The Royce Files

The U.S. tried and tried but the mad hockey nation of the great white north upended our dreams to take home the gold medal in men's ice hockey. Thankfully that team didn't come out and smoke cigars and drink alcohol after they received their medals. And I might add theie national anthem is actually quite good. In honor of the victory, I give you this Canandian catchet of an Ice Hockey stamp which was released prior to the last year that Canada hosted the games (Calgary). I was near those grounds in 2001. In fact I was just a stones throw from the downhill skiing area when I heard rumors about 9-11. I was camping at a KOA adjacent to the facility. It really was surreal. Anyways, congrats Canada on getting a bunch of gold to add to your GDP. That gold should stimulate your economy quite a bit.

I crossed over the flooded river in 'Head to see some ice hockey at the Moorhead Sports Center. The IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) U18 World Championships are being held in the area and promise I take in one game. That one game happened to be Norway versus Switzerland. Nothing really special. Across town at the new Urban Plains Center the U.S. were playing Czech Republic. But I decided I'd go for the cheap game ($6 compared to upwards of $30). No disappointments. It was a good game. I had a great seat. Norway were already losing 2-0 when I arrived at about 5 minutes into the 1st period. Switzerland were just trouncing the Norwegians although I thought Norway played a better passing game. The teams were sort of the calibre of minor league hockey although they often looked like the Wild on a bad day. It has been a rather high scoring tournament so 7-3 wasn't anything out of the norm. In researching the IIHF U18 World Championship, I discovered there is more than ...