*click on any of the photo's to see the full sized picture*
Father's Day is not a day that I mark on my calendar with feverish anticipation. This year, coincidence seemed to mark the event/day for a father such as me.
I heard from a friend, who read it in a magazine...you know the story...that there was a major amatuer ice hockey tournament taking place in Hong Kong during the week of June 10th. Hmmm...I had to look a little further into it and I finally discovered the website that was putting it all together.
I downloaded the schedule to find that they had games all day long...from early morning to late evening, all week long. I staked out a date to visit...the last day...championship day...and set about my schedule to getting into HK on that day to catch the sounds and smells of some hockey in a far off land. It just happened, that the day was Father's Day...which I didn't really realize until that week!
We departed GZ on the first train and arrived in HK around 10am and headed directly to the new rink at the MegaBox center. This is a new mall situated in the middle of nowhere (in terms of major shopping districts go) that focuses on home improvement and the like. After taking the KCR to Kowloon Tong and switching to the MTR, we go off at Kowloon Bay and walked about 10 minutes to the mall. The streets were deserted at the time of morning we were there...but, there were still plenty of people heading to the 'Box'.
When we arrived, we asked the receptionist in the lobby, 'which way to the hockey tournament'. She told us...'Please take the elevator to the tenth floor.' TENTH?! An ice rink on the tenth floor?? Up we went.
We arrived to crowds of people around the glass enjoying a semi-final game (early in the 2nd) between the Hong Kong Tigers and the Bangkok Flying Farangs . These were men playing a boys game...it was fast, and...ahhh...it felt so right. 
The great thing about the MegaBox is the MegaIce! That's right, they have the 'first International size ice rink in Hong Kong' according to the brochure we received. It's not international sized...well, I guess it is to them...it is North American sized. Compared to the sheet at the Dragon Centre...its definitely international sized! But, it is also not set in the center of the building, it is off to one of the sides with a wall of glass viewing out on Kowloon Bay in front, the old Kai-Tak Airport behind that and Hong Kong island in the distance...only in Hong Kong could they give you the wonder of hockey on the 10th floor of a glass encased skyscraper!
We settled in and watched the Tigers take on the Farangs. The games are played in three 12 minute periods. The clock continuously runs down, unless the referee calls time out for an injury, or the bench calls timeout. There are 3 minute breaks between periods...and the Zamboni only comes out between games.
Basically, these teams are made up of a variety of expats that have a love for the game and they take it with them when they move overseas (see Tropic Of Hockey, by Dave Bidini). The entire HK team was comprised of Canadian expats(with a couple token Americans thrown in for good measure)...and it showed. They were a very good team with a decent bench and a good goaltender. The Bangkok team had a couple of Thai nationals playing with them...and overall, they lacked some of the skill of their HK counterparts. As more and more crowd filled in around us, the game became better and better. Dwayne Ripley of the Tigers scored a late 3rd period goal to go up 1-0 and then Greg Smyth (you related to Ryan??) added an empty netter for the final score of 2-0. The Tigers would advance to the championship game 1 hour later against Taipei Typhoon...more on that later.
The second game was the championship of the women's division between Hong Kong's WIHO and the Red Bullets from Japan. Again, although the WIHO team was from Hong Kong, its members were predominately from Canada...but all the girls were Asian (I am assuming transplanted Hong Konger's that grew up with a love for the sport), except their goaltender, who was very good in net. The Red Bullets were an all Japanese team. 
What was noticeable from the start of this game was the precision and discipline of the WIHO team during workouts. Everything was choreographed and very well done. The Red Bullets skated and warmed up their goaltender in a relaxed manner. The uniforms of the WIHO team were crisp...new...well coordinated with the shorts and helmets. The Red Bullets uniforms seems a little old and thin. Looks can be deceiving. After the game started, there was an edge to the Red Bullets play that I noticed right away...throwing that extra elbow in after the whistle blows...skating and brushing by an opponent during line changes...the little things. This was a team full of Matt Cooke's! And they had the wheels and the skills to play the game. The WIHO team took some early tripping penalties because they couldn't keep up. The Red Bullets were skating well...and the WIHO team appeared out classed...but, they had Luongo in goal (at least it seemed that way). Zulia Mitchell Kirsten Rendell was big and imposing in the net...when she crouched in the butterfly, she took up a lot of space.
The game went on for 3 periods with momentum slowly shifting towards the Red Bullets through some tough play. This team was aggressive and they took some bad penalties as a result...but, their message was being sent and the WIHO team was becoming timid in the middle as a result. But, after 3 periods, it was deadlocked 0-0.
WIHO caught a break quickly into OT with Adrienne Li breaking on the left side, collecting a rebound and shoving it into the goal for the win (pictured at the left), sending the girls on to the ice in a mad celebration. Part of me thinks that they all knew how lucky they were to win that game while being outshot 12-7 and out played in most aspects of the game...it all comes down to a lucky bounce or a break in OT. This was a fun game to watch, for some reason when women play men's sports (yeah, yeah...give me the sexist comments OK?!) they really play with a passion and a drive. These women all wanted this game badly and they played like it.
The last game we caught was the championship match of the International A competition between the unbeaten teams from Hong Kong and Taipei. This game game was raucous from the drop of the first puck with both teams hitting hard (and taking penalties for it, as body checking is not allowed) and skating equally as hard. 
The Typhoon from Taipei came out especially hard at the start, wanting to send a quick message to the host team. They skated very hard to the net and had some quality chances early. But, after a booming body check early in the match by Matt Malgrave (and taking the penalty as a result) of the HK Tigers, the tide began to shift. Later in the second period, with Taipei pressing in front of the net, Troy Steenson spotted a man alone, in front of the net, with the puck at his feet. This was a 'time stands still' moment...as I saw the puck lying there, with the goalie committed, in the corner of my eye, I saw Steenson speed in from the side boards and absolutely flatten the Taipei player (just as the player didn't get Steenson's, I didn't get his number either) with a bone crushing open ice hit...but Steenson took the worst of it with a cut to the face and a 2:00 minute minor for body checking. But, his teammates took notice...and the ice shifted to Hong Kong's favor suddenly in the game.
The Taipei boyz were no longer crashing the net as they did early in the game...and Hong Kong was spending more and more time in the attacking zone. But, again, the game would go deep into the 3rd period with a nil score, before Jamie Stark scored on a quick shot off the left side that beat goaltender John Osmar 'five hole' (pictured to the left...just before the puck hit the 'five hole'). It was then a matter of holding on for the Tigers...and they did with some great defense and stellar goal tending from Grant Phillips, who was called on to make a spectacular glove save with seconds left in the game to ice it.
As the teams were being awarded their medals, Expat Son thought it was pretty cool they all got medals after the game. I asked him, 'Do you know why those guys (Taipei) are getting silver ones?'
"Yes, because they are second place."
"And what does it mean when you are in second place??"
"You are the first loser!" Ahhhh...that's my boy!
Whew...After about 4 hours of hockey, it was time for a hearty meal at a nearby Ruby Tuesday. I've eaten at Ruby's in the past in HK and the food has always been somewhat unspectacular...but this meal was fantastic. A great day of hockey finished off by a massive hamburger, cooked properly, and a pint of Victoria Bitter.
I took a load of photos, with only a few being worthy of sharing (which is usual when taking sports photos). It's been a long, long time since I have taken photos at a hockey game it was gratifying to know that I could still capture a moment or two in still. I have a hell of a time with expat son's football matches, because I don't understand what is going to happen next...but with hockey, I can follow it through the lens (usually with both eyes open so I can see the whole game AND concentrate on focusing the camera on a specific player or the goal) and understand what is coming next in order to capture the winning shot. Out of three games...I captured the winning goal in 2 of them. Not bad. You can see them here.
UPDATE: Welcome to all those from WIHO. Thanks for the links and credits to the photos. Again...great game to watch...but I still say you were lucky to win. Heh. But, all that counts...is the win.
Hockey in a high rise...now that's different :)..sounds like the perfect Father's Day for you..
Posted by: Monica | June 19, 2007 at 06:37 AM
Glad you enjoyed the hockey at the MegaBox. Just wanted to mention that I was in net for the WIHO final game, not Zulia (she injured a ligament earlier in the week---it was a non-hockey related injury).
Great photos!
Posted by: Kirst Afloat | June 20, 2007 at 03:59 AM
Oh man...huge mistake. Thanks for the correction Kirsten. No announcements at the game and even the box score on the website had Zulia...but I wondered when the program said Zulia was number 5...and the goalie was number 1.
Posted by: GZ Expat | June 20, 2007 at 05:59 AM