BAILEY TRASK: December 2011

really deeply sorry about the title, but i think the whole "i was there" cliche fit. well this post is about my world juniors experience in 2010. it may be short it may be long. first off, on december 21st, i went to "family fest". (i bought a word juniors notebook and wrote down everything i did, world jr related, so most of this post is going to be about what i said). they had the stanley cup there and former NHL players, aswell as a big display from the hockey hall of fame. they had all the other trophies there as well including jerseys and sticks that were used/worn. they had mega sized tickets, a game area and a place to get things signed. after that post in my notebook, i wrote about each of the players and what i thought about them. i said that i hated calvin deHaan haha but "it was funny when he locked himself out of his hotel room". on the sunday of the pre-comp, we wore our green jerseys. loved them but if you hate saskatchewan, you probably didnt. we beat sweden 6-2. the next game vs finland was played in calgary where we won 3-0. the last pre-comp game was vs the czech and we won 3-2. the game on the 26th vs latvia was so intense and nerve-wracking. seeing the hype in saskatoon was mind-blowing. made me so excited (like i already wasnt haha) for the rest of the tourney. that game, we won 16-0. on tuesday, december 29th, i wrote about the game vs switzerland the night before. brandon mcmillian (anaheim) got a hatty. "they got a 2 on 1 and ellis was the only team canada player and they actually hit the post" (what i said). we won 6-0. the bext game was vs slovakia where martin jones got the start. i put that my prediction was 8-2 canada, which it was,. wednesday, december 30th.. "today i went to worldfest to see the olympic team be announced, there was over 4000 people! so much media and fans. mike babcock left his live interview early cause his flight left 20 minutes from then". canada vs slovakia... canada wins 8-1, taylor hall hatty. "I WAS RIGHT ABOUT MY PREDICTION!!!!!" also, della rovere with a short-handed goal. team canada vs team usa prediction: 5-3 canada. january 1st 2010... "yesterday i went to the Canada/USA game.wow! we got so many things. tsn booth was right beside me." credit union centre for that game was crazy. you moved maybe 10 steps in 5 minutes. it was so crowded. acual score, 5-4 canada, shootout. attendance, 15171 (103.2%). "there were about two dozen usa fans. it was tied after 1." "one minute into the third, they scored. it was 4-2 usa. but then we scored twice and it was tied!!! we scored again but it got waived off because brayden was in the creast. there was a BULLSHIT chant in the crowd". "eberle got a golden chance in overtime but couldnt sneak it in". anddddd, it was off to shootout. eberle, goal. usa (whoever), goal. kadri, goal. usa, goal. kozan, goal. schroeder, no goal. we win!!!! alex pietrangelo's goal was a shorty. january 2nd, 2010.... "RUSSIA LOST!!!! SWEDEN LOST 4-3 TO USA AND WE WON 6-2 VS SWISS. WERE PLAYING THE USA IN THE FINALS!!!". on the day of the gold medal game, i could not sleep (i guess the night before.). i was so excited to go. parking was a bitch but we made it before warmies started. they were giving away so many things. attendance, 15171. being in that building for that game gave me butterflies. i knew that it might not ever be in saskatoon again (atleast in my lifetime) so i better soak it all in. lines were huge, i never went to the bathroom at all during the game. neither did i buy anything. during warmups, i got way too excited. i had crazy funny fans around me and they made it even better. one guy gave me fireworks haha. once the game started, everything was so intense. it was like if they scored, it was the end, no matter how much time was left in the game. the atmosphere was unbelievable. i went down by the benches pre-game and saw luke adam. he look so ready. the usa guys had their pucks arranged to say "USA". the refs were so bad, they called everything on us. despite the outcome, that will no doubt be the best hockey game i have ever been to. when eberle tied it up (scored the two goals) the building was jumping. there was a "BOB MCKENZIE" chant during intermission. when pietrangelo hit the post in overtime, it was the most intense feeling ever. just knowing that it could have ended killed me..and im pretty sure everyone else. here's something of what i said in my notebook... "Fuck! no no no!!! we lost!! the refs were SO bad". losing a gold medal game in overtime, and being there to witness it, was the most dissapointing feelng ever. i felt so bad for the boys. they worked their asses off and came second. i remember tweeting usa/ref death threats after saying that i was going to bomb their plane. i dont think i was joking at the time. i still havent (to this day) seen the replay of the overtime goal. i just cant. the only time i have seen it, was when i was actually there. i wore a world juniors shirt underneath my jersey at the game, i still havent washed/wore that shirt yet, after the game. i cry almost everytime i think about that night, and unfortuantly, theyre not good tears. being at the world juniors was almost life changing. seeing team canada fans and how they act in the same building was so amazing. those days that the tourney was on, it felt like it united us. i kept all news paper articles from the world juniors (every year i do) and to go back and read them, might be a good thing, or it might not. anyways. if anyone kept reading this, i added some picutres that i took. i also got both of eberle's gold medal game goals on video. theyre at the very bottom. sorry, none of the pics are alligned (sp?). and, if you think i tweet lots now during hockey games, just wait until the world juniors start up ;) GO CANADA!!!!!!

more of my pics: http://twitpic.com/photos/baileytrask?page=22
http://twitpic.com/photos/baileytrask?page=23
http://twitpic.com/photos/baileytrask?page=24
http://twitpic.com/photos/baileytrask?page=25
http://twitpic.com/photos/baileytrask?page=26

gold medal game warmups