East Coast Selects / VReds 92 Sweden Tour

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. 

First VRed Practice

After not sleeping for well over 24 hours and having traveled half way around the world, the boys were ready for their first practice.  We all met in the front lobby of the hotel (seen below).

The boys met with their Swedish teammates and learned that the hockey "bag" was really just something we had grown so familiar with that we didn't realize that not everyone uses hockey bags.  See below: (Coach Roger Shannon and Swede player Oskar Ericsson)

Finally, we boarded the bus and we were on our way:

As one can expect these young men were exhausted and as we got caught in traffic, the purring of the bus, rocked a few boys to sleep.

The VRed practice rink was called TUMBA Ishuset and it was located approx 15 - 30 mins by bus from the hotel in Alvik.  Here are a few shots from their canteen: