2002 IIHF World Junior Championship

Journal Entry: December 29th, 2001

I slept poorly last night. There is really something special about playing the Russians.

With an early start time, the players go to the rink in the morning to tape their sticks and set things up for the game. I stayed at the hotel and put our game plan together. When they get back to the hotel, we had a short video session to present the tendancies we've noticed with the Russians.

We left for the rink shortly after 1pm, but it got off to an awkward start for me. I got on the bus and was about to sit down when I realized I was on the wrong bus. I was on the Russian bus! Anyways, the boys on our bus had a good chuckle when they realized what had happened.

Boy, what a roller coaster ride of a game! We almost went over the edge numerous times but we found a way to win despite some rough moments. It was amazing to see how excited the players were to beat Russia. None of these guys were born in 1972 except for the coaches and staff. But as Canadians, it always means a lot to beat Russia. It's as if, we're born with that feeling in our blood.

Following the game, we took the boys to a restaurant that wasn't at the hotel. It was good to get a change of scenery and boy, was it ever good not to eat pork and to get some ice cream!

Jared Aulin's father has arrived as have many parents. A few days ago, when he got in, he gave some goofy toques in the shape of a maple leafs for some of our players. Well, they were very popular and when Jared's mother arrived today, there were enough for everyone, including the coaching staff.

Well, so much for enjoying the victory over Russia. We started preparing for Finland almost immediately after the game.

There's always some late night work for me after our games. I got my entry in for the team newsletter. (The newsletter is basically the team's newsletter, with a schedule for the day, trivia, quotes, scores and standings – our own newspaper for the World Juniors)

I went over tomorrow's schedule and met with the captain and assistant captains and the coaches. The players were in their rooms at 10:30, and we walk through the hallways

As I sit in my small room somewhere across the ocean, I hope that people back home are enjoying the tournament because as a coach, every day goes by so quickly. I'll get to sleep sometime after midnight. Time to forget about the Russians and start thinking about the Finns.