No medal for the USA hockey team

The boys lost a tough game to Canada yesterday, 7 to 5. Nick had a goal which actually stirred a little bit of a comeback run. It was short lived due to a couple of slashing penalties. The boys are obviously disappointed that they are coming home with no hardware, but they are coming home with new friends, great memories and with the knowledge that they are members of the 1st USA Youth Olympic Hockey Team. There will be many teams to compete after them so it is an honor.

The boys all got to keep one of their jerseys and yesterday after the game, each passed around a puck that they all signed. This will make for some very cool memorabilia for each of the players.

We had the boys last night for a few hours. We walked around town and had dinner at a Bavarian wine house. The food was outstanding. Nick tried wiener schnitzel for the first time since he has been here. He has been afraid to try it becaause according to him, he "never wants to eat anything that has the word wiener in it." several of his teammates had been pushing that he try it all week and he finally broke down. I have a picture of it, but still having computer difficulties (Kathy V.- you will be proud of all the things I did to figure it out course you made not be happy for all the things you may need to undo now!). It was pretty funny and he's actually a bit mad because he liked it. The wiener schnitzel could have replaced at least 2 or 3 of the pasta dinners he had previously.

The boys were somewhat celebrities over here. They were approached for autographs numerous times by other athletes and school children, who by the way, took field trips to watch the events! It was very cute to see small children chanting U- S- A in the stands. It came out "OO- ES- O (as in October) and they were waiving Canadian flags! So funny.

So two nights ago when we were having our snowball fight in the middle of the night, the boys were having their own 13 country international snow brawl of their own at the village. It was Team USA vs everyone else. They said it was the most fun they had since they have been here and apparently, round 2 was happening last night. I am anxious to see how much trouble they got in as security was called by the Russians the night before... Should be a good story.

Today the boys are going to the gold metal game and need to be back to the village by 5 pm to prepare for closing ceremonies. None of the parents received tickets to closing ceremonies and they were sold out 5 minutes after they went on sale. The ceremony is being held in the center of town and there are restaurants upstairs in buildings that line the street. We are going to one of the restaurants early today and claim the tables by the windows so we can hopefully see the ceremony and grab a few more pictures. My day will be filled with packing and checking my arrangements for tomorrow.

Can't wait to see everyone, especially my Drew...I already know that I am not going to do well when my boys leave for college.

Boys lose to Russia

The boys played a great game and even out shot the Russian team 2 to 1 but they could not pull off the win. Our goal tending was a little soft. The boys will play Canada for the bronze medal this afternoon. All of them were cheering for Finland to beat Canada because they wanted a rematch. They got their wish. The boys are pumped to play them this afternoon. Hopefully, we an bring home a medal.
Nick played very well yesterday. He got 2 penalties that were ridiculous, but he played very physical and actually got in a fight, believe it or not! For those of you who do not know how Nick plays, he is not really considered the "enforcer" on the team... It was kind of neat to see him get into it a bit.

It started snowing here yesterday at 10 am and it has not stopped. It is 10:00 on Saturday and it is still a complete white out here. We have gotten at least 8 to 10 inches of snow. It is beautiful. I wish I could post pictures but I am having some "user" technical difficulties with my computer. Wifi is back up but I cannot get it hooked to the hotel network. So I am using my iPad for this post. I will have lots of pics on Monday!

We had the boys yesterday after their game until about 8:30 last evening. We took them to eat and then went back to the rink to watch the Canada Finland game. They boys left from there and my new adopted family, the Godbout's and Jacobs' went out for the evening. We closed the restaurant about 1am and proceeded to have a SNOW BALL fight until 2 in the morning! It was so much fun! Of course, Advil and coffee are my best friends this morning...

We plan to finish up shopping this morning and go to the game. Hopefully we will be attending a medals ceremony this afternoon.... Hope everyone is well. This trip has been wonderful, but there really is no place like home.

Big Game today

We had a fabulous day in Italy yesterday. Bolzano is a beautiful city located just at the foot of the Alps. We started our day by visiting a museum to see Otzs. He is the humidified mummy that was discovered by two mountain climbers in 1991. Apparently his was protruding out of the ground. He is over 5000 years old. It was truly amazing. We then went for lunch and enjoyed pizza pasta and salad from a restaurant in downtown Bolzano. Oh, we also enjoyed wine made from grapes native to the area.we liked it so much, we walked down the the distributor and bought another bottle. We finished our day with shopping, a loaf of bread and a hunk of cheese to have with our bottle of wine on the way back to Innsbruck.

Enough about my day....we did not get to see the boys yesterday. They had a team outing to the top of the mountain in the gondola that we went on the other day. This was after a practice in the morning. The boys then had a team dinner together last evening. The boys all signed a USA hockey jersey that will be hung in the International Olympic offices to represent the first ever United States Youth Olympic Hockey Team. The next youth winter games will be in Norway in 2016 and we are hearing Canada will make a bid for the 2020 games.

The boys seemed to have re-grouped. They said they had a team meeting, a great practice and are ready to go! Keep your fingers crossed...game is at 2:15 local time. I will try to report back after the game, however my hotel is having wifi problems...that is why there are no pictures on this. Go USA!

Nothing good to report

Boys had a good butt-kicking today. They got smoked by Russia 7-1. Nick was switched mid game back to center.  He is playing well even though the stats tell a different story. The Russians dominated in every aspect of the game.  They completely out-played us, and as Nick said, it felt like the entire game they were playing a man down just because of how good the Russians could cover the ice.  Just a fun fact- USA-70 minutes in penalties for the 4 games, Canada- 18 minutes, Russia-12 and Finland- 20 something... You do the deductive reasoning...

This is Nick when he had his first shift at Center. So the boys were seeded 4th.  This means they play Russia again on Friday. if they win, they play for the gold medal. If they lose, they play for the bronze on Saturday.  Either way, hopefully they will bring home a medal... Obviously, we prefer the GOLD!!!!

We went to a castle today... Forgot the name.  The grounds were beautiful, the inside was somewhat disappointing . Many of the rooms were closed due to the "winter season" most of the castle was roped off and the rest was turned into a museum. It was somewhat disturbing as many of the portraits and displays were of torture and malformations...

So, the boys are a little upset with us.  They have an early practice tomorrow and then a free afternoon but a team event at night.  Some of the parents, including me, are taking a day trip to......ITALY tomorrow!!!!  So excited.  It is a 2 hour train ride from here.  We are leaving at 9:30 and taking the last train back tomorrow evening. The boys wanted to come with us but can't because of practice...We feel bad...sort of! Stay tuned for pics from Italy! Ciao!

Boys Win over Finland!!!!

What a great hockey game!  It was back and forth through the 3rd period when USA finally took the lead by 2 goals. Penalties killed us once again.  i think the European style of hockey vs. the North American style is causing more penalties than we probably deserve.  Nick had an assist and continues to play well. He is somewhat out of his element playing wing, but is finding his way.  they switched up the lines a bit from the Canada game and it seems to have made a difference.  The boys have made it to the medal round as Austria did not win a game. There will be playoffs after tomorrow's preliminary rounds are complete to determine who is seeds 1st-4th. Once that has been decided, there will be a play off for who plays for the bronze and gold.  Should be exciting! We had the boys again for dinner this evening. They once again, wanted steak and pasta.  we fed them well and sent them on their way to the village.  Once again, they were filled with great stories of last evening and their take on the game.

The Jacobs girls made signs for the boys... They are so sweet....


 We are going to a castle tomorrow before the game so stay tuned for pictures. We also have a great day planned for Thursday as it is a day off for the boys..  Go USA!!!!  Beat Russia!!!

One week down, 1 to go

Yesterday was one of the greatest days thus far. I met up with the Jacobs' and Godbout's and we took a gondola up the side of the mountain to the top. It was amazing.  There was a restaurant and an igloo bar built into the side of the mountain! The sun was shining and it was actually very warm up there.  We even got a little sunburn! There were skiers and snowboarders and even dogs just hanging out, enjoying the view.  There were lounge chairs set up at the edge of the mountain for people to sit and relax.  I felt like I should have a pina colada or mai tai in my hand.  It was crazy!  We spent a 3 to 4 hours there and then rode the gondola back down.

This was taken from inside the gondola on our way up to the top.  We silly Americans were all freaking out because they literally packed 60 people in this cable car, ski equipment and all.  We for sure thought it hit a weight capacity or something!

This is me enjoying the lounge chair with our view in the background!  

Maureen Godbout, Jen Jacobs and Kevin Martin enjoying a drink outside the igloo bar. It was sooo cool. We final left that little slice of heaven and traveled back down the mountain. We took a bus over the the ice rink because the boys were practicing on the outside rink.

The speed skating practice rink is around the ice rink. Team Austria was practicing on it as the boys were practicing hockey.  Very cool to watch.  After practice, the boys were permitted to go with us until 9:30 last night.  The boys wanted steak so we jumped in a tram and took them to a restaurant downtown.  We got there at 5:30.  The boys did not want to leave. They stayed there until 9:15 until we called a cab to take them back to the village. We laughed and laughed and laughed some more at all of their stories about their sled riding adventure yesterday as well as all of their stories about Olympic Village.

Nick, Marcel, Nathan and Josh enjoying the free wifi at the "Orangerie" restaurant. They look orange because all of the lighting in the place was orange!  The parents continued to be wonderful customers of the restaurant until midnight last evening.  Yes, we literally spent 7 hours in a restaurant yesterday.  It was a great time had by all.  

The boys take undefeated Finland today at 3:45. GO USA!

Game 2- Loss 5-1 vs. Canada

Not much to report on the game....It was not good.  The boys started off strong but could not find their flow. They pretty much struggled the entire game...So a little about everything else- The games consist of 3 15 minute periods. There is a 10 minute warm up (a very long time considering the 3 minute we have at home) and the game goes right into the first period. There is no ice cut until after the 2nd period.  The ice is ridiculously torn up by then after 40 minutes of skating.

These are their white jerseys, which are way cooler than the blue.  The entire team chews on their mouth guards hanging out of their mouths!  It is hysterical. I only thought Nick and Drew had this ridiculous habit, but apparently it is a "hockey thing".

We have not seen the boys too much outside of the games.  They let us have 3 hours with them after Saturday's game and they are letting us have them today after their afternoon practice for a few hours. The boys hate the food at the Olympic Village so we took them out for a nice meal Saturday and will do the same this evening.

The boys have the day off today. They are going sled riding and then practice this afternoon. Some of the parents and myself are taking a cable car up to the top of one of the mountains today (9000 feet).  Should be beautiful and scary all at the same time.  We have strict orders from our boys that we need to be back by 4pm to pick them up!

On another note- Olympic souvenirs are not so much.  They have sold out of the few things that are available.  There is nothing different here than there is online. There is no hockey Olympic stuff or special items from any of the local merchants at all.  It is somewhat disappointing. I will continue to look, but please do not be upset if there is not much to share in they regard...

Off to the cable cars!

Game 1- VICTORY!!!!

The boys had their first game today against the Host country, Austria.  They won 7-2!  Nick had 2 assists even though they gave him credit for only one. The second was very obvious to all in the stands, but apparently not to the refs on the ice..

Here is team USA pre-game. It was very cool to see all of the boys in USA jerseys.  They came out and scored two quick goals within the first 45 seconds of the game.

Here is Nick at his first shift against Austria. He played a great game.  We are looking forward to our game against Canada tomorrow at 6pm Austria time.  please go to my Facebook page for additional pics.

Opening Ceremonies

WOW....Really the only word I can use to describe opening ceremonies.  It was incredible.  I know that I will not begin to do it justice, but I will try... The ceremony was 3 hours long. It was located in an outdoor arena and the foot of the ski jump area.  There were 9000 + people in attendance. The stage was set at the bottom of the ski jump and the torch (multiple) was on the opposite side of the jump, up on a hill. 

After the athletes were placed in the stadium (there is no seating, just levels to stand), the program went "Live" and was broadcast in over 20 of the 70 countries that have teams competing in the games...Shame on US for not thinking this was worthwhile, but I digress.  The President of Austria was there and in attendance with the President of the Olympic Committee who both spoke and acknowledged the athletes. 

This is the stage and where you see the red carpet, is where the athletes paraded out from under. to the right is the ski jump hill and the stairs lead to another stage where the Olympic flag and Austrian flag were risen. The program began with some guy who thought he was funny, and proceeded with the parade of 1000 athletes from out of the tunnel. They came out by country; I believe all of them had to about die when they looked up and saw all of the people.  Nick is on the right of the picture above.  Thanks to my friend, Kathy, I had a great zoom lens on the camera she let me borrow, unfortunately the USER of the camera is not so bright as you will hear about later....

The program went on with different variety acts ranging from ball room dancing to hip hop to polka to clogging. The majority of the program was focused on the fact that Innsbruck is the only city to host the Olympics 3 times. They showed video clips from the 1964 Olympics and did a skit using 1960's music and dance while the video was running. Using the same platform, it moved to 1976 and had same type of show.  It moved to 2012, and did a whole montage of what has happened between 1976 and now, with music, video clips etc.. It ended with a group of kids looking as if they were IM'ing each other over a computer, using all of the LOL and BTW LMAO etc..It was very cool.

Then it was time for the presentation of flags. Our US team voted for one of the bobsled members to carry our flag. they announced each country separately and had a map to show where all of the countries are that were participating.

Finally, and by now everyone was freezing, it was time to raise the Olympic flag and light the torch. Ass the flag was being raised, my camera ran out of battery!!!! So, I was not able to capture the torch being lit! Sooooo mad! However, it was very cool.  The torch was skied down the ski jump, handed off to various past gold medal winners from Austria, walked through the crowd and then back down to the stage where it was carried up by the final torch bearer.  She then climbed 100 snow stairs to the top of the 3 cauldrons. The top cauldron was lit for the 1964 olympics by a medalist from those games. It was then given to the next medalist from the 1976 games who lit the middle torch and was finally given to a member of the Austrian luge team from 2012, who lit the final of the 3 torches. It was very cool. See the picture below and just pretend they are lit!!! I will get a picture of them lit at a later date. It was a very inspiring program. I could see Nick and Team USA from where I was standing.  He and his team were dancing , laughing, posing for pictures and really just having the time of their lives!!!  It was awesome to see....

Off to a hockey game!!!! More later...And yes, I grabbed the back up battery....

Additional info

Just got off the phone with Nick. He had a good practice, hates the food at Olympic village and an 18 year old bobsledder was chosen to be the flag bearer for team USA tomorrow at the Opening Ceremonies.

Nick is playing winger and is on a line with Ryan McGinnis and Feigl. He is #15. You can follow all of team USA at www.teamusa.org/yog.

And a side note- if you ever come to Innsbruck,Austria, do NOT attempt to eat at a sushi restaurant....

Day 2-Sightseeing

So I did not see Nick today.  This was the first full day with his team. He had a workout this morning, lunch and then off to the ice rink for practice this early evening. The entire team USA has a meeting tonight about Opening Ceremonies tomorrow. I did walk down to Olympic Village to meet with his team leader to get tickets for the games and opening and closing ceremonies. I started my day at a salon for all the P&G moms. We had our hair and make up done. I spent the rest of the day walking through the Old City and to Olympic Village. You can't imagine the support for these games.  There are signs and banners EVERYWHERE!!! In the middle of the city center, they set up a grandstand for the music events. All the hotels are booked and there are people and media everywhere.

This is the entrance to Olympic Village.

Opening Ceremonies are tomorrow beginning at 5:30. It is an outdoor arena and it is supposed to be freezing here tomorrow. The weather has been beautiful so far, blue skies and about 35-40 degrees.
www.usahockey.org has a section on the Youth Olympics that has the rosters and bios for the kids. In addition, you can check there for updated stats once the games begin on Saturday.

These are the "apartments" the athletes are staying in. Nick is rooming with 4 other hockey players. The countries fly their flags out of their apartments.  It is very secure and you are not permitted inside the village. I could not see from behind the fence, where the US section of the village was. :(.

This is a street in the old city. It is lined with banners for the Olympics and at the end of the street, you see the grand stands for the musical events that are in the center of the city.

I probably will not post again until after opening ceremonies or early Saturday morning.

Day 1- P&G Luncheon

Nick and I slept 12 hours! We are "officially" on Innsbruck time! We had the "Mom's Luncheon" today sponsored by Proctor and Gamble.  It was beautiful and very overwhelming. Nick said he felt like a movie star! It started with a photo op with the President of P&G, champagne for the moms and mango juice for the athletes. There was a small presentation by P&G and they showed all of the commercials that they will be running for the London Games.  I cried the entire time and Nick kicked me under the table and whispered "stop" the entire presentation! After lunch, Yoggl, the Olympic mascot came and and took pictures with the athletes. It closed with an interview with P&G reps that will be aired to their 136,000 employees around the world.

They lavished us with gifts and all the moms are getting spa treatments tomorrow, courtesy of P&G. We dropped Nick at Olympic village where he was checked in and met up with his roommates.  He has practice tomorrow and Friday and games start Saturday. We play the home country, Austria, to open up the hockey venue! Should be very exciting.

Mark and I would like to thank you for all the support back home!  It has been truly amazing! We appreciate all of you taking an interest in what Nick is going.  He is having a blast and we are so grateful for your kind words and sharing of his information!

We are here!

We made it to Munich on an uneventful flight. There were several athletes on the flight. All of our bags arrived at the same time we did! For those of you who remember Sweden last year, you will understand why this is a small victory! We were met at baggage by the P and G people who quickly escorted us to the train station where we enjoyed the most wonderful potatoe soup and pretzels ( when in Germany, do as the German's, I suppose). We boarded another train to take us to Innsbruck. It was a beautiful ride through the mountains. We arrived and took a cab to my hotel. Nick is staying with me tonight as his team wil not arrive until tomorrow. We checked into a gorgeous hotel and went to my room which is perfect for my long stay. Nick was completely horrified because the sheets were folded into the shape of a heart with a flower in the middle! Ha! Girly, girly! We are off to shower and find something to eat. P and G luncheon tomorrow.

In Chicago

We landed in Chicago and were met by the United States Olympic rep. She walked us to our next gate where there are 5 to 7 additional US athletes. Flight does not leave for 3 hours and unfortunately, we are not in the international terminal. Nick and I wanted to go to this sushi place here in the airport that is absolutely amazing. So here we sit, waiting to get on our flight to Munich and will probably need to feast on McDonalds...UGH!!!

The Journey has begun!

We are on our way! Sitting at Cleveland airport, having some lunch before we board for Chicago! Nick and I would like to thank all of you for your support and encouragement. We have received several wonderful texts, emails and Facebook messages. Thanks again for your well wishes!

Off to Innsbruck!

 We are off to Innsbruck Austria Monday!  Nick and I were invited to come a day early to participate in a "Mom's and Athlete's" luncheon sponsored by Proctor and Gamble!  He and one other athlete from the US Team will represent the USA at the luncheon.  There will be interaction with the media so Nick is very nervous about it!  Please check here daily for updates and photos!

Schedule and link

Here is the schedule of events for the two weeks and a link to the Youth Olympic site:

2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games

Innsbruck, Austria

(Updated 1/5/12)

(Day 1) Wednesday, January 11^th

09:50                                      Arrive in Munich

11:00                                      Depart Munich for Innsbruck

13:00                                      Arrive in Innsbruck

(Day 2) Thursday, January 12^th

08:30                                      Wake-up

09:00-09:30                          Breakfast

9:30-11:30                            Study Hall

13:30-14:30                          Lunch

15:30                                      Depart for Arena

17:00-17:45                          Practice                                                                 (Tyrolean Ice Arena)

18:30-19:30                          Dinner

(Day 3) Friday, January 13th

07:30                                      Wake-up

08:00-08:30                          Breakfast

08:30                                      Depart for Arena

10:00-10:45                          Practice                                                                  (Ice Hockey Training Rink)

12:00-13:00                          Lunch

13:00-15:00                          Study Hall

18:30-21:00                          Opening Ceremonies

(Day 4) Saturday, January 14^th

07:30                                      Wake-up

08:00-08:30                          Breakfast/Pre-Game Meal

10:30- 11:00                         Depart for Arena

12:30-14:30                          Game 1: USA vs. AUT                                            (Tyrolean Ice Arena)

15:30-16:30                          Post-Game Meal

20:00-21:00                          Dinner

               

(Day 5) Sunday, January 15^th

08:30                                      Wake-up

09:00-9:30                            Breakfast

13:00-14:00                          Pre-Game Meal

16:00-16:30                          Depart for Arena

18:00-20:00                          Game 2: CAN­­ vs. USA                                            (Tyrolean Ice Arena)

21:00-22:00                          Post-Game Meal

13:00-14:15                          Skills Challenge

(Day 6) Monday, January 16^th

08:30                                      Wake-up

09:00-09:30                          Breakfast

09:00-11:00                          Study Hall

13:00-14:00                          Lunch

14:00                                      Depart for Arena

15:30-16:15                          Practice                                                                  (Ice Hockey Training Rink)

17:30-18:30                          Dinner

16:30-20:30                          Skills Challenge Qualification Rd.                        (Tyrolean Ice Arena)

(Day 7) Tuesday, January 17^th

07:30                                      Wake-up

08:00-08:30                          Breakfast

11:45-12:45                          Pre-Game Meal

13:45                                      Depart for Arena

15:45-17:45                          Game 3: FIN vs. USA                                              (Tyrolean Ice Arena)

18:45-19:45                          Post-Game Meal   

(Day 8) Wednesday, January 18^th

07:30                                      Wake-up

08:00-08:30                          Breakfast

12:15-13:15                          Pre-Game Meal

14:15                                      Depart for Arena

16:15-18:15                          Game 4: USA vs. RUS                                             (Tyrolean Ice Arena)

19:15-20:15                          Post-Game Meal

(Day 9) Thursday, January 19^th

07:30                                      Wake-up

08:00-08:30                          Breakfast

TBD                                         Lunch

TBD                                         Depart for Arena

11:15-12:00                          1M/4M Practice                                                    (Tyrolean Arena/IH Training Rink)      

13:00-13:45                          2M Practice                                                            (Tyrolean Ice Arena)

14:00-14:45                          3M Practice                                                            (Tyrolean Ice Arena)

TBD                                         Dinner

(Day 10) Friday, January 20^th

07:30                                      Wake-up

08:00-08:30                          Breakfast

TBD                                         Pre-Game Meal

TBD                                         Depart for Arena

14:15-16:15                          Semi-Final Game 1M–4M                                     (Tyrolean Ice Arena)

18:45-20:45                          Semi-Final Game 2M–3M                                     (Tyrolean Ice Arena)

TBD                                         Post-Game Meal

(Day 11) Saturday, January 21^st

07:30                                      Wake-up

08:00-08:30                          Breakfast

TBD                                         Depart for Arena

10:00-10:45                          Practice Gold M                                                     (Tyrolean Ice Arena)

11:00-11:45                          Practice Gold M                                                     (Tyrolean Ice Arena)

12:45-1:45                            Lunch

1:45-3:45                               Study Hall

14:45-16:45                          Bronze Medal Game                                              (Tyrolean Ice Arena)

17:30-18:30                          Dinner

(Day 12) Sunday, January 22^nd

07:30                                      Wake-up

08:00-08:30                          Breakfast/Pre-Game Meal

11:15                                      Depart for Arena

13:15-15:15                          Gold Medal Game                                                  (Tyrolean Ice Arena)

18:45-20:00                          Closing Ceremony                                                 (Medals Plaza in Maria-Theresien-Strasse)

(Day 13) Monday, January 23^rd

08:00                                      Depart Innsbruck for Munich Airport

12:30                                      Depart Munich for Chicago

http://www.innsbruck2012.com/