TPC HOckey Tours

1st day in Russia. Players and Parents woke up and went to breakfast. It was similar to all others we had with a few different options, We got on the bus and headed to the rink not knowing what to expect. When we got there the bus driver stopped in front of a building that looked like apartments and we could not understand what he was saying. He sowed me where the entrance was and Miash was waiting for us. Miash told the bus driver to swing the bus around as he had a spot for him to park. We get off the bus and walk though what looked liked apartments or what they would call flats. We get to the rink and inside it was freezing cold. Kids get their locker room and it was upstairs on the second floor. As we waited we found out the this was a hockey academy which is one of the best in the world. Their players were all over the grounds training. Than they had some players come on the ice with us for the Master Class. Their players were walking from there dorm room in full gear and skate guards to the rink, it was very cool. Our players got on the ice and it was a great skate for them. They basically did 30 minutes of all power skating and edge work. It was amazing to watch our players and the difference of how they did the skate to what we did, to say the least some of our players were struggling through the entire skate. After the skate We left the academy to goto lunch and we had a personal tour guide named Ronsul. He immediately got the attention of everyone with his comedic style presentation. On the way to the restaurant he was telling us stories about the city and the city's building history and it was very interesting. We arrived at Lunch to a real nice and fancy restaurant. Than we had a five course meal, starting with a chicken salad, than some crepes with caviar, followed by mushroom soup, and than the main course a popular dish in russia was beff stoganoff. followed by a dessert that was a strawberry croissant. everyone also received a soda, water and coffee or tea. It was a great team meal. We than went to visited the Peter and Paul fortress and Artillary Museum. The crowd loved it, the kids went with the coaches and managers and parents went on their own in a group. It was really interesting, after the tour the kids got to fo a shooting game with target and tyler colasanto had the highest amount of points. We than walked across the street to the fortress and it was something special to see. We jumped on the bus to play our first official Russian hockey game. Played against their elite 01 team. their team dominated play out shooting our team 73-2 with mason harner scoring the lonely goal for our team as we lost 11-1. Our goalies played unreal, stopping shots that marty brodeur could not stop. All 5 goalies played 12 minutes each and faced numerous back door shots, shots from the slot and some breakaways.
Some players were down but the coaches really gave them a pep talk and let them know it will get better and to have your heads up high. We left the rink and headed to the hotel where everyone was on their own for the night, all and all it was a good day and an eye opener for some of our older players.

2nd day of Russia. It was the same schedule as the day before with breakfast and than to the rink with a Master Class. This time the master class was all skill working on players stick handling and shooting. The way they teach the technical part of the game is amazing. They really know how to slow the game down and strongly work on the skills of the game and show how important it really is to have great technical skills. The player looked great on the ice skating with their players. The coaches ended the session with a shootout and players got to do all types of moves on the goalies. Their coach was robbed by Dematos so he immediately threw his hands up and did 25 push ups. It was great to see.
Everyone rushed out of the rink and loaded the bus where we took off to visit the Herimtage museum. When I tell you spectacular, WOW this place was awesome. All different paintings and art work and sculptures, we could have spent the whole day there. Only draw back was it was majorly crowded. Our tour guide was great explaining to everyone different stories and getting us in and out. After the museum we visited a local hockey store to buy memorabilia. Players and parents loved it, and we spent an hour in the store buying things from t-shirts,hats customized jerseys and even a $400 souvenir stick.
After the store we went to our next fancy team lunch. This was a four course meal starting out with salad and than a dumpling soup which was out of this world. Main course was salmon and dessert, well that was just amazing dessert. It was some type of creamy flaky dessert. After lunch we made a quick stop to St issac's Cathedral . Some of the players stayed back on the bus as they were getting tired. The cathedral was amazing. We than boarded the bus for our 2nd game in as many nights. We played there 02' elite team and matched much better. Our goalies played great once again and we were out shot 44-12 with chase harner missing a breakaway. We lost 7-1 with our lonely goal scored by one of the russians playing with us. After game there were more heads up in air and some smiles from parents and players. we got on bus and headed to hotel for some free time.