Tredders Blog

Going home...

Mon, 15 Oct 2007 09:25:58 +0100

We lost the final game against the young HK side 4 - 2, despite going 1 - 0 up in the first minute. To be honest, the result didn’t really count for anything - we all knew that either Aalborg or Salzburg would win the group and progress to the next round. Steve Fone started in nets for Blaze, and in a perverse way, it was nice for the HK guys to go away with a win. From talking to a few of their players, there is absolutely no money in hockey in their country, and they played a decent style of hockey. There are a few pics in the link at the top of this page.

Although a few people were disappointed to finish the tournament with a loss, you have to put things into perspective. Had we played TK from the start, and he’d got an injury, that would have jeopardized our domestic season at home. Besides, we had our cup final the night before, with that unbelievable win over Salzburg....

The players headed for the bright lights of Aalborg after the game (god help Aalborg!), and all seemed to make it onto the coach that left for Copenhagen this morning at 09:00.

My taxi to the airport arrives shortly, so I’ll sign off now.

Highs of the weekend: -
That win against Salzburg - one of the top 5 games I’ve ever seen in 25 years of watching.
The support from the Blaze fans - incredible. After every game (even those that we weren’t playing in), the players would skate over and applaud the Blaze faithful.
The food at the hotel! Fantastic.
The banter between the players - we’ve clearly got a close knit bunch this year, which can only bode well for the remainder of the season.
Finally putting to rest the ‘Curse of the Continental Cup’ when we get home and continue our good form in the league.

Lows of the weekend: -
Lack of home support from the Aalborg fans. It was (almost) forgivable on Saturday, seeing as Denmark’s footie team were playing (and on the TV), but the arena was still 3/4 empty last night for the game that decided whether their team progressed in the competition. A real shame.
The price of, well, pretty much everything. A beer = £4. A 3km taxi ride = £12. A bottle of Powerade in the petrol station next door to the hotel = £2. Ouch!
Coming back home with a cold. Who’s stupid enough to leave a coat in their car back in England, “because it won’t be that cold, will it?”. Erm, that’ll be me then.....
The Curse of the Continental Cup (if we start losing when we get home!!!)

That’s all there is. From a chilly Aalborg, goodbye.

Blaze beat Salzburg. Is this for real?!?

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 10:07:26 +0100

Did I dream it, or did we really beat Red Bull Salzburg last night? A team with a reported wage bill of 7,000,000 Euros, beaten by the unknown “Coventry Blazers” (as we’re called on their forums). My head hurts enough to suggest that it really happened (thanks to the Aalborg fans who introduced us to a local black spirit, the name of which escapes me).

One word: Unbelievable.

It’s impossible to single out any individual players last night (although TK was *awesome*), just an amazing team performance. Quote of the night comes from who else but Michael Tasker: -

“They had 7 NHL-ers in their team, and we beat them with a plumber, a tiler, a decorator and a bouncy castle manager!”

Kinda puts it into perspective, really. There are game pics on the link at the top of the page.

The fan party afterwards was ok, although it was just Blaze fans there. It was a crying shame that there were no more than 20 non-Blaze fans to witness the game, but the traveling support more than made up for this. The rugby result came in about an hour after the hockey finished, and that just added the icing on the cake of a great sporting day.

Breakfast this morning was a quiet affair. The players all looked sickeningly bright eyed and healthy (no drinking whilst the tournament is still on), but a few of us who propped the hotel bar up until the small hours were suffering. Andy Buxton took 15 minutes to build a cheese sandwich from the buffet, and Sally was apparently unable to get out of bed, and sent hubby Mark to fetch toast.

Oh, and Geoff Foster is now known as George. Don’t ask.....

George and friend. Andy is on the radio trying to find someone to help him make a sandwich.

Fan party

Sat, 13 Oct 2007 18:04:52 +0100

Well, AaB beat the young HK team 4 - 2 in a cracking game this afternoon, which basically sends the HK boys home. Unfortunately, the local support didn’t really turn up, and all those people who were given free tickets with their entrance fee for the handball earlier decided to go home. Consequently, all the noise came from the Blaze corner, a fact acknowledged by both teams on the final hooter. All the players skated over to the Blaze corner and applauded the fans, particularly the underdog HK team, who were instantly adopted by the Blaze faithful.

After the game, the Blaze fans headed across the corridor to the ‘Fans Party’, laid on by the organisers. There was a decent live band (seen above), a bar, restaurant and load of tables to sit around and chill at.

Onto the serious stuff, Blaze are now just warming up for the game against Red Bull Salzburg. We need to win by 4 clear goals(!), otherwise we’re lining up against HK tomorrow for the wooden spoon.
 Still, on a happier note, thanks to Sally, I’ve discovered the IIHF VIP lounge, which amongst it’s many other perks, offers free beer to those with media passes. Expect blurry photos tonight. Or should I say more blurry.....

Handball

Sat, 13 Oct 2007 14:25:52 +0100

Handball. You’ll believe a man can fly. Sort of.

There seems to be more Aalborg fans here than for the hockey last night. Perhaps they’re more used to seeing more goals than you see on the ice (currently the handball score is 28 - 30). No such thing as a nil nil draw here. Still, you can sit with a beer and try to work out the rules, so life is good.

Ltd edition Continental Cup shirt

Sat, 13 Oct 2007 09:00:05 +0100

Morning. It’s bloody cold here today, and I’m still reeling at the cost of everything here. Already been out to the rink this morning, to take a few pics of Phil Hadley (the Blaze equipment manager). He’s the next ‘victim’ of the Ignite “Day in the Life Of” series.

Whilst there, I took a few pics of the special Continental Cup shirts that the Blaze are wearing (see above), as people were asking what they look like. There’s a new Continental Cup logo on the front, and Union Jack flags inside the stars on the sides. Nice.

dddddd

On the back, there are a few changes, too (see above pic). I assume that the club are going to auction these off when we all get back home, so I’ll be putting my name down for one (especially since Mrs Tredders seems to have hidden all my old Blaze shirts in the loft somewhere.....)

Off to town now (first game today isn’t until 16:00 and we don’t play until 19:30), but I’m going to pop into the ‘Fans Festival’ that’s been laid on by the organisers. I’ve never seen handball in my life, and there’s a game on. Besides, the handball park has got to be warmer than the inside of the sub-Arctic ice rink......