Ice Blacks 2007 Tour

Photos from Ireland by Graham 

Photo of the Ice Blacks performing the Haka in "The Hockey News" The largest Hockey paper in the world. Published 8th May 2007

Sunday Star Times 29/4/07 Article

Press articles about NZ Winning Gold in  Ireland  here and here

Ice Blacks 2007 Tour - Day 20

Division III World Championships, Day 5 – Rest Day

Ice Blacks Clinch the Gold!

The team confirmed today that since Ireland beat South Africa last night, there is no way New Zealand can be knocked off the top of the tournament, and therefore the Gold Medal is guaranteed.

Congratulations to all of the Ice Blacks, and a big thank you goes out from the team to all of their supporters – and there have been a lot of supporters this year! The IBs get a huge boost from all the people who help make the program so successful.

Of course, the celebration by the team for winning gold has been put on hold as the team prepares to take on South Africa tomorrow in the afternoon game. This promises to be a tough, physical match and the Ice Blacks very much want to finish this World Championships undefeated, and make a big statement to Division III that the Ice Blacks have taken their play to the next level.

After the South African game tomorrow, the team will watch Ireland vs Luxembourg, which will be for the silver medal and promotion to Division II. After that, the medals will be presented and the team will celebrate its victory!

Ice Blacks 2007 Tour - Day 19

Division III World Championships, Day 5 – Gameday!

Game #3 vs Mongolia

After only a short rest, the Ice Blacks hit the ice again against Mongolia. As expected, the Ice Blacks controlled the game throughout. After three spirited periods, New Zealand finished with a 10 – 1 win. This gives the Ice Blacks their longest winning streak (3) ever in international hockey and their longest undefeated streak (5) in the team's history. The team is rolling well and has only South Africa left to play in the Tournament.

The Ice Blacks started very quickly when Braden Lee put one behind the Mongolian goalkeeper at 1:22. However, it was apparent from the outset that the referee had decided to call a penalty on any hit of any serious strength that the Ice Blacks made on the Mongolian team. All told, the Ice Blacks took four charging penalties in the first period.

Even when short-handed, the Ice Blacks were in control of the game. At 5:59 Ryan Paskell shot one which took a deflection off a Mongolian defender and found its way to the back of the net for a short-handed goal. Then at 8:01 Brett Speirs rifled one into the top of the net to make the score 3 – 0. New Zealand spent most of the rest of the period short-handed after a few hits on the Mongolians, and that was how the period ended.

The second period was disorganized, but the Ice Blacks had a lot of opportunities to score. Somehow, though, they only put two goals away. The first was by Braden Lee at 10:46, and the second came from Corey Down on a shorthanded effort at 18:09.

After two periods, the Ice Blacks were up 5 – 0 and firmly in control. Gareth Livingstone replaced Stephen Reid for the third period in goal. Stephen played another strong game, totaling ten saves in two shut out periods.

The third period started off with some fireworks as Simon Glass put one away only twenty seconds in. Then two minutes later Andy Hay scored the first test match goal of his Ice Blacks career on a great shot from the point. It was only another two minutes later, at 4:13, that Danny Smith scored on the power play to put the Ice Blacks up 8 – 0.

Braden Lee then completed his hat-trick at 9:28 with a nice shot and Simon Glass put another one in the back of the net 40 seconds later with an amazing turnaround shot.

Then, incredibly, off a mix-up at center following Simon’s goal, a Mongolian emerged on a breakaway and managed to ring one in off the post for their only goal, at 10:14. That was how the game ended, with the score 10 – 1.

New Zealand’s player of the game was Corey Down, who finished the game with an impressive 1 goal, 4 assists, and was on the ice for seven of the Ice Black goals! Both teams enjoyed the game and the New Zealand team has a lot of respect for the Mongolians who are competing in International competition for the first time and have overcome difficult obstacles in their home country in order to do so.

Tonight the Ice Blacks will watch the game between Ireland and South Africa. If Ireland manages to win, New Zealand will clinch gold no matter what happens in the game against South Africa. Despite that, the Ice Blacks are very much looking forward to the game against South Africa on Saturday, after Friday’s rest day.

Goals

Braden Lee – 3 Simon Glass – 2 Brett Speirs – 1 Andrew Hay – 1 Danny Smith – 1 Ryan Paskell – 1 Corey Down - 1

Assists

Corey Down – 4 Laurie Horo – 3 Brett Speirs – 2 Josh Hay – 2 Danny Smith – 2 Simon Wilson - 2 Andrew Hay – 1 Stacey Rout – 1 Simon Glass - 1

Ice Blacks 2007 Tour - Day 18

Division III World Championships, Day 4 – Gameday!

Game #2 vs Luxembourg

This was a big game for the Ice Blacks, as Luxembourg had already taken out South Africa earlier in the tournament. The IBs were itching to play again after six days in Ireland, but only having played once.

The team started the day with a quick skate and after their pre-game meeting talked about what it would take to defeat Luxembourg. Most important would be aggressive pressure on the puck and discipline regarding penalties.

Even before the puck dropped there was a great atmosphere in the arena, and the Ice Blacks put on an impressive show with the Haka. Luxembourg took up the challenge well, all standing across the blue line linked arm and arm with one of the players holding a video camera filming the awesome spectacle in front of them.

New Zealand executed the game plan in the first period well, being aggressive but staying out of the penalty box except for one penalty by Braden Lee and a bizarre too many men on the ice call where both teams were penalized for the same thing.

The Ice Blacks carried the play and outshot Luxembourg 11 to 5 in the first period, but only managed to convert one to a goal when Braden Lee scored at 17:31 following a great play by Simon Wilson to turn over the puck.

Between periods, the coaching staff decided to make a small adjustment to the forward lineup. This seemed to be just what the doctor ordered as those new lines exploded for five goals in the second period. The first was by Josh Hay on the power play only 31 seconds in to the period, and that was followed by another goal by Josh less than two minutes later.

Luxembourg managed to get one back at 8:57, but Braden Lee scored his second of the game, this one on the power play, at 10:34 to put the IBs ahead 4 – 1.

Three minutes later Jamie Moore-Carter scored his first goal for the Ice Blacks to put the team up 5 – 1 and Laurie Horo added another only 35 seconds later, which was how the period ended, with the Ice Blacks up 6 - 1.

At the break, the team talked about the need to continue to play together, but some individual play crept in during the third period and this hindered the Ice Black’s momentum. A few breakdowns allowed Luxembourg to start off the third period scoring at 7:31 with a shorthanded goal.

Ryan Paskell got that one back for the Ice Blacks at 11:53 and Josh Hay added another for his hat-trick at 15:07. Luxembourg managed to reply two minutes later with a goal to make the score 8 – 3.

After some intense final minutes the game ended with the score at 8 – 3 for the Ice Blacks. Stephen Reid made 15 saves in goal during a solid performance, and Simon Wilson was named player of the game for New Zealand often swinging the momentum back in favour of the Ice Blacks through his hard work and intense fore checking.

It was a good win for New Zealand and sent a strong message to the rest of the tournament that the Ice Blacks are a dangerous opponent to line up against. The team is very much looking forward to taking on Mongolia tomorrow at 1pm.

Goals

Josh Hay – 3 Braden Lee – 2 Laurie Horo – 1 Ryan Paskell – 1 Jamie Moore-Carter – 1

Assists

Brett Speirs – 3 Simon Glass – 2 Simon Wilson – 2 Andrew Hay – 2 Braden Lee - 2 Mitchell Oak - 1 Laurie Horo – 1 Corey Down – 1 Danny Smith – 1

Ice Blacks 2007 Tour - Day 17

Division III World Championships, Day 3 – Rest day.

There were no games played today, as it was the first rest day of the tournament.  Each team had some practice time, and the Ice Blacks had a short, sharp practice that was high tempo and worked on a few little things that the team needed to go over before playing Luxembourg tomorrow.

After dinner all of the teams were brought to City Hall to watch three musicians perform some Irish music and the Mayor of Dundalk spoke about how happy the city was to receive the teams for the Championships.

All of the teams were presented with a commemorative framed letter from the city.

Everyone on the Ice Blacks is very much looking forward to the next game against Luxembourg

Ice Blacks 2007 Tour - Day 16

Division III World Championships, Day 2 – Gameday!

Game #1  New Zealand vs Ireland

Photos from NZ vs Ireland Game here

The Ice Blacks were very much looking forward to getting their World Championships underway after having a bye on the first day due to the absence of Armenia.  Ireland, on the other hand, warmed up against Mongolia the previous day and were riding high after their victory.

The Irish coach showed his cultural and sporting ignorance before the game by protesting New Zealand’s right to perform the Haka, even though this had been confirmed in writing by all the competing nations at the Directorate Meeting on the first night.  After being told that the Ice Blacks would be able to go ahead with the Haka, he approached Coach Bonazzo outside the NZ dressing room and really confirmed his lack of class with a question:

“You’re not really going to do this silly dance, are you?”

Coach Bonazzo had a calm reply.  “Yes sir, we are.”

The Irish coach had no respect at all for the situation, and asked if their team could do a dance if they wanted to also.

Coach Bonazzo looked him straight in the eye.  “Yes. Absolutely, an Irish jig would be fine.  I’d have no problem with that.”

The Irish coach got extremely irate at the perceived insult, having no clue at the insult he had just offered the Ice Blacks.  However, the team was unaware of this and went out to perform the Haka as usual.  The Irish team lined up across the blue line with their backs to the IBs, and banged their sticks on the ice.  Meanwhile, the rink staff (all Irish) refused to turn off the music over the loudspeakers.  Undaunted, the Ice Blacks put on one of the best displays that could be imagined, and could be heard over all of the noise in the arena.  Then it was time for the tournament to commence for the New Zealanders.

The Ice Blacks had a tough start to the game.  Fired up from the Haka, they came out and hit everything that moved, taking a huge number of penalties in the opening period.  The team played practically the whole first ten minutes of the game at least one man down, killing penalties.  Eventually the Irish power play managed to get one at 13:25, putting the IBs down 1 – 0.  Gareth Livingstone got the start in net and had a very solid period, making several good saves on the penalty kill.

In the intermission the Ice Blacks had some time to cool down and reflect on the fact that although they seemed to have the upper hand on the Irish five on five, instead they were playing most of the game on the penalty kill.  A lot of talk was batted around regarding the fact that the referee was calling any potential stick or restraining foul, and the team had to adjust to that or spend the rest of the game shorthanded.

This message seemed to be taken to heart in the second period as the number of Ice Black penalties was reduced greatly.  However, it was the Irish that struck again five minutes into the period to go up 2 – 0.  The Irish crowd was extremely loud and bolstered the Irish team’s spirits considerably.

Finally, at 12:08 of the second period, the Ice Blacks got their first goal of the tournament when Laurie Horo put one by the Irish goalkeeper on the power play, and that was how the period ended.

While the team could have panicked in the intermission, the message throughout the team and from the coaching staff was that if the Ice Blacks put the puck deep and used their speed, more scoring chances would be created.  The team was also reminded of the fact that during their time in Italy they had proven that explosive offense is certainly part of this year’s team, and that there was no reason the same could not happen in the third period if the team was playing their game.

The final period was all Ice Blacks as the team put the puck deep in the Irish zone time and time again, and forced them to turnover the puck by applying tremendous pressure and speed.  This pressure was finally converted into a second goal by Laurie Horo at 5:58 of the period and with the score tied up it was the Irish team that was really on the ropes.  The Ice Blacks did not let up the pressure, and Braden Lee put the IBs in front with a goal only two minutes later at the 7:51 mark.

A few minutes later the Ice Blacks took a penalty, but Brett Speirs put the Irish team away with a fantastic shorthanded goal at 13:53 off of his own rebound after Ryan Paskell had sent him in after a clearance.  The team closed out the victory with a very strong performance.

Gareth Livingstone ended the game with 38 saves and the win for the Ice Blacks.  Laurie Horo was named the IB’s player of the game.

Goals

Laurie Horo – 2

Braden Lee – 1

Brett Speirs – 1

Assists

Andy Hay – 1

Ryan Paskell – 1

Lukas Birgel – 1

Ice Blacks 2007 Tour - Day 15   

Division III World Championships, Day 1

The Ice Blacks got up at 8am for some breakfast and then went over to the arena for a good, solid 30 minute ice time to blow out the cobwebs and get the legs going. Then the team returned to the hotel for lunch.   

The afternoon consisted of the team watching both of the first games, Ireland vs Mongolia and South Africa vs Luxembourg.    Ireland vs Mongolia was a pretty one-sided affair, as was expected. Ireland ended up winning 11 -0.  The Mongolian team put in a valiant effort, but their ice hockey program is just developing. The Ireland fans were loud and supported their team thoroughly – the rink was packed! After the game before the Irish National Anthem “We Are The Champions” played over the speakers. Perhaps a bit premature.  

A much more spirited game was contested between South Africa and Luxembourg. South Africa was favoured, but the goaltender from Luxembourg held them in the game until he was forced from the game by injury halfway through the third period, with Luxembourg up 3 – 1. South Africa managed a quick goal to put it at 3 - 2, but two empty net goals sealed the win for Luxembourg. The final score was 5 – 2.  

The Ice Blacks are very much looking forward to having a shot at Ireland tomorrow. The team is excited and ready to go!

Ice Blacks 2007 Tour - Day 13 and 14   

Travel Day and Arrival Day   

Travel day was much as expected, with the team taking a long journey from Cavalese to Dundalk. However, it wasn’t all that physically draining as the travel was broken up by waiting periods in the airports where the players could stretch their legs and move around to keep from tightening up and getting sore.  

Everything went very smoothly with the travel, and no bags were lost which is not a small thing when you’re traveling with 24 people and 48 pieces of luggage totaling almost 1,000 kilograms!  

The team arrived at the hotel and had some dinner. The hotel is nice and tidy with spacious rooms, and the food is good and plentiful. The players also dropped their equipment off at the rink, which is very new and is a good facility that can probably hold about 1,000 spectators.   Arrival day turned out to be a very interesting one. No ice time was available for any of the teams, so the Ice Blacks went out for about an hour and played some soccer at a local field. The North Island team took out the South Island team in an epic battle which consisted of hardly any defensive play whatsoever.   

The big news of the day for the Tournament was that Armenia was not able to get into Ireland because of Visa problems. This left the tournament with only five teams, and the IB’s first opponents as a no-show. Armenia not being in Ireland has caused a lot of chaos with the schedule and organization, but the upshot is that there will only be two games per day, and each team has a bye. For the Ice Blacks, this means their first game will not be until the 16th of April against host country Ireland. So on the first day of games, the Ice Blacks will watch the other two games and train in the morning for half an hour, their regular pre-game ice time.  

Arrival day also marked the meetings to go over the rules emphasis and confirm player eligibility. There were no problems here for New Zealand, and the rules this year will focus on penalizing checking to the head, checking from behind, and restraining fouls such as hooking and holding.   

The Ice Blacks had a restful arrival day, and are itching to get the first game underway!   We have been told all the games will be webcast from the Irish Ice Hockey Association website, www.iiha.org, but this is yet to be confirmed.

Update from Webmaster 15/4

Armenian team has withdrawn from the IIHF Div III Tournament.  

No official reason given.  Some debate here

Updated Schedule (Armenian games dropped) here

Link to Ticketing site in Ireland here (announces Armenian exit) 

Link to Irish Ice Hockey Association here

Ice Blacks 2007 Tour - Day 12

Day twelve marked the final day of the Ice Blacks’ time in Italy.  The team practiced twice today.  Both were high-intensity practices which went over the fundamental things that the team has been trying to work on over the past twelve days

The majority of time was spent on power play, defensive zone face-offs, and small area games which concentrated on identifying odd-man situations quickly on both offense and defense.  In addition some time was spent on transitional play and line rushes.  The goaltenders saw plenty of action today and both should be very ready for the World Championships.

Tonight dinner is a bit earlier than normal as tomorrow the team gets up at 3am to get everything sorted for the travel day.  First the team buses between three and four hours to Venice, and then flies to Munich, then on to Frankfurt, and in to Dublin.  From there, the team takes another bus approximately an hour to Dundalk.

In all, travel time is expected to be approximately 15 hours and although it will be a rest day, traveling does not always feel so restful!  However, tomorrow is not the official arrival day and the team will have an additional day to rest up before the first game on April 15^th, against Armenia.

The coaching staff, management, and players all feel as though this part of the tour has been a real success, and the foundations have certainly been laid to perform well at the World Champs.  The general opinion is that the team has taken addressed all the areas of the game it wanted to work on, and the team couldn’t be more ready.  Three good solid warm-up games were certainly of huge benefit to the Ice Blacks.

The Ice Blacks would like to take this opportunity to officially thank Paolo, Stefano, the staff of Hotel La Roccia, and all of the other people in Italy who made the stay so excellent and made the team feel so welcome.  It could not have been better.

Ice Blacks 2007 Tour - Day 11

Gameday!

The third and final preparation game for the Ice Blacks in Italy was today, against H C Fassa.  The game was held in Cavalese and another good crowd of a few hundred spectators turned out to watch the Ice Blacks play a team that boasts the talents of several local.

The game had a dream start for the Ice Blacks, as they opened the scoring in the first minute on a goal by Daniel Smith, resulting from a turnover coming off a great fore check by Daniel’s line mates Simon Glass and Brett Speirs.

The Ice Blacks notched another goal off the strong play of forward Braden Lee setting up an opportunity for Josh Hay to steal the puck at the top of the circle in the Fassa end and to rifle a shot over the goaltender’s glove to go up by a score of 2 – 0.

Gareth Livingstone got the start for the Ice Blacks and had a strong first period in net, turning away several good scoring opportunities from H C Fassa. Going into the break the IBs were up 2 – 1.

In the second frame Fassa came back hard and out worked the Ice Blacks, racking up four goals. The bright point of the period came when Braden Lee intercepted a pass in the defensive zone and hit Josh Hay on a breakaway. Young Josh made no mistakes on this opportunity and converted his second of the game, beating the Fassa tender to the five hole.

At the intermission between the second and third period, it was clear there were a lot of physically and mentally tired Ice Blacks.  However, the team knows that during the World Championships there will be times that they are just as tired as there are five games in seven days.  It was therefore important to go out in the third period and really see how deep the team could dig down, and what they could come up with. The coaching staff urged the Ice Blacks to go out and focus on the basics in this period and build in their momentum from shift to shift.

It was inspiring to see the Ice Blacks come out and show a huge amount of grit and determination.  The third period was a much better one as the team really concentrated on doing the little things right and executing to the best of their ability while feeling tired and sore.  The IBs managed two unanswered goals in the third period.  The first, at the nine minute mark by Corey Down, was a crazy shot from the point that went through half the players on the ice before winding up in the back of the net.  In dramatic fashion, with only two minutes remaining, Ice Blacks captain Simon Glass drove out of the corner and ripped the puck past the Italian goaltender to tie the score up at 5 – 5, and that was the way it ended.

Playing in the third period, Stephen Reid once again shut the door on his Italian opponents and finished the Italian leg of the tour with no goals scored against him in four periods of play.

Goals: 

Josh Hay – 2

Danny Smith – 1

Corey Down – 1

Simon Glass – 1

Assists:

Braden Lee – 2

Danny Smith – 2

Simon Glass - 1

Ice Blacks 2007 Tour - Day 9 & 10

Day nine of the Ice Blacks tour began with a late morning gym session during which the team had a fun but competitive game of indoor soccer for about an hour. This was followed by a rest and an afternoon practice which was good intensity, and touched on many of the things the team has been working on as well as the power play breakout.

The day was wrapped up with a team poker tournament which was won by rookie Ryan Paskell after some wild battle.

Day ten saw a lot of tired bodies get out of bed, and they were pleased and surprised to arrive at practice to discover that today was the 2007 Ice Blacks Skillz Competition. The team was split into two (Black and White), and competed in five events:

1) Speed - one complete lap around the rink, head to head. 2) Power - pushing the goal net laying on its front the length of the ice in a relay. 3) Puck Control - handling the puck through a series of cones in a course in a relay. 4) Shooting Accuracy - five shots at targets in the two top corners. 5) Scoring - eight shots at goal from between the hashmarks with a goaltender in goal.

Each team selected five members of its team to participate in each event, but no player could participate in more than three events. Some very spirited action saw the teams tied at two events each after the Shooting Accuracy event, where both goaltenders made a surprise entry and both of them managed to hit one of the targets each - better than a few of the other contestants!

The competition came down to the Scoring event and after all was said and done the White team emerged with a well-deserved victory.

In the afternoon everyone hopped on the bus to travel to Trento, where they wandered around an amazing town for a few hours before meeting back at the town square and heading to the local arena to watch Team Japan play Team Italy in an exhibition game. The team was treated exceptionally well, to the tune of free tickets and VIP hosting plus reserved seats in the stands. The Italian hosts have been amazingly good to the Ice Blacks, who were excited to see another high-level hockey game.

An up and down game ended with Italy defeating Japan 3 - 2. After the game, the team took the bus back to Cavalese and went to bed in preparation for the next day's game against H C Fassa, the last game for the Ice Blacks in Italy.

Ice Blacks 2007 Tour - Day 8

Victory!

A one hour preparation skate on the morning of the game to run through a couple of simple things set the stage for the second game for the Ice Blacks in Italy.

What a game it was! The Ice Blacks came away from their meeting with the Cavalese team, H C Fiemme with a strong 6-3 win, the first ever win for the Ice Blacks on Italian soil.

Before the game, the Ice Blacks unveiled an impressive improved Haka for the Cavalese fans, who came out in great numbers. At least 500 people filled the stands to watch including a couple of Kiwi supporters driving down all the way from Switzerland to see the Ice Blacks in action.

The game began well, with the team killing off an early penalty and shortly after, at the 2:36 mark of the first period, Braden Lee started off the scoring with a very quick rush down the ice. His goal was followed by a goal from Josh Hay at 13:50 on the power play, and was quickly added to by Danny Smith at 14:54 off a nice little pass out front by captain Simon Glass.

The first period ended with the score 3 - 0 for the Ice Blacks, and it was a dominating period punctuated by good hits, excellent team play, and plenty of scoring chances. At the other end, Stephen Reid, making his first international start for the Ice Blacks, held the Cavalese team scoreless through the first half of the game, extending his shutout streak.

The Ice Blacks knew the Italians would not lie down and accept defeat, and the Cavalese team managed to rally in the second period with two goals in quick succession, at the 15 and 17 minute marks. The Ice Blacks had plenty of chances to score but could not put one past the Cavalese goaltender. The second period ended with the Ice Blacks ahead 3 - 2.

In the intermission the team was very positive and upbeat, happy that they were in a competitive game and looking forward to the third period. At the 7 minute mark of the third period Cavalese struck to even the score off a small defensive lapse off a neutral zone face off. However, only eleven seconds later Andy Hay scored on a slapshot high to the short side on a stunned Cavalese goaltender to put the Ice Blacks up again, and it was there that they would stay. A very nice goal at 11:23 of the third period by Brett Speirs who tipped in a great pass from Ryan Paskell on the power play put the team up by two, and seemingly out of reach. An empty net goal from Paskell, his first as an Ice Black, sealed the victory as the Cavalese team, on the powerplay, pulled their goalie to go one the 6 on 4 attack. This goal finalized a fantastic win for the team who performed strongly in many areas.

The team now has a couple of days to recover and work on some more areas of their game before playing H C Fassa on the 11th, which should be their toughest opposition on the tour. There is a good feeling throughout the team about the win and excitement about how well the team is coming together. The Ice Blacks have shown they can play at a higher level.

Goals

Braden Lee - 1 

Josh Hay - 1 

Danny Smith - 1 

Andy Hay - 1 

Brett Speirs - 1 

Ryan Paskell - 1

Assists

Laurie Horo - 2 

Braden Lee - 1 

Simon Glass - 1 

Ryan Paskell - 1

Ice Blacks 2007 Tour - Day 6

Day 6 of the tour marked an opportunity for the team to continue to work on some areas and build on the good work that has been done so far.  The team is making excellent progress and by the time the next game on the 8th of April arrives there should be none of the tentativeness that marked the first period of the game in Vipiteno.

With two sessions of 1.5 hours available, the team had the chance to concentrate on the power play and penalty kill.  These will be extremely important at the World Championships with the new rule emphasis and the whole team recognizes that if the Ice Black special teams are working well it is a huge advantage in each game.  The remainder of the time in Italy will certainly have plenty of power play and penalty killing practice.

During the day the team also practiced neutral zone regroups, breakouts, the adjusted forecheck, and recognizing situations in the neutral zone.  Both practices were high intensity and had great results.  The coaches actually wish tomorrow was Gameday, to measure the impact of the trainings on the team’s play!

The players are taking lots of downtime to rest in between trainings, to make sure injuries are kept to a minimum.  So far the team is holding up well on this front (knock on wood)!

Ice Blacks 2007 Tour - Day 3

Arrival in Cavalese!

Day Three saw the Ice Blacks leave Munich after a much needed eight hours of sleep.  A very easy bus trip through Austria with much less twisting and turning than anticipated saw the team arrive in Cavalese in less than five hours.  On the way, the team stopped at a mountaintop MacDonalds which, would easily have one of the most spectacular views of any restaurant, let alone a fast-food stop.

After dropping off their equipment at the arena, the team checked into the fabulous Hotel la Roccia for the third time in four years.  Always hospitable and organized, the owner Paolo and his staff at Hotel la Roccia go out of their way to help the Ice Blacks out.  The Ice Blacks have their own meeting room in the hotel, and the food is always spectacular.  A short meeting was held before the team headed off to the rink.

Quarter past six marked the first time the team hopped on the ice in Italy.  The main purpose of this training was to blow out all the cobwebs left from traveling.  The players (other than the goaltenders!) did not dress in all their equipment, and Coach Bonazzo put them through a high-paced practice with lots of passing and shooting.  After practice and cool-down, the team returned to the hotel to have dinner the way only “The Rock” can do it, with four courses of great food the norm.

An early night was certainly the order of the day.  Day 4 will mark the first game for the team in Italy, as they travel to Vipiteno.  The team is extremely excited to get on the ice and try out the new combinations and systems of the team, and to play a bit of hockey!

Ice Blacks 2007 Tour - Day 1 & 2  

Seemingly Endless Travel.  And Beer.

Day One and Two of the Ice Blacks 2007 Tour brought the team halfway around the world in approximately 30 hours.  Considering the distance traveled and the number of people involved, it could be considered impressive that the team arrived with no lost baggage and no real problems at any Customs or Immigration stops.  So far the only casualty has been Nick Curnow’s mobile phone, as he left it on the plane somewhere between Auckland and LA.  

While at this point it is unclear whether or not it will be recovered, you might expect that like Paris Hilton, Nick’s celebrity status will ensure that somehow the contact numbers and names from his phone will be posted on the Internet.  Although not the ideal situation or solution to his problem, Nick might be comforted by the fact that he won’t be without his address book for long.

Some forgetfulness and a low-slung jeans incident almost resulted in a couple of lost passports, but ultimately everyone came through with everything and passports will be locked in a secure safe until the team departs Italy.

The team was picked up at the Munich Airport and taken to a hotel just outside the city centre.  A shower and something to eat were well-deserved, and after a couple of hours the team took cabs into Munich to participate in a walking Beer Tour.  

The team’s guide led the Ice Blacks to a number of spots while explaining some of the history of beer in Munich, including a tour of some actual beer-making equipment.  In between destinations the team got the chance to ride the subway and check out a bit of the city on short walks.  At each stop, each player got a sample from the breweries, and then everyone ended up at the most famous beerhouse in the world, The Hofbrauhaus, where a very long day was completed with some very large steins of the amber nectar Bavaria is famous for.  

Nobody was complaining when it was time to head back to the hotel for a night’s sleep and eight hours of rest was welcomed.