University of Minnesota Athletics
Ryan Flynn Diary From the Czech Republic
12/31/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
University of Minnesota sophomore Ryan Flynn is providing Gophersports.com with a diary of his experiences in the Czech Republic as a member of the United States under-20 national team that is participating in the International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championships.
Flynn will be providing diary updates every few days to keep Gopher fans updated on the progress of he and his teammates, Mike Carman and Cade Fairchild. The U.S. team departed on Dec. 19 and will be coming home on Jan. 6.
December 31
Friday and Saturday were games two and three of the pool play and we were fortunate to come out with victories over Switzerland (4-2) and Russia (3-2). After our game with Russia we learned that we were fortunate enough to clinch a bye into the semi-finals of the tournament which was a great accomplishment for our team given the extra day of rest.
Today was our last day of pool play in Pool B against Finland. We were able to come out with a hard fought win against an always tough and scrappy Finland team. After two periods we were up by a score of 5-0, but with a little bit of lackluster play in the third period Finland was able to battle back to make it a score of 5-3.
Overall as a team we have been playing strong and tough hockey, but still have little areas of our game that need to be improved upon. We are very excited and looking forward to the next challenge that will be up next which will be decided between the outcome of the Finland-Canada quarterfinal game. Kyle, Mike, and Cade are all playing very strong roles for our team and have been key components to the success of this team so far.
Outside of the facets of the tournament, we have been spoiled a little bit over the past couple of days with pizza following our wins against Russia and Finland (when you're eating the same food everyday for two straight weeks, you would understand how big of a deal this was). Tomorrow we are traveling to Pardubice, for the beginning of the medal round, which is located about one and a half hours away from Liberec. Tomorrow will be a rest day before we have two practices on Wednesday and Thursday before our semifinal match up on Friday.
December 27
Yesterday we won our first game against a scrappy and skilled Khazakstan team. We knew it was going to be a tough first game and we were able to execute our game plan for the entire 60 minutes. It was good to get the tournament started as we have been preparing and practicing for over a week and a half in preparation for the first face-off. We got goals from James VanRiemsdyk, Rhett Rahkshani, Mike Carman, Colin Wilson, and Kyle Okposo. Cade Fairchild also chipped in with an assist on Wilson's fourth goal on the power play.
Christmas was a day filled with a couple of practices and meetings before exchanging gifts that each player brought (not the prototypical Christmas huh?). I don't know why, but for some reason the "Bourne Ultimatum" was the big gift this year (5 were brought). On Christmas day we also moved hotels to a place about 10 minutes down the rode in Liberec called "The Hotel Babylon." I'm not kidding when I say it's the biggest place I personally have ever stayed at. It takes about 5 minutes just to walk back and forth from your room to meal each time!
Today is a day off for us as we prepare for a very skilled Switzerland team tomorrow. It will be a battle from the drop of the puck, because of the number of offensive threats they have up front as well as their strength on the blue line. If we continue to play the way we did yesterday and dictate our physicality and style of play from the drop of the puck, we should give ourselves the best chance to succeed in the game.
December 23
We just finished up with our fourth day here in the Czech Republic. Last night was our second exhibition game and we faced off against the Czechs, losing 5-2. It was good for us to get a feel for the international style of hockey and refereeing as they were much more minor penalties being called compared to the WCHA. Mike (Carman), Cade (Fairchild), and Kyle (Okposo) are all looking strong with their play and will continue to be counted on to produce for this team to become successful.
On a different note, today was a much needed off day for the entire team. We were allowed to sleep in till 10 a.m. today, and when you are waking up at 7:45 on a consistent basis you would know how big of a deal it actually was. After breakfast we took a bus to a place similar to Lutsen's "Alpine Slide" and were allowed to take a couple of trips down the mountain. After the slide we headed back to the hotel and were allowed to have the rest of the day to ourselves to rest and relax. Cade, Kyle, Mike, Jamie McBain (unfortunately he's from the evil empire of Wisconsin) and myself spent a lot of our free time playing a card game called "euchre." It's a game we picked up over the past couple of years and helps us pass time.
We have a couple of practices tomorrow and Monday before we open up tournament play against Kazakhstan.
Merry Christmas!
December 20
We just ended our first day of travel and have finally settled into our hotel in Leberic, Czech Republic. It was a long day as we had a seven hour plane trip to Amsterdam, followed by a two hour plane trip to Prague, followed by another two hour bus ride. Add on top of that a seven hour time change and you've got a pretty tired team.
The Czech Republic is a very scenic area with lots of trees and wildlife surrounding its cities. So far we haven't been able to go out and sightsee too much, but hopefully we will be able to go into the city once we get settled in a bit.
We have an exhibition game scheduled with the Czechs on Saturday before we open up tournament play with Kazakhstan following Christmas.
