East Coast Selects / VReds 92 Sweden Tour

USA / Russia Highlights (U-18 highlights)

Here are a number of highlights I found in my files from the USA/ Russia game which are pretty good. 

Russian Goal

Interesting Action

Hi everyone,

I have been posting a number of videos throughout the older posts, but it was suggested that it might be nice to post some of the not seen videos that had a bit of action on the most recent page.  I may be repeating a few videos, but here are some of the videos you may not have seen yet and a few others which are audience favourites. 

Here is a little bit of action in front of the net:

And here they are all acting a little more gentle......

Goal by James Polk (#16) - I had really bad luck capturing goals and on this one the battery died as he shot. however, I do remember that he did score and I was heartbroken I didn't capture it all.

HOCKEY PARENTS - LIGHT HUMOUR

Top 30 clues that you are a hockey parent:

30. Has more miles on his '03 SUV than a '66 Chevy.

29. Has had to use a grandparent to take kid #1 to a tournament because Dad was in a different city with kid #2 at a tournament and Mom had kid #3 in another city in a 3rd tournament all in one weekend.

28. Knows every single kid on every single team your child has ever played on...... But doesn't have a clue as to who his school mates are.

27. you ground your kids for a week (except for hockey practice)

26. you chuckle when a co-worker says his kids play soccer.

25. Takes out a home loan to pay for all the equipment and expenses.

24. complain about ice time when only 10 skaters showed up to that game.

23. Plans birth of next child so he has a good hockey birthday.

22. Shouts "Watch this, watch this" every time Junior touches the puck in practice.

21. New baby's first word is Zamboni.

20. Needs new personalized license plates (again) since child changed teams.

19. Volume of hockey related e-mail at work exceeds business related e-mail....during the off season.

18. Uses the term "illegal recruiting" in a post discussing 96's.

17. All computer passwords begin with "hockey" or contains child's number.

16. Has been barred from more than one rink on more than one occasion.

15. All photos of family vacations have a Canadian flag in background!

14. keeps stats .......................at practice!

13. Can rationalize spending $159 on a Synergy for a 9 year old but won't spend $5 on a Birthday Card for his wife.

12. Has more Hockey Mom T-shirts and Sweat Shirts than shoes.

11. hate sending Christmas cards, because the stats only show half the season!

10. had to explain that the pilgrims didn't play hockey, and Thanksgiving is actually a holiday, not just a tournament!

9. Purchases New $135.00 stick because old one didn't have any goals left in it.

8. Can't compose a sentence, or have a conversation, that doesn't use at least one of the following words: "elite", "select", "AAA", Nationals", "premier", "travel" or "tryouts".

7. Thinks a '93 Merlot Select is a new NJ hockey team, and wants to know when tryouts are?

6. knows a few 5 year olds that are good but "lack focus"

5. has had kids ask if Christmas is "home or away"?

4. wants to try for another, so we can start younger!

3. asked to decide between try-out and first communion - asked church what his options were!

2. received a letter from AAA Automobile Club and called for more info about tryouts.

1. when someone asks how old your children are, you respond "I have a 93 and a 90".

Visit to Wiurilan Manor

Enroute to Helsinki, we stopped at Wiurila Manor.  Wiurila Manor is an idyllic, peaceful location which hosts a magnificent 18 hole golf course.  In the historic and cosy atmosphere of the Manor's restaurant, the boys enjoyed traditional Finnish cooking.  For more info on the Manor, please visit the following:

Wiurila Golf and Country Club

Meet the Coaches

Here are the smiling faces of the gentlemen who led these boys on this International tour.  Special thanks to them.

John and Laurie

Don

Roger

MAGNUS

More Updates to come

Hi everyone,

We just wanted to thank all of the organizers of the tournament both in Sweden and the exhibition games in Finland, as well as the entire ECS organization for making this opportunity possible.  In addition, the UNB/VRED organization and Roger Shannon's efforts ensured that we could make an even larger North American presence in Sweden and Finland. 

On behalf of the chaperones, we would like to congratulate the parents on the overall conduct of their sons throughout the trip.  Although many boys traveled on their own, they were all incredibly well behaved and responsible.  We witnessed how each of the boys increased their confidence every day and noticed a marked increase in their maturity even in the short time we were there.  Overall, they were a phenomenal group of young athletes.  It was a real pleasure to be associated with the boys as they were always polite, positive and focussed. Although they were all very competitive (which they should be), we could recount countless stories of outstanding displays of sportsmanship exhibited throughout the trip.  These examples of sportmanship will be the basis of the memories that they will carry from this trip.  I don't think we experienced one curfew violation or cause for concern during the entire time we traveled. 

All the parents deserve to be proud.  Your boys are truly a credit to their families and the organizations that they play hockey with. 

Also, I just wanted to let everyone know that the site will continue to be updated in the weeks to come.  We have loads of photos and video that I haven't even really had the chance to post yet.  Please continue to check back as I will be updating all of the pages with additional photos and video that everyone will enjoy.  As I am back in the full time work grind, I will be updating the site a little bit each day.

I am also waiting for photos from parents and players to ensure that we capture as many of the fun times as possible.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to capture all of the goals or all of the great moments, however, if any of the parents have video that they can export out in small chunks that we can upload that would be great.  I would need either a Quicktime or MPEG file and it should be less than 8 MB. E-mail me and I can explain how you can post it right from your home and I can add it to our site.

Also, Mary Beth has taken all of the player photos and she has loads of ECS photos which we will upload as soon as we can.  We will be asking the players to give us a bit of their own background so we can post it and the memories will not be forgotten. 

Thanks again and please forward me your photos and any stories you would like to share. 

ECS/ Vreds in Finland

Here is the combined group and a video shot of who all played with the ECS/ VRED squad here in Finland. 

U-18 World Championships USA Action Shots

Hi everyone, please check the photo album to the left for photos, but here are a few action shots to enjoy:

US Game and Alumni

We were proud to watch the USA game and both # 9 Matt Rust and # 8 Kevin Shattenkirk. 

Here are some videos of the team preparing for the game while Team Canada plays.

Canada's First Win and the sound of the CDN National Anthem