Author Archive
02 Jan 2016
Finland Day 10 – Quarterfinals
Elimination games began at the World Juniors today! First up at Helsinki Ice Hall was Sweden versus Slovakia. The Slovaks played a good tournament, but the Swedes were just too much for them. Slovakia has not been able to generate offense and therefore could not carry much momentum either. Sweden shut them out 6-0
02 Jan 2016
Finland Day 9 – New Years Day
New Years Day turned into a day for relaxing. We have been going to hockey games and/or sightseeing every day since Christmas, so we decided to take a break from being on the go. Still we were able to be very Finnish by taking a sauna. The apartment we rented has a sauna built right
01 Jan 2016
Finland Day 8 – Happy New Year!
World Junior Wrap-up This wrapped up the Group play round robin portion of the World Junior Championship. We took in the games at Hartwall Arena for Group B. In the early game, Russia beat a very game Slovakia 2-1. If the Slovaks play that well against Sweden in the Quarterfinals they have a chance for
31 Dec 2015
Finland Day 7 – USA scores
Coming off the last game when the US was shutout by Sweden, their third game of the 2016 WJC was quite a different story. A big first period gave them a 6-0 lead and they kept the pressure on for a 10-1 victory. We enjoyed the game, and Finns like Americans and Team USA, so
29 Dec 2015
Finland Day 6 – Espoo & the Beaches
Ahhhhhh, another great day in Finland! We started out the day using the awesome public transit in the region to get from our apartment over to Espoo, part of the 3 city region with Helsinki and Vantaa. We met up with a local that we got to know on Christmas Eve and headed for some
28 Dec 2015
Finland Day 5 – Hello to Hartwall
Today we took in the Group B games at Hartwall Areena. Hartwall is much newer than the Helsinki Ice Hall and has more concourse space and amenities, plus it seats about 5,000 more spectators. The first game between the Czechs and Slovaks was played in a more European defensive style, with the Czechs winning 2-0.
27 Dec 2015
Finland Day 4 – Sightseeing Sunday
To soak up the culture and get to see Helsinki we chose not to buy tickets for the single game days in each arena, when the lesser countries in terms of competitiveness are playing. So today we joined a noon walking tour of the Finnish capital under the winter sun. It was a fun and
27 Dec 2015
Finland Day 3 – WJC Begins
The World Junior Championships began on Saturday, December 26 here in Helsinki. We took in the Group A games at Helsinki Ice Hall, while Group B got started in Hartwall Arena. Game 1 Game 1 saw the Russians beat the Czechs in a shootout in Group B at Hartwall Arena. Game 2 Game 2 featured
25 Dec 2015
Finland Day 2 – Merry Christmas
Day two in Helsinki has been a wonderful Christmas! We started by sleeping in to adjust to the time change, then enjoyed a relaxing day around the house. Not staying in a hotel was a brilliant decision, I have to say. The apartment had a few decorations left by the owner and we added a
24 Dec 2015
Finland – Day 1
Time to say goodnight and wait for Santa Claus to come. It was a great first day in Helsinki! Flights went well, however upon getting into the Keflavik, Iceland airport we discovered our flight from there to Finalnd was mostly full of Canadian fans! We all kept our composure and the Christmas spirit and travelled