BLOG UPDATE #12
Monday, November 23rd (12:00pm ET)
The NHLPA Goals & Dreams “10 countries in 10 days” tour wrapped up on Sunday with another equipment donation and a celebration event at the Hockey Hall of Fame
Day Ten – Tour makes final stop in Toronto, Canada…
On Sunday, Matt, Rob, and I (and Jonathan) had a lovely 4:00am wake-up call to catch a 6:30 flight home. Due to the fact that our travel schedule was insane, the early wake-up time didn’t faze us at all. (We are all asking for sleep for Christmas!) Anyway, we arrived safely in Toronto and were thrilled to finally see our wives and children. After traveling the world and seeing so many children, it really makes you miss your own kids and appreciate them even more than we already did.
While we spent the day getting caught up with our families, a large contingent of the NHLPA staff was preparing for the culminating celebration of the tour and the 10th anniversary of G & D at the Hockey Hall of Fame. The NHLPA staff takes pride in everything we do and it showed in the way the event was run. When the guests arrived at the Hall, they were treated to videos of children playing hockey, all thanks to equipment donations from the players. Hundreds of photos of smiling, happy children were scattered throughout the Hall. Every smile is a success story. Every kid should be able to play hockey and we are thrilled to be involved with a program that has helped so many kids in such a big way.
NHLPA staff, corporate sponsors, friends and family, and of course NHLPA Members were in attendance for the grand finale event. In addition, we were thrilled to have four players from the Bosnian program travel back to Toronto to join us at the celebration. Former NHLer and current broadcaster with CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada, Kevin Weekes served as master of ceremonies for the event and he did a stellar job. Weekes, who is from Toronto, has been heavily involved in charity work and has worked in conjunction with the NHLPA Goals & Dreams fund on several occasions. When I thanked him for taking the time to help us out, he quickly said, “No, thank you, this is an honour and I will always be there for Goals & Dreams and future hockey players...call me anytime.” What a class act.
There were a few heartfelt speeches and some wonderful videos shown that highlighted the tour and the purpose of the trip. Tim Thompson of CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada created the closing video that played to Louis Armstrong’s “It’s A Wonderful World”; it was spectacular.
It’s Monday now. I can’t describe how proud I am to have reached our goal of helping kids for 10 years and embarking on this amazing tour to help celebrate it all. I’m even more proud of the staff, players and particularly our traveling crew of Matt, P.J., Rob, Tim and Keith. The crew was always up-beat, and always focused on the tour and how we can exceed expectations in each location. It is amazing what you can accomplish when you create a good team and a good plan.
We really appreciate the interest that many of you have shown in following us on our G & D journey over the past 10 days. I hope everyone has enjoyed the blog updates, videos and pictures, and I hope all of you tune in to the documentary that CBC is producing, which will air on December 19th. This TV show will elevate the players’ program and generosity to an even higher level, and the partnership with CBC will focus on the great side of hockey that isn’t always shown. In addition, P.J. Stock is incredibly entertaining, so it will be worth your while to check in to see his interviews with Peter Forsberg, Markus Naslund, Arturs Irbe and many others.
The NHLPA staff and NHLPA members are committed to improving the lives of children through NHLPA Goals & Dreams. If you know of any grassroots hockey programs that could use help, please check out the link on nhlpa.com and apply for funding. Every child should have the chance to play the great sport of hockey.
Thank you so much for your support and encouragement,
Devin (on behalf of the entire G & D team)
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BLOG UPDATE #11
Saturday, November 21st (11:45pm ET)
Day Nine – Tour makes first North American stop in New York City, USA…
Our day started with a flight from Frankfurt to Geneva, and then from Geneva to the JFK Airport in NYC. Not the normal travel path from Frankfurt to North America but it got us here. We arrived in NYC just before 3:00pm ET. Upon arrival in NYC, we hired a van to take us to the Bronx. (On the way to the event we got stuck in a traffic jam and had front row seats to a scrap between a taxi driver and another driver. It was bizarre.)
Prior to us landing in NYC, Jonathan Weatherdon – or ‘JW’ as we call him – represented the NHLPA Goals & Dreams fund at the first event of the day at 2:00pm, which was located at the New York Rangers training facility. JW was joined by Adam Graves and reps from the MSG Garden of Dreams program at the event. NHLPA Goals & Dreams donated 25 sets of equipment to the MSG Garden of Dreams – Learn to Skate Program. From everything we hear it was another successful event.
Our crew arrived at Kip's Bay Boys and Girls Club at 4:30pm where we were greeted by 25 happy kids. Zams delivered a nice speech to the kids about following their dreams. After a few chats and a few slices of pizza, the crew headed to Madison Square Gardens where we met up with Graves. Rob, Adam and 30 young hockey players took to the ice for an on-ice ceremony in front of the packed house during the second intermission of the New York Panthers - Florida Panthers game. It was awesome, and the kids absolutely loved it!
After the game, the crew went downstairs to provide updates on the tour to Radek Dvorak, Bryan McCabe and Steve Valiquette. All of the players were astonished at how rested we actually looked after visiting nine countries around the world so far in the past nine days. We thanked the guys for their support and headed back to the hotel for some much needed rest.
On Sunday, we catch a 6:30am flight to Toronto where we will make an equipment donation to sir Sandford Fleming Academy and have a celebration event at the Hockey Hall of Fame to conclude this fantastic – and very ambitious – 10 countries in 10 days tour.
We’re looking forward to the final celebration at the HHOF, the place where G & D began 10 years ago (and we can’t wait to see our families).
Our next update for you will likely come sometime after the event.
‘til then,
G & D crew
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BLOG UPDATE #10
Friday, November 20th (6:00pm ET; 12:00am in Frankfurt)
Day Eight – NHLPA Goals & Dreams finishes European aspect of tour in Frankfurt, Germany
It was another early morning start for us today. We left our hotel in Sarajevo, Bosnia at 5:00am to head to the airport. It was questionable whether or not we would get out of Sarajevo this morning. Surrounded by mountains, Sarajevo was engulfed by fog and delayed our flight to Vienna by almost an hour. With just over an hour between that flight and our connecting flight to Frankfurt, the G&D crew was getting a little anxious. (Actually, Stock was pretty much crying like a school girl. But it’s been like that most of the trip, ‘I'm tired?’, ‘when are we gonna eat?’, ‘how much longer?’)
We concluded our Euchre tournament on the flight to Germany. With Stock and Smith holding a lead heading into the trip, Zams and I mounted an epic comeback to win 10-9. However, Zams continued his giving ways by offering a chance to end the tournament in a tie. Stock and Smith did just that. So after countless hours of trash talk, chirping and playing this game on the plane during nearly every single one of our flights, the seemingly endless Euchre tournament fizzled out like a dud firework.
Nearing the homestretch of our whirlwind 10-country tour, the children we meet continue to impress us. Coming off a very emotional day yesterday, the kids from the Young Lions of Frankfurt program in Germany energized the G & D guys, and jump started this leg of the tour merely by chanting their team song.
Kerry Goulet, from “Shoot For A Cure” and “29 Sports”, joined the NHLPA G&D crew in Frankfurt today. Kerry played in Germany for many years and is organizing the NHLPA Goals & Dreams donation in Hannover and Timmendorf.
Similar to each of the previous seven days on the tour, today was all about the kids and having some fun. The Young Lions of Frankfurt kids spoke pretty well, and did a fantastic job keeping up with Zams and Devo, who kept them very busy (and the kids were especially chatty with and interested in Zams, the former NHLer himself).The Frankfurt Lions, who play in the DEL league, offered their team’s bus services to the G&D crew for the day as we travelled with the kids to lunch and then off to a game between Frankfurt Lions and Augsberger Panther.
At 4:00pm here, we held a press conference prior to the game where we announced the NHLPA Goals & Dreams donation of more than 30 sets of equipment to three grassroots programs in Germany (Frankfurt Lions, Hannover Scorpions/Indians and Timmendorf). Zams, Devo, myself and a representative from the Germany DEL took part in the press conference.
During the player introductions, prior to the game, the Young Lions of Frankfurt were on the ice with the professional hockey players, and were also lucky enough to play a "timbits" style hockey game between both the first and the second periods. While the kids were on the ice, Devo acted as the CBC rinkside correspondent, interviewing some of the kids. They were having a great time and it was evident that they love playing the game. On the ice, the kids were all smiles in front of more than 1,000 fans. And, to top off another great day, the home team in the DEL game, the Frankfurt Lions, went on to win the game and move into 3rd place in the league.
The G & D crew here is starting to show our fatigue, we’re wearing down. Tonight was an early night for the boys to rest up for the weekend, the last two days of the tour.
And (finally) P.J. is headed back to Canada for his work on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada tomorrow. Kidding aside, P.J. was a great ambassador for the tour and the program, the kids really looked up to him, and it was great to have him on the trip (as long as we had earplugs). We’ll meet up with him on Sunday night for the wrap up event at the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Tomorrow, we’re looking forward to visiting the Big Apple. A quick trip to the Bronx is planned for our event with Kip's Bay Boys & Girls Club, followed by an event with the MSG Garden of Dreams foundation. Between the two programs in New York City tomorrow, NHLPA Goals & Dreams will be donating another 50 sets of hockey equipment.
It never gets old putting smiles on kids’ faces. Although, we’re really looking forward to seeing our own kids…a couple more days.
until NYC,
Matty Langen (or ‘Langdon’ as P.J. would say)
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BLOG UPDATE #9
Thursday, November 19th (6:00pm ET; 12:00pm in Sarajevo)
Day Seven – NHLPA Goals & Dreams tour makes memorable stop in Sarajevo, Bosnia
Just before 3:00pm this afternoon we arrived in Sarajevo, Bosnia. (Euchre series update: After a couple bad losses, Matty and Zams made a bit of a comeback, with the score for the tour now sitting at 9-8 in Devo and P.J.’s favour.) It didn’t take long for our team here to be absolutely overwhelmed by our surroundings. Only two minutes from the airport, we drove by buildings and even homes in residential areas that were damaged by bullet holes in the war that this country endured.
We were given a short tour of Sarajevo, and some history of Bosnia, on way to our destination.
During our drive we stopped at a monument which we learned was built to memorialize a little girl who was killed by a sniper, essentially starting the war that began in 1992 and lasted for years.
So let’s just say our tour got off to a very heavy start – unlike any of our other stops to this point.
At around 4:30pm we arrived at a gymnasium where we were again overwhelmed, but in such a positive way this time. Two-hundred children greeted us with a thunderous ovation; it rivaled that of an NHL arena. It really was a rock-star introduction for us. And most importantly, it showed us very quickly how much the NHLPA Goals & Dreams equipment donation, and our visit to their country, means to these kids in Bosnia. The kids were eagerly awaiting our arrival, and you could see by the looks on their faces, the enthusiasm and awe felt at the sight of a couple of former NHLers like Zams and P.J., right in their very own gymnasium. The way they admired all of us from the NHLPA Goals & Dreams program was just awesome.
(Just to give you some background on the kids who received the equipment) Bosnia-Herzegovina Sports Foundation (BiH) was founded by a Canadian, Brad Collins, in 2002. It started as a free ball hockey program, merely to try and get kids off the streets, and has since expanded into four registered national hockey clubs in Ilidza Sarajevo, Tuzla, Gorazde and Priedor in the Republic of Serbia! NHLPA Goals & Dreams donated 50 sets of hockey equipment to them last winter. This time around, we’re donating another 25 sets to the program. To say that the kids appreciate all of this new equipment would be an understatement. The foundation has four chapters, all of which are named after NHL teams: the Leafs, the Penguins, the Islanders and the Red Wings.
Not long after soaking up our greeting, we broke the kids up into groups to teach some hockey skill development drills. Devo taught the kids wrist shots; Matty showed them the art of the slapshot; we also did some passing drills; and P.J. was showing the kids his expertise of dump-ins (we’re sort of kidding about the last one!).
At 6:00pm our time, we played a game of ball hockey. Since members from the Canadian military also joined us today in Sarajevo, our team – Team Canada – consisted of P.J., Zams, Devo, Matty and Canadian military members on-hand for the day, all decked out in NATO jerseys. The Bosnian team was made up of leaders from BiH Sports Foundation (including Mirzet Hodzić, who is a very inspiring young man who has persevered and defied so much tragedy and difficulty in his own life).
Matty scored a highlight-reel goal (after being trash-talked by P.J., his teammate). P.J. had his usual stone-hands. It was a good game. The leaders from the Bosnian program are pretty good hockey players, so it wasn’t surprising that when the buzzer went it was Team Bosnia that finished on top, winning by a score of 3-2, to the joy of hundreds of young Bosnian hockey fans.
After the game we shared a dinner with the kids and local dignitaries, the Canadian Ambassador, members of the Canadian military, and those responsible for bring us here. There were a few speeches, including one by Brad Collins, who was one of the key individuals behind starting the BiH Sports Foundation in 2002, that moved all of us with his words about the Bosnian kids, who he referred to as the leaders of the future of Bosnia.
Brad also talked about the program’s appreciation for the NHLPA Goals & Dreams:
“I don’t know if you know this, but most kids have nightmares, not dreams. And for you to come in here tonight and be a part of their life is a dream come true. The impact that the NHLPA had on these kids today is a dream.”
Mirzet, or Mici, also spoke about his own life. There wasn’t a dry eye in the place. His is truly a remarkable story.
It’s going to take us awhile to really process what we saw today. These kids have lived through so much. Some of them have lived through the war in the ‘90s. (One kid told us how he remembered eating actual hardwood, just to keep his stomach full-- so sad.) We were mesmerized by the kids and by the stories they shared with us. These kids have seen so much, including the genocide, where many lost family members or friends. And still, here they were, laughing, smiling, and just thrilled to play and talk about hockey!
Our G & D crew… we’re wiped. We wish we could better deliver the significance of the day through this blog. It was fun, it was tough, and we’re so glad we made the trip to make this equipment donation, and most importantly to meet these truly great young kids in Bosnia.
Please check out the videos and the photos we took today. It’s so hard to
put this day into words.
We do need to get a few hours sleep though. Another early morning tomorrow
when we catch a flight to Vienna, before heading to Frankfurt for Day Eight
of the tour.
Until tomorrow,
G & D crew
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BLOG UPDATE #8
Wednesday, November 18th (3:00pm ET; 9:00pm in Trnava)
On Day Six of the NHLPA Goals & Dreams “10 countries in 10 days” tour, Zdeno Ciger, and Joseph Budaj - Peter’s brother - joined the G & D crew.
Day Six – Tour going strong as the team visits Trnava, Slovakia…
Day 6 in Trnava, Slovakia is close to being wrapped up. We just finished two games against some of the local kids whom we are donating the equipment to. I don't want to toot my own horn, but after finishing +2 with 2 shots on goal, I'm thinking of making a comeback. Matt 'Langdon' Langen and ‘DAvon’ Devin Smith seemed a little outclassed by the 7 and 8-year olds they were competing against. Zamuner showed promise, but his old legs caught up to him by the 12- minute mark of the first period. High-fives, photos, and a press conference followed by a 2-hour drive to Vienna, and voila, Day 6 is done.
We are having a blast and meeting some amazing people on this voyage which hopefully will deliver well on film. We have been gathering a tonne of great footage, interviews and b-roll that will be used to create a nice recap when we return. To give you an idea of how much material we are capturing, our poor cameraman Keith Whalen lugged his camera around to film almost every corner of Prague yesterday and most of Bratislava this morning. (One thing that I hope doesn't make it to film is ‘Langdon’s’ right armpit excessive perspiration. If anyone reading this blog can help slow down his leaky right faucet, please contact us!)
We landed in Bratislava early this morning and immediately hopped into a couple of cars and drove – no joke – 160 kms per hour to Trnava. The day kicked off with us meeting with the mayor, before heading over to a school to hang out with some kids and listening to Zams rehashing his glory days in Tampa Bay.
And we got down to real business today too, giving more kids here in Slovakia a chance to lace-up the blades and play this game that we all love. Another 25 sets of equipment were donated by the NHLPA Goals & Dreams program today: 9 sets to HK Trnava, 8 sets to HK Banska Bystrica, and 8 sets for HK Michalovce. As has been the case everywhere so far on the tour, the kids were super-pumped to receive the new gear, and to hear some hockey stories from Zams, myself and Zdeno Ciger today.
Of all our days on this tour so far, Day 6 in Trnava has been the busiest. We’re looking forward to our 2-hour drive tonight to Vienna, Austria. We head to Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzogovina tomorrow, and I think I speak for the group in saying that we’ve had Day 7, Bosnia circled on our schedule for the entire trip. It’s going to be special.
Stay tuned...
P.J.
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BLOG UPDATE #7
Tuesday, November 17th
(7:00pm ET; 1:00am on Wednesday in Prague)
On Day Five of the NHLPA Goals & Dreams “10 countries in 10 days” tour, Jaroslav Modry, Martin Rucinsky, Martin Straka and Jiri Slegr joined the G & D crew.
Day Five – Tour hits halfway mark in Prague, Czech Republic…
We got an early start for the second consecutive day as we caught another 7:00am flight. We left our Riga hotel for the airport at 5:00am…and well, the only natural thing to do that early at the airport is order pizza for the boys. We arrived back in Stockholm for our third trip to the Stockholm airport in our trip already. I had a great conversation with Archie who joined us on this portion of the flight. We talked about what it was like growing up in Latvia, our children, and of course what hockey means to both of us. Really, he’s a great man!
Euchre was once again the focus on the flight from Stockholm to Prague. While Langen and I got out to a 6 games to 3 lead, Devo and Stock actually laid a beating on us today and have managed to tie it up at 6 games a piece.
We arrived in Prague, Czech Republic just after noon. (Today is actually a holiday in the Czech Republic; Day of the Students' Battle for Freedom and Democracy, or Den boje za svobodu a demokracii.) P.J. and I walked to the old city and eventually to the famous Charles Bridge. The architecture is amazing and the fact that the buildings were built hundreds of years ago is fascinating. We went out for lunch in the old town square; sausages and ham, cooked on an open spit with a beverage to quench our thirst. Fat-free.
At the Sparta-Plzen Czech hockey game, we presented 75 sets of equipment to kids (prior to the game). We donated 25 sets of hockey equipment to the Sparta Program, another 25 sets of equipment to the Litvinov Program and 25 more sets to the Plzen Hockey Program. (As a side-note, Martin Straka scored an absolute beauty goal in the shootout of that game.)
Martin Rucinsky, Martin Straka, Jaroslav Modry and Jiri Slegr were really great hosts for our event in Prague. Rucinsky said after the event how he thought the celebration today was fantastic.
After the game, we went out for dinner here with the organizing committee of the event. More great food, more stories, and more danger for P.J.'s waistline.
On this trip, there are four fathers here who have 12 children between us in total. Hi to all of them. We miss them and are looking forward to telling them all about our travels on Sunday.
More to come when we touch down in Trnava, Slovakia...
Til then,
Zams
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BLOG UPDATE #6
Monday, November 16th (10:00am ET; 5:00pm in Riga)
On Day Four of the NHLPA Goals & Dreams “10 countries in 10 days” tour, Arturs Irbe joined the G & D crew.
Day Four - G & D team visits Riga, Latvia to donate more equipment and celebrate 10th anniversary with former NHLer and native hero, Irbe…
First off, sorry we weren’t able to provide another update after the event in Moscow last night. So, to finish up…After the event, we went straight to a traditional Russian restaurant for dinner with Pavel and a few of the people who organized the great G & D event with us (so we didn’t really have a chance really to send another update along). We thought it was another big success for the G & D crew. A lot of media showed up for the press conference and it truly was evident we were in the company of a superstar; Pavel is truly admired by many, many fans in his home country of Russia. It was really nice he came out to support the cause and help give more Russian youth a chance to play the game he was so great at.
Onto Riga:
We caught a very early flight out of Moscow this morning to Riga, Latvia. When we landed in Latvia, we were greeted by Girts Udris (local hockey coach there and part of organizing committee for G & D event in Latvia). It’s been pretty cloudy here today, probably about +5 degrees outside. Girts took us to our hotel, before we were taken on a tour of Riga by his daughter, Sabine Udris. She took us through the old town part of Riga. It’s truly beautiful there, and full of great architecture. After our brief sightseeing, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for our event. Dress shirts + ties for the entire G & D crew for the first time on the trip! (we think Arturs had a suspicion we would show up wearing jogging suits so he gave us a more formal dress code!)
At the arena, we had our press conference at 2:00pm, which was well attended. We presented Arturs with an NHLPA Goals & Dreams “10 countries in 10 days” world tour jersey. The donation was explained, nine different youth hockey organizations in Latvia will each receive five sets of equipment from NHLPA Goals & Dreams for a total of 45 sets of equipment donated. The children in attendance were very excited. After the press conference, a few of the children got to skate on the ice at the arena. Following that, Zams, P.J. and “Archie” ran a practice for minor hockey team. It was really cool to see, and these kids were eager to learn from all of the pros who were their coaches for a day. Archie is very well-liked in Latvia, and we really can’t say enough about how nice of a guy he is and how much he cares about giving back to the kids from his native land.
To give everyone an idea of how much Archie cares about the program and helping kids in Latvia, he flew all the way from the U.S. (where he works as a goalie coach with the Washington Capitals) to Latvia and is leaving tomorrow after the event is over so he can get back to his work with the Caps. Now that’s dedication!
Arturs told the G & D crew after the press conference, “The NHLPA Goals & Dreams program means a lot to Latvian people. I’m so proud to be a part of this event and past donations, giving kids from my home country a chance to play hockey.”
That’s all for now. We’ll have another update for you tomorrow from Prague. In the meantime, you should check out the pictures and videos we’ve uploaded onto the website (www.nhlpa.com/10in10), if you haven’t already done so. We’ve gotten some great footage and photos so far! We’re hoping to upload all of our videos and photos from the events in Russia and Latvia soon, too (once we’re able to find a good internet connection to do so).
Until then,
G & D crew
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BLOG UPDATE #5
Sunday, November 15th (8:45 ET; 4:45pm in Moscow)
On Day Three of the NHLPA Goals & Dreams “10 countries in 10 days” tour, Pavel Bure and Markus Naslund joined the G & D crew.
Day Three - G & D team visits Moscow, Russia with Russian hockey legend…
We had an early wake-up this morning; after a fantastic day in Finland. Our flight from Helsinki to Moscow arrived at around noon here. Although there was no continuation of our Euchre series today, as we were way too tired for that on the plane and tried to just get as much rest as we could before another busy day today (we will try and continue our match on the flight to Riga tomorrow).
When we arrived, we were greeted by a typical Russian day, misty, overcast, and about +2 degrees outside (we type this as we hear the weather is much nicer back home this week!). Upon arriving, we came straight to our hotel from the airport. Zams, P.J., Devo and Langen had swimming races in the hotel pool (we still act like a bunch of little kids when we get the chance) before we headed to the Red Square for the G & D event on our Moscow leg of the tour.
Russian hockey legend, Pavel Bure met up with us shortly after 1:00pm here. We toured Moscow (which is one of Devo’s absolute favourite cities in the world) with two of the greatest Vancouver Canucks of all-time, Nazy and Pavel. And great guys too! Pretty cool stuff.
At 5:00pm we have a press conference here with Pavel Bure at Hodynka Hockey rink where we’ll be announcing the NHLPA Goals & Dreams donation of 25 full sets of hockey equipment to Children’s House. It’s going to be awesome. They absolutely love Pavel here, and so they should. That, coupled with the smiles we are going to see on the young kids’ faces thanks to the equipment donation, it’s going to be pretty special.
Pavel told the G&D crew, "The donation to Children's House will make a huge difference in their lives. It is great that the NHLPA donated to this program and took the time to come to Moscow on the world tour."
After the press conference, we have plans to go out for dinner with Pavel, where I’m sure we’ll share some stories and laughs after a great day/ event, and it will also be a chance for Nazy and Devo to catch up with Pavel (Nazy of course was teammates with him in Vancouver and Devo worked with the Canucks back then too).
We hope to have another update for you after the press conference and dinner.
‘til then,
NHLPA Goals & Dreams crew
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BLOG UPDATE #4
Saturday, November 14th (3:00pm ET; 10:00pm in Finland)
On Day Two of the NHLPA Goals & Dreams “10 countries in 10 days” tour, Esa Tikkanen, Jyrki Lumme, and Markus Naslund joined the G & D crew.
Day Two - G & D tour gaining momentum as team visits Helsinki, Finland…
Day two did not disappoint as the NHLPA Goals & Dreams crew had another amazing day in Europe. It started with an early flight from Stockholm, Sweden to Helsinki, Finland where the crew once again engaged in some spirited hands of the card game Euchre. For the second day in a row, Langen and Zamuner held an advantage over Smith and Stock. Dozens of hands have been played while the crew has been in the air, with the trash talking starting to pick up (Zams' team holds an early 4-3 lead in the series, with many more games to come).
Upon arrival in Helsinki, it was time for the second event on our tour. With the help of former NHL player Jyrki Lumme, the Finnish IFK Hockey Club organized a first-class event. We held a pre-game press conference that featured Esa Tikkanen, Jyrki Lumme, Markus Naslund and Rob Zamuner presenting 10 Country, 10 Days Tour jerseys to the Canadian Ambassador to Finland, Christopher Shapardanov, and Icehearts Program Founder, Ilkka Turkka. (Icehearts helps financially challenged children and new Finnish residents play the sport of hockey).
The press conference was followed by a pre-game ceremony in front of 7,400 fans, which greeted the G&D crew with a rousing ovation. Zamuner, Stock and Naslund presented a few of the kids from the Icehearts program with NHLPA Goals & Dreams jerseys as a symbol of the 20 sets of equipment donated to the grassroots hockey program (Elomaa School in Finland also is receiving 5 sets of hockey equipment from NHLPA Goals & Dreams). The crowd was also thrilled to see five-time Stanley Cup-winner Esa Tikkanen on the ice lending a hand to donate the equipment.
Turkka thanked Jyrki and all NHLPA members for their commitment to grassroots hockey in Finland.
We then were treated to a fantastic Finnish league hockey game. The contest was very exciting with the visiting TPS team, featuring former Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Aki Berg, getting a 6-5 victory.
Following the game, the NHLPA Goals & Dreams crew had a great roundtable
discussion with Lumme, Naslund, Stock and Zamuner. The topics ranged from
characters in the league and the style of hockey here compared to the game
played in the NHL. The crew shared a bunch of laughs and is now looking forward
to visiting with Pavel Bure in the historic capital city of Russia, Moscow
tomorrow. It should be another good day.
Until tomorrow,
NHLPA Goals & Dreams crew
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BLOG UPDATE #3
Friday, November 13th (1:00pm ET; 7:00pm in Sweden)
Day One - G & D team kick-off tour in Ornskoldsvik, Sweden…
It was an early rise on day one for the NHLPA Goals & Dreams crew as we were treated to some great sights around the quaint town of Ornskoldsvik. Although it is only day one, we are already amazed by some of the great experiences and sights we have taken in.
Driving by Victor Hedman's parents’ house, we noticed their driveway was
fittingly equipped with a “reserved parking spot for Tampa Bay Lightning fans.”
Atop Varvsberget (Vars mountain), we were treated to some of the most beautiful
sights of the town. The calmness and views of the Baltic Sea were absolutely
incredible and left this group speechless, (which is pretty hard to do when
you are traveling with P.J. I don't think he has been quiet for more than
2 minutes this trip!)
The short trip back down the mountain led the crew to a small outdoor rink, complete with a chain link fence (acting as the boards and glass) and overhead lights (which were needed as it is completely dark by 4:00pm local time here). As the group stood in the parking lot we could see a concrete floor nearby, which was framed by relatively new looking hockey rink-boards that just happened to be donated by the NHLPA Goals & Dreams fund a few years ago. The Baltic Sea once again acted as the back-drop to the scenic view. Markus talked glowingly about the rink where he fine-tuned his hockey skills and made lifelong friendships. His stories included his long walks in his equipment to the rink, watching the Sedin twins hanging out as little rink rats and countless games against Forsberg under the lights.
Following the visit to the outdoor rinks, it was time to meet with the youth hockey players and make our first donation of the tour. When Markus walked into the dressing room to talk to the young hockey players from the Ornsköldsviks Hockeyklubb, you could hear a pin drop, and could see the look of awe on each of the kids’ faces. The local kids, and their parents, are thrilled to have their local hero back in the community.
In addition to spreading words of wisdom, Markus, along with P.J. and Rob were handing out brand new equipment to deserving kids. We proudly donated 75 complete sets of hockey equipment on behalf of the players. We donated 50 sets of brand-new equipment to the Ornsköldsviks Hockeyklubb and another 25 sets of equipment to Jarveds IF.
A pre-game speech by P.J. and Rob pumped up the kids before they headed out on the ice. After a pro-style warm-up, Markus, Rob and P.J. made an equipment presentation to Antila, President of the Ornsköldsviks Hockeyklubb.
The boys put on a great show for us. A few dangles reminded the former NHLers of themselves growing up. (Well maybe not Stock, he played more the dump and chase style of game.)
Markus' father Sture came out to help with the gift-giving as did fellow Ornskoldsvik resident and former NHLer, Nicklas Sundstrom.
Gunilla Eklund, Manager of Ornskoldsvik Hockey Club, told us that this is "a fantastic day for this city".
We are currently having a bite to eat at O'Leary's, a popular Irish bar, before we hop on a flight to Stockholm. We depart first thing Saturday morning to meet up with Jyrki Lumme and Esa Tikkanen in Helsinki.
‘til Helsinki,
The NHLPA Goals & Dreams crew.
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BLOG UPDATE #2
Thursday, November 12th (1:00pm ET; 7:00pm in Sweden)
*Note: Devin Smith, Matt Langen, Rob Zamuner, P.J. Stock, Tim Thompson and Keith Whelan arrived in Sweden yesterday. They are meeting with a couple of former NHL players and NHLPA Goals & Dreams Ambassadors, and “getting their bearings”, prior to the whirlwind tour starting tomorrow on Friday, November 13th in Ornskoldsvik, Sweden to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the NHLPA Goals & Dreams fund.
These guys are kind of a big deal…
‘Hej’ to all the 10 in 10 blog followers from Sweden! We are finalizing preparations for the “10 countries in 10 days” tour and our team of Zams, P.J., Matt I are all excited to get things underway.
We just arrived in Orskoldsvik, the kick-off location for the Tour, after an hour-long flight from Stockholm. We were joined on the flight by none other than NHL and international hockey superstar, Peter Forsberg! (‘Foppa’, as he is known here in Sweden, is currently contemplating the next step in his hockey career.)
Upon arrival in Orskoldsvik, we were met at the airport by Peter’s former teammate, childhood friend and huge supporter of the NHLPA Goals & Dreams program, Markus Naslund. It was pretty cool to be chatting with two Swedish hockey legends in their hometown airport. After some small-talk and jokes, we made dinner plans for the group, including Forsberg, to meet up at the appropriately named ‘Mamma Mia’, which I’m told is an amazing Italian restaurant located in the heart of Ornskoldsvik.
Tomorrow is Day 1 of the 10 day tour and we can’t wait to start donating equipment to some deserving kids. P.J., Zams and Markus will be coaching teams on the ice at the Skyttishallen. Markus played at the Skyttishallen at the age of 14 for a few years and competed against Peter’s team MoDo there. Tomorrow is going to be the start of a special tour for us, NHLPA Goals & Dreams, and, most importantly, the children who will be benefiting from these donations. For now though, it’s off to ‘Mamma Mia’ for some great food and what I’m sure will be some fantastic stories from two of the greatest Swedish players of all-time!
Keep checking back with us regularly for updates from the road…we hope to have a couple more updates for you tomorrow. Only 25 hours until the tour begins!
Until then…
Devin
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BLOG UPDATE #1
Wednesday, November 11th (1:00pm ET; 7:00pm in Sweden)
*Note: Devin, Matt, Rob, P.J., Tim and Keith arrived in Sweden earlier today. They will be meeting with a couple of former NHL players and NHLPA Goals & Dreams Ambassadors and “getting their bearings”, prior to the whirlwind tour starting on Friday, November 13th in Ornskoldsvik, Sweden to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the NHLPA Goals & Dreams fund.
AND IT BEGINS...
The trip began with P.J. Stock and Rob Zamuner doing an interview from Pearson Airport in Toronto before catching a flight to Frankfurt and then on to Stockholm. Rob Zamuner told P.J. while he was on the phone to ‘remind him that you actually played in the NHL.’ It was the first of many zingers that will be delivered on this trip.
For those of you who don’t know, there are six of us traveling to 10 countries to donate hockey equipment to deserving children and celebrating their hockey programs with them (Sweden, Finland, Russia, Latvia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bosnia, Germany, USA and Canada) . The six people that are embarking on this trip are P.J. Stock (former NHL player), Rob Zamuner (former NHL player), Matt Langen (Manager of NHLPA Goals & Dreams), Tim Thompson (Producer for CBC Hockey Night in Canada), Keith Whalen (Cameraman for CBC Sports) and me, Devin Smith (Chairman of NHLPA Goals & Dreams).
The six of us are very excited to embark on this journey together. We are like a bunch of school kids wondering where this journey will take us and who we will meet and laugh with along the way. Most of the guys haven’t been to the countries we are headed to. In fact, P.J. has only traveled to three countries before this trip (Canada, U.S. and Mexico). There is no doubt that he will be overwhelmed by the beauty of the countries and the positive attitudes of the people that live in them.
The flight to Frankfurt left on time and was actually quite nice. Rob struggled with his seat for most of the flight. Tim and I slept most of it. Matt watched every shoot-em up movie they had and P.J. can’t sleep on planes, which should make for a very long trip for him. He has already asked if he is “allowed” to have a nap in Stockholm before we go out for dinner.
We visited the Lufthansa Lounge in Frankfurt for some fruit and snacks and ran into US-born actor Ethan Hawke (Training Day, Dead Poets Society). We just arrived in Stockholm today and are going to tour the town and meet up with some reporters and former PA member, Mike Sillinger for dinner. Mike is in town scouting for the Edmonton Oilers. Mike has organized a few NHLPA Goals & Dreams programs in his hometown of Regina so it will be great to see him just before the tour kicks-off.
Check back with us regularly on www.nhlpa.com/10in10 as we will be posting daily (if not more) blog updates. Can’t wait for the tour to begin!
From the road,
Devin.
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Day 1: November 13, Ornskoldsvik, Sweden Day 2: November 14, Helsinki, Finland Day 3: November 15, Moscow, Russia Day 4: November 16, Riga, Latvia Day 5: November 17, Prague, Czech Republic Day 6: November 18, Trnava, Slovakia Day 7: November 19, Sarajevo, Bosnia Day 8: November 20, Frankfurt, Germany Day 9: November 21, New York, U.S.A. Day 10: November 22, Toronto, Canada |
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The NHLPA Goals & Dreams fund, which is funded entirely by NHLPA Members, is the largest grassroots hockey program in the world The program was launched on November 19, 1999 at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto Since its inception, NHLPA Goals & Dreams has donated more than $17 million to hundreds of grassroots hockey programs NHLPA Goals & Dreams has donated hockey equipment to programs in 22 countries including South Africa, Australia, Romania, India, Malaysia More than 40,000 children have benefited from the hockey equipment donations through Goals & Dreams More than 350 NHL players have been personally involved in NHLPA Goals & Dreams donations either in their hometown or playing cities |
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November 18, 2009 | NHLPA.com November 13, 2009 November 13, 2009 |
NHLPA.com October 10, 2009 |
