The final day

Well at our meeting we got our games for the final day. I was asked to skate the 7 vs 8 game and be standby for the gold medal game. Janyce and Brent were asked to skate the gold medal game and Benoit and Lorie are skating the bronze game.

After the meeting we went out for dinner for a great Italian place that was close to the hotel called Il Mercardo (sp) very reasonably priced, and great food. We then went downtown to listen to a band.

I wasn't sure what to expect for the 7 vs 8 medal game, but it actually turned out to be quite good. Both teams came out to play and with 7 minutes to go in the game it was tied 3 - 3. New Brunswick scored to go ahead 4 - 3, New Brunswick then scored two goals in the last minute and a half to win 6 - 3. Overall it was a very good game, and both BC and NB came out to play.

After this game I took a quick look on my blog via my blackberry and saw a comment from a Nova Scotia parent who commented about her 6 year old daughter was following my blog, as she had an interest in refereeing. After a fair bit of effort we were actually able to find them before the Nova Scotia vs Manitoba game. The officials decided that if we could find them we would ask them to sit with us during the game. After locating them, the supervisors took them down to the refs room before the game, and let them take some pictures with Karen and Danielle (including some with the refs shirts on the girls). And they sat with us for the whole game. So that was fun. Referees don't have many fans, so it is nice to know there is another generation of potential refs out there. Manitoba ended up winning fairly handily which was the only disappointing part for the girls (as they play out of Bedford NS).

Next up was the Bronze game it was a good game, that Quebec ended up winning 6 - 5.

The gold medal game was Ontario vs Alberta. I always find it hard to standby for big games, as if you end up going in, you are somewhat rushed, and can't go through the regular pre-game duties. So you end up on edge most of the game, while still trying to stay fully involved in the game, so that if you do go in, it can be as seamless as possible.

It was very fast and although Ontario came out quickly Alberta ended up catching up and the game went into overtime on a late goal by Alberta with less than a minute to play. Given it was 7 - 7 going into overtime, we all thought it was going to be a very quick overtime, but the teams couldn't pop the winning goal. The Alberta goalie made a few nice saves, but about 13 minutes into overtime, Ontario slid one past her for the win and the gold medal.

The rink had pretty good attendance for most of the day, which is great, as it was really a demonstration of some of the best ringette Canada has to offer.

We are leaving for the airport by 5:30 Saturday morning, so the wakeup call at 5:00 came quite early. Not a lot of sleep on the last night, but it does mean that if all goes well I will be back to see my wife and kids by about 11:00 Saturday morning.

We are just now at the airport, waiting to board, hopefully the flight is a smooth one, as after 8 days it will be nice to see the family again.