West Coast Selects vs TuusKi C

Today we moved to the Hotel Seurahuone in Riihimaki. The hotel is within walking distance to the rink where the tournament games will be played. Riihimaki is a beautiful town with cobblestone streets and quaint shops. Most of the shops have been closed for Good Friday and the Easter holiday. The food is fabulous and incredibly fresh, and the black licorice is a good enough reason on its own to travel to Finland.

It is still unseasonably cold here and very windy which makes for fun walks to the rink. We parents are beginning to believe the coaches are trying to whip us into shape along with the girls. We no longer disagree with our girls when they tell us the coaches are really tough as we now believe they are out to get us. We are nursing our charlie horses along side our daughters.

Our first game of the tournament, the girls played the Tuuski C Russian girls team. Although we were on the losing side of a 2-0 game, it was hard fought and very physical. Our girls didn't back down against a very big and strong Russian team. Our players didn't know it at the time, but the ages of the girls on Tuuski C are between 14 and 16 years old. Our WCS team is comprised of four 11-year-olds and thirteen 12-year-olds. We're told that the Tuuski C team is the toughest of the competition but that remains to be seen. Hopefully, we'll see them again.

I will be posting more pictures of the players tomorrow, but below is a team picture the girls took with the Tuuski C girls.