PAST TOURS - Bangkok  +35 Mar. 20-22, 2009
Beijing International Ice Hockey

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BANGKOK'S 1ST ACTUAL +35 TOURNAMENT 

Beijing International was again truly international - with players from and flying in from around the world. After our Beijing goalie "Finkelishly" dropped out, Rob Grey from Dubai packed his gear and left the sandbox for the Land of Smiles! Cunningham also flew in from Dubai, with Max rejoined Beijing from Moscow and Gonzo making the iron man 16-hr flight with his cousin from Toronto! 

Troy, Yoko, Sean & Jay arrived early to scout out bars and tested the safety of Vietnamese food. On Thursday night, most of the team rendezvoused at Morning-Night (our home bar away from home). We met up with old friends in Nana Plaza. John Jeakins started the evening by supplying the team with a bottle of vodka, and the bar reciprocated by making him an official Morning-Night VIP - complete with ID card!  Our team strategy meetings lasted long into the morning - almost to tee-time! 

10 players had butchered one of Bangkok's best golf courses! Ray managed to lose 12 of 15 balls - most trying to chip onto the par-3 island! All agreed that 37c was a little hot and abandoned beering on the 8th hole in favour of H2O! Coach Roach's caddie brought along a shovel to repair his divots. After baking in the sun, a return to Morning-Night was a relief.   Ray somehow managed to find Bangkok's only alcohol free restaurant for better or worse lead 1/2 of the team to a donair shop he'd seen earlier. It was Muslim, alcohol free but tasty!! The Hammer wasn't even allowed to bring a bottle of Black Label into the restaurant and we had to drink on the street - literally! This slow start to the evening paid dividends the next day, even after a night of bull riding! 

THE GAMES

4-1 Vs. Kuala Lumpur

For once Beijing started a tournament with a win! Troy Muller and Yoko were on fire dancing around KL's defensemen. Troy hammered in two sweet goals and Ray & Brad added singles. Beijing dominated the whole game and let up in the third period to save energy for their second match an hour later. Between the pipes, Rob Grey almost had a shut-out - but that would be his story for the tournament. 

3-1 Vs. Singapore

The shifts that worked so well in the first game were kept: 1) Kung, Troy, Yoko 2) Gonzo, Plummer, Doc and 3) Venables, Max, with Patrick. The D again had a solid rotation between Metz, Clint, Cunningham, Yanni & The Hammer. The Nana-Strategy as it was called was to have two scorers and a grid player on each shift, and though usually the  unsung heroes, it needs to be noted that Kung, Doc & Patrick fore-checked the hell out of the the opposition never letting them set up or make good passes. Coach Tom made great shifts! With the help of the grinders, Yoko & Troy both potted goals for their shift and Gonzo scored finally after many posts and missed breakaways. It was great to beat Greg Blakney's team and not get hurt in the process! The two victories meant that Beijing would play at 12:30pm the next day and get to sleep in!

Quote of the night: "I would rather eat my own sh*t than sleep with a katoy!" Other teams didn't have this high standard of that we proudly held!  

1-3 Vs. Tokyo (Semi-finals)

Tokyo was the team to beat! They had a 9-1 victory on day 1 which was the only lopsided game in the tournament, but it showed they had speed and scoring ability. After the 1st period, it was 0-1, in an even game except for one giveaway. In the second period, Beijing was out-played and out-shot, and if not for our replacement goalie, Tokyo would have scored more. Coach Tom shortened the bench to two lines in the 3rd, but it was too little too late. Metz scored from the point for our only goal, and Tokyo killed the time effectively to get into the finals and Beijing would play KL again.

3-1 Vs. Kuala Lumpur 

It was surprising to see Andrew Hjelmeland ("Pinky"/"Drew" - anything but spell his last name) and Greg Blakney helping out KL to strengthen their team. But even with these two veteran defensemen, they were not a match for Gonzo's draws to Ray and his one-timers, nor were they able to stop Max from schooling them in with his Moscow magic. In frustration, Drew made several rushes, but Yanni effectively poked the puck away and then would finish off with an elbow! 

At the banquet, Rob Grey was awarded Best Goalie. Missing shutouts in three games and having a 1.5 GAA was outstanding! Without him, our record would have been very different. 

All of Beijing players agreed that the time slots for this tournament were fantastic. Games started late morning and finished at 6pm. No 8am or 1am games. The 5 other teams in the tournament were from Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Manila, Tokyo and Bangkok, and with all of us being at the rink, we all got to meet and drink with each other. Something that just doesn't happen when there's 30 teams in the October Bangkok Tournament. 

Tips for the traveler - 

- 950baht for Airport to Nana Plaza in a big jeep

- 900baht per night at our sweet hotel (Nanatai Mansion)

- 135baht per beer in Nana Plaza

- 80baht per Nana Cheese Burger

Key Locations:  

Nana Plaza, Morning-Night & NanaTai Mansion - Soi 4

Titanium & Pelican - Soi 22

Penalty Spot - around corner from Soi 22 on Sukumvit