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Days 4 & 5 In Vierumaki, Finland ? Game #2 Report
After our first game on Sunday, we had just one practice the following day and began working more on our power play and penalty kill and some other standard situations in our ice practice. The boys were very pleased with having a light day; we began the day with some friendly basketball in the gym. Unfortunately, Rick Parry took an injury during the game, suffering a corked thigh, forcing him to skip the afternoon ice session.

In the evening the boys enjoyed their first authentic Finnish sauna experience including a polar bear swim and some big jumps into the still frozen lake. The photos are sure to follow.

Today (Tuesday) was our second warm up game of the tour. The morning started with an ice session at 9:30am so the boys could sleep a bit longer that the other day. After breakfast, Dr Chris Julian and Daniel Nichols headed off to Helsinki to see a surgical specialist about Daniel?s broken wrist. The good news is that Daniel does not need to undergo surgery much to the relief of the whole team.

After our lunch today and a few hour rest, we held another class room session to go through some more tactical instructions and reinforcement of our systems and strategy. Finally, 7:00pm came and it was game again. Once again, we did not know what to expect form our opponent Kiekkoreidas Lahti.

The game started with high intensity on both sides with a couple of big hits and smooth plays. The Ice Blacks opened up the scoring at 1:37 into the game on a power play. Ian Wannamaker came out from the corner and put the puck into the net from a close angle. The Ice Blacks kept putting on the pressure after that and at 2:02 we score our second goal for the night by Brett Speirs assisted by Charlie Huber and Josh Hay. After our quick first two goals the Finns started to get into the game but our D-zone coverage and support play held them to the outside, never really allowing them to threaten our goal. It was again the Ice Blacks at 11:01 who scored next with an unassisted tally by Joshua Hay. The first period finished with a 3:0 lead to the Ice Blacks.

The second period started more settled on both sides, as both teams did a better job of defending their goal. Especially as the Ice Blacks received two penalties at the same time and had to play a 3 on 5 situation for 2 minutes. Our defence lines worked very well and Ian Wannamaker and Jordan Challis did a brilliant job in blocking shots and lanes of passing options to shut down the Finns. The Finns started to get more and more frustrated about their game and one of their players lost the plot getting sent off the ice for throwing his toys. Finally the Finns opened the scoring on their side of the ledger at 36:09 with a rocket shot from inside our blue line catching goaltender Zak Nothling by surprise. This was a wake up call for our team and we put it in a higher gear from that point, netting the reward for it with a goal at 38:55 after a nice hard pass from Dale Harrop to Chris Eaden in the slot. We finished the period one goal a piece and the scores at 4:1 to the Ice Blacks.

The third period started with the same intensity as we finished the second, so it come without surprise that we scored again at 44:24. Another goal from Brett Speirs after a backhand pass from Josh Hay while moving around the Finnish defender at their blue line. This was not the end of the scoring as Josh Hay decided to put another goal on the scoreboard at 45:55. After a very nice play from Charlie Huber he picked up the puck in the neutral zone using his speed to burn around the defender and deked the goaltender with a slick move putting the puck between his legs. After that goal we ensured our defence work was up to the rest of the game time. The game finished up at a 6:1 win for the Ice Blacks.

Zak Nothling made thirty saves on the night. Bert Haines played another strong physical game for the Ice Blacks keeping up his commitment and work ethic through out the night.

Again, we have to thank the finish people here in Vierumaki for their great hospitality as the team again received a great pizza snack after the game.

Look out for our next game report tomorrow. Until then?

Andreas Kaisser

Ice Blacks Assistant Coach

NZ toppled Israel 5-4 overnight. Wannamaker and Eaden two goals each, Spiers and Huber also had three points each, Nothling in net. Sweet.
Estonia up next, that’s probably the top seed (beat Israel 17-3, China 15-0), hard game.

Be great if NZ can hold onto that 2nd division position – that’s the level they should be playing at.

Estonia has 6 professional teams in its country, plus a bunch of their players play in other professional leagues. They narrowly lost to Serbia last year so didn’t get promoted. If NZ can finish within single figures they’ll be doing well.

We all have faith in the guys to play as hard as they can. There will be no backing down from any of them. Good work, take it to those dirty Europeans!

No playoff round. Just a round robin, same as we had last year in Dunedin.