So our trip to Canada was a blast! We flew into Buffalo, NY on Wednesday morning. We rented 2 vans and a couple of cars to drive across the border. After going through customs, our hotel (Sheraton on the Falls) was only a block away. It was right on Niagara Falls! There was a foot of snow on the ground too! We spent Wed. afternoon unpacking, eating lunch (at Hard Rock Cafe) and playing in the snow at the falls. We ate dinner at Boston Pizza and the kids played video games.
Our first game was Thursday morning. We lost 4-2 but the boys played great! We had another game later in the morning and also lost 3-0. Since our afternoon was free, we had lunch and hung out at the indoor pool for a while. We went to Ruby Tuesdays for dinner and then back to the pool for some major diving competitions between the boys. Early to bed though because of tomorrow's early start!
On Friday morning, we woke up to lots more snow! It kept snowing all day, which was cool because we don't see that in GA! We had an early game, so we headed to the rink. The boys played much better this game and pulled out a win of 5-2. After the game, the entire team had a pancake breakfast upstairs while overlooking the next hockey game. Then we headed back to the hotel for a couple of hours of rest and lunch. The first Quarterfinal game was that afternoon. It was a very close, very exciting, very tense game. I think the parents were more stressed out than the boys were. Since it was now single elimination, you must win all games to stay in it. Those boys played their little hearts out! But in the last 2 minutes of the game, the other scored to make it 3-2. Our boys tried and tried to score again, but to no avail. The locker room was quite a sad place to be. The boys were crushed. Jason told me later that all of them were welling up with tears. They wanted to win that game so bad!
We headed back to the hotel and everyone kind of did their own thing for the evening. We went over to Boston Pizza again. On Saturday morning we all met up and drove into Kitchener to visit some ex-Atlantans. They were transferred back to Canada 3 years ago and when they found out we were coming up, they invited the whole team over to skate on their outdoor rink. They boys absolutely loved this! They had goals and pucks, so they even had a scrimmage going for a while. They fed us lunch and were so much fun to talk to. In the afternoon, we drove on up to Toronto to visit the Hockey Hall of Fame. This was pretty cool as well. There was tons of hockey memorabilia from the first game back in 1917 all the way through the most recent inductees. Plus, the Stanley Cup was there! After 2 and a half hours of this, we left and went looking for dinner. We ended up at a local Italian restaurant, right down from the Air Canada Center (where the Maple Leafs play) By the time we got back to the hotel that night, it was time for bed!
Sunday morning was clean up, pack up, load up. And off to the airport we went.
Harrison's hockey team was invited to play at Philips Arena after the Thrasher's game on Sunday, March 14. Also, he was chosen to be the Player of the Game! Which means he was able to dress in full gear, sit in the Penalty Box during the pre-game warm up, then skate out with the players during the National Anthem. This was a really cool thing for him to do and we were all very excited! Several of our friends and family bought tickets and joined us for the evening of fun. His fan club included: Nana Phillips; Papaw Lamar and Monica; Amanda, Greg and the boys; Louis and Linda; Nana Tammy, Phil and Jacob; Bronson and Tamara; MaryBeth and Bob! It was wonderful to see so many people there to support him! Jason stayed with him in the penalty box and they came up to our seats after the anthem. Once the game was over, we all went down to the seats on the glass and watched his team play against the Atlanta Fire.....and win! It was a great night all around! Here is the video of the anthem. Be sure your volume is up to hear them announce his name!
