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Day 5: November 17th, Prague, Czech Republic
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
NHLPA Goals & Dreams in the Czech Republic
Local youth hockey programs in the Czech Republic have enjoyed tremendous support from many NHL players in partnership with the NHLPA Goals & Dreams fund. Grassroots hockey organizations have received donations from the fund valuing more than $500,000 CDN. To date, this money has been used to provide more than 1,000 sets of hockey equipment to children in the Czech Republic. Notable Czech NHLers including Dominik Hasek, Pavel Kubina, Jaroslav Modry, Martin Rucinsky, Jiri Slegr, Martin Straka and many others have been involved in Goals & Dreams equipment donations.
A few of the programs supported by the NHLPA Goals & Dreams fund include:
- Frydek Mistek Hockey Club – 40 sets of equipment – Pavel Kubina
- Ales Kotalik Hockey Program – 60 sets of equipment – Ales Kotalik
- Vitkovice Steel Hockey Club – 65 sets of equipment – Pavel Kubina
- Hokejovy Klub Novy Jicin – 54 sets of equipment – Rostislav Klesla
- HC Sareza Ostrava – 50 sets of equipment – Marek Malik
- HC Kladno – 20 sets of equipment – Tomas Kaberle
- Spartak Vlasim – 39 sets of equipment – Michal Rozsival
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Day 5 – Coaches Corner, Stock & Zams style Day 5 – Martin Straka scores in shootout in Czech Republic game P.J. recaps Latvian event/ Zamuner tees up Czech event
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NHLPA Goals & Dreams facts:
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