Happy New Year

Due to Christmas and the New Year, I have taken a bit of a hiatus in the blogging department but it is 2009 and it is time to get back to it!

Post 1 for 2009 is the only thing that it could be and that is the IIHF World Juniors that are being held here in Ottawa.

For those who are familiar with some past entries, I had purchased a 5 game ticket package at Scotiabank Place that included 3 Senators games and 2 World Juniors. The first 2 Sens games were decent (despite the teams record) but the main focus was on the Jr. Games. The first game that I attended was the Canada vs Germany game. Not a battle of the titans but a surprisingly closer game on the scoreboard then it should have been. Canada dominated in shots and dictated the play but Germany kept it close and fought a good fight agents the more skilled Canadian team. It was a fun game to watch as there was little doubt about the outcome and there were many goals eventually scored. The game was a little frustrating at times as the shots for increased and the shots allowed were minimal at best. The goaltending by the Germans was very respectable but a failure to capitalize on the many opportunities that were presented to the Canadians was trying at times.

The second game was Kazakhstan vs Czech Republic on New Years Eve Day. Not the most entertaining game as it was very 1 sided and with 2 lesser teams involved the atmosphere and attendance was decent but not great. It was nice to see that the crowd got behind the kazaks and were cheering saves and good chances and celebrating when they managed to get 2 goals. It was nice to see that there was legitimate fondness for a team that maybe shouldn’t be involved in the tournament (like Canada at any international soccer event).
At the conclusion of that game begins a whole new storey and that will be touched upon in my next post!