Meeting Canadian hockey heroes

I was stand-by for the USA v Canada game today, which is a fixture that always delivers excitement for the women’s tournament.  As the game was later in the afternoon I took more time this morning and over lunch to absorb the Olympic experience and the atmosphere across the park.

Beating the crowds to the shop

As each day goes by the novelty of being in the Olympic park and at the Olympics does not wear off but it seems to grow.  I wake up each morning to the roar of the Olympic flame and the music which is played through speakers across the park.  It is impossible to be sad or grumpy when you are surrounded by excitement and hope of what the day may bring.

The never ending queue in the Olympic shop

I got up early and went to the shop with one of the other girls to try to get a few gifts for people back home.  Immediately we noticed that the number of people coming into the Olympic park early is growing each day and despite getting to the shop before it opened we still had to queue to get inside.  Then once inside we waited for over 45 minutes in the queue to pay for our purchases.  The shop is reasonably big and selling all manner of Olympic souvenirs from t-shirts to suitcases to Russian dolls, gloves, hats and even clothing for your pets.  It is amazing to watch the hundreds of people who will queue for hours just for the chance to buy something from the Olympics to help them remember the experience and show the world that they were here!

Those of you that know me well will know that I love shopping, but, if I am honest, this shopping experience is even too much for me to handle.  Due to the chaotic crowds and huge queues I really hope today is my last visit to the shop.  However I expect I will get tempted and lured in again to help one of the girls find the perfect gift.

Flying the British flag

Flying the British flag outside the Shayba Arena

The sun was shining is Sochi today and it was warmer and brighter here than it is most of the time in the summer in London!  I took the opportunity to take in some sunshine and walk around the park with my British flag.  I have noticed a distinct lack of British flags here and so I decided to take mine for an outing and get other people to be photographed with it.

Confused Canadian with British flag

It is amazing how much of a positive response I got from people about having a British flag and also how many other British people are actually here but being terribly British about it and not advertising where they come from until they see another Brit!

Although I am not here representing my country I do still feel very proud to be British and very proud to be here.  It is a positive reflection on the officiating system in Britain that I have been selected by the international federation and that makes me proud of where I come from.

Russian girls with British flag

Meeting Canadian hockey heroes

After spending most of the day taking in the sunshine it was time for me to get my kit together from the practice rink and take it over to the Shayba arena for my standby duties.

I walked into the practice arena which is normally bustling with volunteers ready to help with anything we need – whether it be the key to our drying room, access to the gym or simply more drinks.  However there was no-one to be found which was quite unusual.  I walked down the corridor to our drying room and bumped into one of the volunteers who told me that everyone was upstairs watching the Canadian men’s team practice which was due to finish in 10 minutes.

I walked into our drying room which is a full size team dressing room with stalls for each of us to lay out our kit and dry it in-between games and practices.  A couple of the girls were in there and I shared the information with them.  We all got quite excited and walked to the end of our room where there is a second door which leads directly out at ice level to the practice rink.  We opened it and sure enough there was Team Canada men’s team practicing. 

Opening our dressing room door to Team Canada practice

We looked up to our right to see the stand full with all the volunteers who were working in the practice rink.  Then we looked to our left at ice level to see a barrier which had been put up and a mob of media, TV reporters and journalists all scrambling to get a glimpse of the practice.  The media attention is insane given this is just a practice for the team and it certainly highlighted for me the pressure which these players are under to retain their Olympic gold.

I am sure most of the players are used to the media attention now and would probably find it strange to practice without anyone watching; however it certainly felt a bit un-necessary to me. 

Me with Jeff Carter from LA Kings

At the end of their practice the players had to take their skates off in the dressing room next to our drying room and then walk out down to corridor to get on a bus which would drive them 200 metres to the Bolshoy arena where their main dressing room is located.  It is pretty insane to see this play out when all week we have watched as the women’s teams have walked between the practice rink and the arenas in their shoes and full kit carrying their skates.  Although this is behind the security perimeter and accessed only by accredited people I am sure if the Canadian men’s team casually walked from the practice rink to one of the arenas they would generate a huge amount of attention.

I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time (i.e. in the corridor outside their dressing room casually waiting) as a few of the players left the dressing room in their shoes to get onto the bus.   

After giving their equipment team some Ice Hockey UK pins (which again I am sure they will treasure) a few of the players were kind enough to have a photograph with me.

Me with Sidney Crosby and Patrick Marleau

Jeff Carter who plays with the LA Kings was one of the first players I bumped into and was happy to have a photograph with me.  Then Sidney Crosby from the Pittsburgh Penguins and Patrick Marleau from the San Jose Sharks walked out of the room together and so I took the opportunity to get a picture with them and the British flag.  I am sure they both thought it was slightly weird to be photographed with a British flag but they were nice enough not to say anything!

The girls all couldn’t believe I had asked them for my photograph ... however if being at an Olympics has taught me anything it is that sometimes in life when you are lucky enough to be given an opportunity you have to grab it with both hands, as you may never get it again.  I have always thought if you don’t ask then you don’t get!  I also know that a rather competitive work friend of mine will not count my celebrity spotting without photographic proof and so I blame her for my shameless photo grabbing!

Either way I am certainly very happy to now have met and had my photo with some of the Canadian men’s hockey team.  That’s pretty cool eh?!?

USA v Canada women’s game

After all the excitement I grabbed my bag and headed to the Shayba arena to fulfil my standby duties for the USA v Canada game.  It was a great game of hockey to watch and it served only to fill me with more excitement for what the next few days will have in store for me.  I am looking forward to refereeing my second game soon.