we needed to be better if we want to win. To be quick, we got dusted 8-1. Our lone goal was from Nick Quinn with a shot from the point. We will all be looking for revenge tomorrow night chipping in with a team effort!
4:30 pm Team departed back to the Motel, and we got a quick post game meal into us. Once again more, Less stories were present at the table, giving us all a good laugh, and relief from the embarrassing performance on the ice.
5:45 pm Team hopped on bus to depart to Sportsman's Dinner, which turned out to be an evening filled with jokes, laughs, and great speeches. Our table seated seven, and I don't think we stopped laughing all night. Whether it was someone cracking a good joke, or being immature, or one of the guys doing their best imitations of being "ladiesmen", the night was an overall great time. Highlight of the night was the jokes at the table that left everyone in stitches on more than one occasion. It's nice how everyone is getting along so well, for just meeting, and being apart of such different leagues. Gary Cheevers, and Billy Smith were the guests in attendance, and cracked some good jokes themselves (laughter is a common theme among players it seems), and gave everyone a good insight on their careers playing professional hockey. The dinner consisted of a couple hundred people, and acted as a fundraiser for the Winkler Flyers, the local Junior A Team, and was a huge success. We didn't get out of the Dinner until 10:15, and raced back to the hotel to get some sleep before our 6:00 wake up call.
10:30 pm Team arrived back at the hotel, and players reported to their respective rooms for a good night sleep before our rematch tomorrow against Team West. We need to come out stronger then yesterday, or else this whole trip will be a waste of time for the players on Team East, as it seemed no one stood out to make the scouts mouths drop. We have to better not just for ourselves but for all of you supporting us.
11:00 pm Lessio and I shut down for the night but not before complaining ourselves to sleep about our early wake up call. Not looking forward to the phone ringing at 6 AM, and be awakened to the -30 early morning temperature. Why couldn't this tournament be somewhere warm like Florida!!! Heck I hear back home its finally going to snow. I'd take that over this. The weather down here definitely is a drawback, as we can't walk outside without some part of our bodies freezing. Have to block that out. Game tomorrow is big.
See you tomorrow and thanks for your support, all the guys appreciate it.
Beams
