So last summer, I booked a trip on my parents' airmiles for me, mom, dad and my middle brother Goob. We were going to fly to the east coast, but instead we booked Vegas from Feb 25 - Mar 5th.
We flew into Vegas on the morning of the 25th and checked into the Sahara. Being in Vegas actually feels like you are in a completely different world. I think it's something everyone should experience. It blew my mind. The city, the people, the vibe, the lights, architecture, everything! We found a restaurant called the Peppermill... it was weird, but quickly became our favourite place to eat all three meals!
The first night we went to see a Beatles Tribute band. They were pretty awesome, I wished the sound was better, but the show itself was great! After dinner, my brother and I got tickets to that same theatre to see Marc Savards Hypnosis show! I absolutely love hypnosis, so I knew we were in for a good time. My brother hadn't been to a show before. Plus, Marc Savard is an extraordinary Canadian guy, so I was excited to see his work. If you go to Vegas, make sure you look him up. He performs almost everynight in the V theatre inside Planet Hollywood on the strip!
I had a momentary lapse in judgment while I was packing for this trip. I'm so low key in general, I wear comfortable and practical clothing for the most part. One reason is that I'm just laid back and care more about how comfortable I am than how I look... and 2nd is because I have this habit of running everywhere. I don't mean I run everywhere instead of driving... I just mean I have sudden urges to run, or sometimes I prefer to run instead of walk. This poses some problems with what I packed for footwear. I figured, since I'm going to the city, I would take my uptown clothes. I'm always wearing flatshoes of some sort at home, so I took high heels with me... and various other pieces of clothing that you wouldn't see me wearing in Comox. So here I go, in Vegas, with no flat shoes... back to real time!
So Goob and I get ready to go to the show, and then we hop on this Bus called the Deuce. If you've been to Vegas, surely you know the one I'm talking about. If you haven't, BEWEARE OF HOW SLOW THE DEUCE IS!!! It's warm, and it's better than walking if your feet hurt and you arent in a rush... otherwise, find another method of travel! We realized when we get to the crowded part of the strip that the bus is moving too slowly for us to make the show on time... so we get off the bus and start running. As cute as my shoes were, I had instant blisters. 2 on the pads of my feet and one on my 3rd left toe. Not a good start for night 1!
We made the show on time... both my brother and I went on stage and tried to get hypnosis. We were both half way there, but not fully out like some of the characters on stage! Hypnosis produces some of the funniest things I've ever seen in my life. The show was fantastic and we bought a DVD of it as a souvenir. It is unreal!
On Day 2 we rented a white Kia minivan. Normally I wouldn't get excited about a minivan, but I have to admit... it was perfect. Fit all of our stuff, we had our own controls for windows, heat, air conditioning etc. Lot's of leg room. :) My brother did all the driving, and he brought his GPS so it was perfect. Outside Vegas we stopped at the outlet malls, which were pretty big and sweet.
I don't remember how long the trip was, eventually we made it into Anaheim and found a nice Holiday Inn to stay at. After we checked in, we went for food... I decided I wanted Italian and everyone was game for it, so we punched "Italian" into the GPS. It took us to a place called Demiceli's. We drive up and the GPS is telling us to make a right hand turn, so we do... into a strip mall. There is a blockbuster, some other stores that were all closed, an empty parking lot... and across the way we see a red sign with the name of the restaurant. My brother drives up beside it, no one is saying anything, the restaurant itself is empty... then out of nowhere my Mom says "hmm I dunno, it looks expensive".... so I looked over at her thinking it was for sure sarcasm, but she was dead serious! I laughed so hard and said "Goob! She isn't joking"... it was for sure the best ab workout I had all trip. I had the giggles for the next four hours. Turns out, even though the place was emtpy.. it was cheap and incredibly good food!!! Import beer was $3.25 in the bottle, not that I drink beer, it's just a reference point, hehe.
Day 3 consisted of visiting California Adventure Park! We had a lot of fun. Goob and I went on the front of the big rollercoaster, California Screamin'. It was a blast! We got pictures with lots of the characters, went to 2 different 3d shows. "A Bugs Life" was the best, it was so well done! You wear 3d glasses, they always look so good on me haha. We were tired after a full day at the park but we had such a great time!
Night 3 we stayed in Carson. We couldn't believe how immaculate LA was as we drove around it. We really couldn't FIND garbage on any of the roads, it was amazing. At first we thought it was just Anaheim because of Disneyland being there... but everywhere we went was like that. I laugh at people who try to tell me that Vancouver is a "clean" city. Obviously they haven't spent much time in it!
Day 4 was our beach day! I was so excited to check out all the beaches that you hear about and see pictures off. We started at Long Beach, and ended up seeing the Queen Mary vessel across the bay. We drove over to get a better look to see that it had been turned into a hotel. Beside it was a Russian Sub, so we went on a tour of that. It was very interesting and fun. We got lots of neat pictures!
After that, we continued onto the rest of the beaches. Next was Huntington Beach, which happened to be my favourite. The pier was awesome. There were some nice restaurants, tons of beach volleyball courts, lots of people surfing. The atmosphere was really awesome, I cannot wait to go back!
We dropped by Newport Beach but didn't stay long. It was my moms favourite. There were a lot of really nice little shops and cafe's really close to the beach. Next was Laguna Beach. That whole area has more Art Galleries than I've ever seen in all the cities I've been in combined! It was insane! The main street was so beautiful, gallery after gallery of different types of art. We ate at a Mexican place there, it was neat. By the time night rolled around, we made our way to Santa Monica.
The hotel we stayed at in Santa Monica was right downtown called the Carmel. It was more expensive than some of the other ones, but the location was great. It was Goobs 28th birthday, so we got ready, had a few drinks, and started walking! The atmosphere there was really awesome as well. Some of the streets are blocked off from cars so you can shop... people play music in the street too. There are lots of nice little cafe's to go into, and we were only 3 blocks from the Pier! That night, we ended up catching a cab and going to a club called Circle Bar. We had some drinks, did some dancing, and then went back to the hotel.
The next day was a lazy one...Perhaps I consumed a bit too much alcohol the night before and definitely didn't get enough sleep. We had breakfast at a little cafe around the corner, and then walked the streets to check out the shops. We went down to the pier, I got sun burnt. It was fun. Later that day we drove to Hollywood. We parked part way up the Hollywood Hills so that we could get pictures with the sign! We hiked a little bit and took a bunch of fun pictures. The view from up there was spectacular, looking down at the city. After that, we drove onto Hollywood Boulevard. It is a neat place, we parked the car and walked up it. Had dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen - I love thin crust pizza!
We decided to get out of the city that night, since my brother was flying home from Vegas a few days early to play hockey. There was a cheap motel we stayed at, like a truckers stop. It was hands down the ugliest part of anything we saw that whole trip. In contrast, it was about 1.5 hours out of LA... there was garbage EVERYWHERE! It was in the desert. I slept quite well that night and went for a run in the morning.
That day we traveled back to Vegas, we stopped at the outlet malls again before we got into the city though.. hehe! But sadly, the Nike shirt I wanted in another colour just simply didn't look as good as the blue, so I couldn't buy it.
We got into Vegas and stayed at the Riviera that night.Mom, Goob and I went to another hypnosis show which was absolutely priceless as well. While in Santa Monica, my Dad decided to change his flight to an earlier one... so he flew out the night we arrived back in Vegas on a red eye, and my brother flew out the next morning at 7 am. They met in Vancouver that day and traveled home to the island with Judi.
My mom and I stayed on for the full time. We had lots of fun together, shopping, checking out Vegas. We watched the water show outside the Bellagio, it is so awesome! We ate lots of food at the Peppermill and just enjoyed our time in the city together.
I have a friend in Vegas named Steve. He came and picked me up one night, and it was incredible. He took me to the Hard Rock, which was awesome. We went into a club there for a short time then we jetted to where his friends were at the Wynn. There is a club called Blush on the bottom floor and his friends had a table there. We skipped the line (that city is all about who you know, so it was good to be with someone who had connections for sure!) and got in. The club itself was beautiful, and the DJ was amazing. It was probably one of my best ever experiences in a night club. Good music all night, a bunch of wicked people. Once we got inside, Steve ended up knowing 2 more tables of people so I met lots of them and they were awesome! We danced all night until 2 am and then headed over to Fremont Street. That is another place that you must see! I didn't get to see the light show, but I will next time. Fremont street is in the old downtown Vegas, not the new part which is the Strip.
It was a late night for me, but really awesome to see Vegas with someone who knew all about it. I had a wonderful time! My mom and I continued our shopping for the remaining days until we jetted.
The weather the whole trip was wonderful. It was always suited for t-shirts, warm breeze. I got a bit sun burnt on two occassions, its weeks later now and I still have my tan lines. I love the sun! To be able to walk outside with no humidity and just warmth was such a nice change. LA has my thumbs up as a city - I really enjoyed everything about it... and it made me decide that climate is a big deal! Vegas is a party place, so it would be a hard place for me to live. It's certainly not as health conscious as LA!
If you are on facebook with me, these are all the stories that go with my photo albums there! :) We had a really wicked trip all around and I'm so glad we got away as a family. We did miss Mike, Judi, Danika and the kids... but someone had to hold down the fort while the rest of us were gone!
I've also decided that I'm taking a road trip down the coast. There is a lot I want to do and see in LA that we just didn't have time to do...one of the top priorities is going to the six flags and Magic Mountain. I love rollercoasters! Wooohoo! :)
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Adventures
(Gabe, scroll down to the March 22nd entry for the Hockey story ;)
My life has been full of excitement as of late! That continues to surprise me, but it really shouldn't. You would think I would be used to it by now - I guess that is the benefit of living in the moment!
So my recent favourite adventures started with a trip to Tofino. My siblings spend a fair amount of time on the west coast, but my entire year gets filled up with sports commitments... and since none of those sports involve Tofino, I never make it there. My last time there was a family camping trip, I wasn't anymore than 7 years old, probably 6.
Mike and Judi decided to take me on a sample day trip to show me some of the neat things there. We left in the morning, but a little later than planned so we didn't go to the Coombs market. We stopped in Port Alberni, where the Enchanter was in the harbour. Normally the Enchanter is in Hot Springs Cove and used as a B&B, but it was having work done in PA. I walked around it but we couldn't get inside. It's quite the boat! Judi sometimes acts as the host during the summer when the owner is away.
Then we stopped at this neat river with all these really kewl rocks. Right now the name is escaping me but I'll ask them what it was called! I have pictures from when I was six on those same rocks, so it was neat to go back there. I remembered it once we started climbing around the river!
Next we went right into Tofino to the village. It is a quaint little place. We had some lunch before stopping at Long Beach. That place is magical! It feels so weird to stare out at the coast and not see anything... I'm so used to the east side of Vancouver Island, where I'm always looking at the mainland mountains. I think Hawaii and Japan are the only places directly west of us, and they are much too far to see. It was vast.
We checked out a few more beaches, and got some really great pictures at sunset. All the places we went were so beautiful! I cannot wait to go back. On our way home, we stopped at my Auntie Rhonda's house in Port Alberni for a quick visit. It is always nice to pop by family's houses!
My next noteable adventure deserves its own entry, so I'll continue on in another post.
-----------------------------------------------------
Lyrics of the moment:
I'm alive in here somewhere, cause I can feel me twisting
I'm so far beyond my years, so don't be fooled by today.
Hey, please just believe in me. Don't lose your hope so easily,
because passing through the eye of a needle isnt as easy as it sounds...
for those like me.
My life has been full of excitement as of late! That continues to surprise me, but it really shouldn't. You would think I would be used to it by now - I guess that is the benefit of living in the moment!
So my recent favourite adventures started with a trip to Tofino. My siblings spend a fair amount of time on the west coast, but my entire year gets filled up with sports commitments... and since none of those sports involve Tofino, I never make it there. My last time there was a family camping trip, I wasn't anymore than 7 years old, probably 6.
Mike and Judi decided to take me on a sample day trip to show me some of the neat things there. We left in the morning, but a little later than planned so we didn't go to the Coombs market. We stopped in Port Alberni, where the Enchanter was in the harbour. Normally the Enchanter is in Hot Springs Cove and used as a B&B, but it was having work done in PA. I walked around it but we couldn't get inside. It's quite the boat! Judi sometimes acts as the host during the summer when the owner is away.
Then we stopped at this neat river with all these really kewl rocks. Right now the name is escaping me but I'll ask them what it was called! I have pictures from when I was six on those same rocks, so it was neat to go back there. I remembered it once we started climbing around the river!
Next we went right into Tofino to the village. It is a quaint little place. We had some lunch before stopping at Long Beach. That place is magical! It feels so weird to stare out at the coast and not see anything... I'm so used to the east side of Vancouver Island, where I'm always looking at the mainland mountains. I think Hawaii and Japan are the only places directly west of us, and they are much too far to see. It was vast.
We checked out a few more beaches, and got some really great pictures at sunset. All the places we went were so beautiful! I cannot wait to go back. On our way home, we stopped at my Auntie Rhonda's house in Port Alberni for a quick visit. It is always nice to pop by family's houses!
My next noteable adventure deserves its own entry, so I'll continue on in another post.
-----------------------------------------------------
Lyrics of the moment:
I'm alive in here somewhere, cause I can feel me twisting
I'm so far beyond my years, so don't be fooled by today.
Hey, please just believe in me. Don't lose your hope so easily,
because passing through the eye of a needle isnt as easy as it sounds...
for those like me.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Hockey Craziness!
SO I haven't been blogging lately... but now that hockey season is tapering off, I have full intentions of updating my blog with all the exciting events in my life of late ;)
The most recent of which, blew my mind.
The week of spring break for the kids is the week that all the Provincial Championships take place for BC. As part of the high performance program for officials, there were 9 of us sent to Nelson for the Midget AAA female Provincials. This is the first year that the league has been in place, and also the first year that the Midget Nationals are taking place. They are being hosted in Calgary. That means that the girls aren't just playing for pride, but also for the opportunity to compete with the other teams who come out of their province as #1. In fact, it was a year of a lot of firsts. This is also the first time that Hockey BC has approved all of the female officials to be sent in from out of town. That means travel costs paid, hotels paid, per diems paid, and then our game fees as well. It adds up, but I think it delivered the highest level of officiating that the teams could've hoped for. Not gonna lie, we were sharp.
The ride up was a bit of an episode. I left at 6:30 am to be in nanaimo by 8 am to meet Jim (officer at large for the tournament) and Jamie (a fellow official). Jacqui, who is also from the island, had to drop her kids off in Vernon... so she caught 1 ferry ahead of us and then was supposed to meet up with us in Penticton on our way through. Unfortunately, her son got an infection in his mouth and ended up in the Emergency room in Kelowna for 5 hours. That created a bit of a delay. The 3 of us ended up carrying on to Nelson and arrived at 10 pm... while Jacqui was 2 hours behind and joined us when she got there. The hotel was nice, and we didn't have games until Sunday, so the travel day wasn't too big of a deal.
Saturday flew by, we checked out Nelson, I bought a kewl hat, and also the book Twilight ;) We had our first meeting to discuss rules, talk about our role during the week, and determine assignments for the following day. Everyone else arrived and we moved to our respective rooms. Jacqui and I were on the first floor, on an end suite... it was awesome. It was Lakefront, with lots of windows, our own entrance and parking stall right in front. We didn't expect this when we were told we were heading to Nelson!
Day 1 went by without incident...The facility itself was awesome. New, bright, spacious. It was a beautiful rink! Each night we had a meeting to talk about assignments for the next day. Once we got into the games, we got progressively more exhausted. We were tired from exercise, and also tired from lack of sleep due to a tough schedule.
On one of the nights, when we had the late game, the 3 on ice officials and myself (who was standby) needed to get food. We got in jacqui's car, exhausted, and went to the front doors to wait for Nat. She walked into the lobby and didn't see any of us... so Jacqui started honking repeatedly. Nat still didn't hear, but the city cop (who would've thought that Nelson would have city cops...) that just drove by heard us. He did a U turn and came back over, stopped beside our car and rolled down his window. I told the girls to let me talk to him... so jacqui rolled down her window, and so did I in the back seat. He asked us if we were the ones honking, so I said yes, we were honking to get your attention! We are very hungry and need to know what is open at this hour. He laughed and told us to follow him. That is how we discovered Finleys (and Brent) and the best chicken ceasar wraps ever! That was one of 2 experiences with the cops during our visit.
Unfortunately Jamie got hurt during a game while I was on standby. There was a chiropractor there, so he was able to fix her back. That was a relief. I got dressed and finished her game for her. We met the Referee in Chief (RIC) from Nelson named Rick. He owned the concession stand in the arena. He was amazing!!! We were VERY well taken care of, and he also evaluated us at our request. We love you Rick! Aside from that, it was tough to find good food.. when you are starving, only have so much time, and only a couple of us had vehicles. Nelson has a very diverse population.
So the final day arrives, and we have a meeting at 4:45 pm to find out who officiates the championship game, which is happening at 7:30 pm that night. Not a lot of notice, but it is supposed to be performance based, so we never find out until shortly before. After some very, very interesting events that I won't cover here, it turns out that I get selected to ref the final game down the middle, with a linesman from vancouver and a linesman from Dawson Creek (where my mom was born!). The teams competing were the Vancouver Fusion vs the Kootenay Wildcats, who were the home team.
We got told at 7 pm that the warm up would be starting at 7:20, not 7:30. That put us in a bit of a rush, and we left the scoresheet in the dressing room - lol. Judy ran and got it for me before the game started. Then, when they tried to play the anthem, the volume wouldn't work for the stereo or the microphone. Instead, the entire stadium stood together and just sang it. It was magical - it sends shivers down my spine on a regular day, nevermind everyone including the players singing in unison. OH Canada!
I normally don't call a lot of penalties... but the girls were very excited about the game and playing aggressively. I had to call a 5 minute major for boarding in the first period on a Kootenay player. The arena was so loud the entire time, that I could barely hear myself yelling, or my linesman's whistles. I've never heard such a thing at a girls game. Those small town fans sure get into it. There were people there with huge airhorns running around the rink, painted faces, wearing wigs and jersey's from their respective teams. It was good to see.
The first period had two 5 on 3's, one for each team, but ended 0-0. In the 2nd period, white (Kootenay) got momentum... which forced the Fusion to take penalties. That period ended 2-1 Kootenay.
In the 3rd, black cleaned up their game. They came out wanting to win. I made 2 questionable calls.... one on white, and nothing came of it. One on black, which black made the best of by scoring a short-handed goal and tying the game at 2.
The last 8 minutes of the third period was unbelievable. The crowd was so loud, booing any call I made on white and screaming over anything that I didn't call on black. That rink turned into an absolute zoo. I had to call a boarding penalty on white for smashing a kid into the boards. They were both going for the puck at full speed, but perpendicular to each other. Unfortunately, even though I support going hard for the puck, you have to take into consideration where the boards are when you are colliding with another player. Shortly after that, there was an offside call at the black line... my linesman blew her whistle very loud, and at least 1 second after, the white player took a slapshot that hit the black goalie. I had to call unsportsmanlike conduct. It isn't something I ever want to call at the end of a game - but I heard the whistle, and so did the other 9 players on the ice who had relaxed at the sound.
Black ended up scoring with about 3 minutes left in the game. The crowd got continually more displeased and loud all the way until the end. Not only was the crowd bad, but the scorekeepers were Kootenay fans. They weren't filling out the scoresheet properly, or looking at me when I signalled a penalty. During the timeouts, they would not time them or push the buzzer. It was bad. Black took a penalty with 30 seconds left... white pulled their goale, and played 6 on 4. They had four good scoring chances and couldn't put the puck in the net. It ended 3-2 Fusion.
Then it turned into a disaster. A couple of the white players came and shook my hand including their head coach...the rest just came over to say a lot of things to me that I wouldn't repeat. After the handshake with all the black players, I turned to get the scoresheet.. and some mother, wearing a Wildcats jersey was coming onto the ice through the penalty box, waving a camera at me, screaming that I just lost them the championship game, blah blah blah. My linesman had to throw her back into the penalty box and shut the gate lol. Shortly after this, I went to leave the ice with my linesman. There were fans hanging all over the glass screaming at me, including over the tunnel were I needed to go to get to the dressing room. After we got in there, some angry girl and her boyfriend found our refs room (which was actually a dressing room because we needed room for 9 officials) and came in. At that point, Jamie became my personal bodyguard. She escorted those fans out of the arena and threatened to call the cops. I was in the dressing room, but apparently the tunnel outside my room was lined with angry fans waiting for me to come out. The officials who were there were acting as security on the outside.
45 minutes later, I sent someone to find out from the rink guy, if there was a back door we could get out. Thankfully there was, and the fans had disappeared from the tunnel. We get to the outside, only to see commotion going on in the parking lot. There is a guy yelling and approaching a girl... then we realize its one of our refs! I guess she was carrying her ref bag to the car, and he figured that she was me... so he started verbally attacking her. Her name was Teresa. Jamie heard all the yelling, and ran over there telling the guy to beat it. Right then, 6 other men hear this and start walking towards the girls, joining in on the yelling. Jim went out there... and then these 2 guys come running out of the arena who had just been told of what was going on. I recognized them when they came running over to me to ask if everything was okay... they were the Vancouver Fusion coaches, who also happen to be RCMP. I was watching everything from the sidelines, all the other officials protected me well from the public. Thanks guys ;)
Turned out that the 2 rcmp got us to our vehicles, made sure we had everything, and chased those other guys off so we could get out with our vehicles unharmed. It was unlike anything I've ever seen. The city cops arrived shortly after in their cruisers and dealt with the fans.
After things calmed down, we were invited back to Finleys. Rick and Brent had a little gathering set up for us... we ate and drank all night for free. They were incredible hosts, and Brent is a pretty wicked guy all around. That ended our time in Nelson. We left the next morning at 6:45 am and I made the journey back to Vancouver. I had to ref another hockey tournament this weekend, but it was much less eventful than the previous. Thank goodness!
More to come on my recent adventures ;)
The most recent of which, blew my mind.
The week of spring break for the kids is the week that all the Provincial Championships take place for BC. As part of the high performance program for officials, there were 9 of us sent to Nelson for the Midget AAA female Provincials. This is the first year that the league has been in place, and also the first year that the Midget Nationals are taking place. They are being hosted in Calgary. That means that the girls aren't just playing for pride, but also for the opportunity to compete with the other teams who come out of their province as #1. In fact, it was a year of a lot of firsts. This is also the first time that Hockey BC has approved all of the female officials to be sent in from out of town. That means travel costs paid, hotels paid, per diems paid, and then our game fees as well. It adds up, but I think it delivered the highest level of officiating that the teams could've hoped for. Not gonna lie, we were sharp.
The ride up was a bit of an episode. I left at 6:30 am to be in nanaimo by 8 am to meet Jim (officer at large for the tournament) and Jamie (a fellow official). Jacqui, who is also from the island, had to drop her kids off in Vernon... so she caught 1 ferry ahead of us and then was supposed to meet up with us in Penticton on our way through. Unfortunately, her son got an infection in his mouth and ended up in the Emergency room in Kelowna for 5 hours. That created a bit of a delay. The 3 of us ended up carrying on to Nelson and arrived at 10 pm... while Jacqui was 2 hours behind and joined us when she got there. The hotel was nice, and we didn't have games until Sunday, so the travel day wasn't too big of a deal.
Saturday flew by, we checked out Nelson, I bought a kewl hat, and also the book Twilight ;) We had our first meeting to discuss rules, talk about our role during the week, and determine assignments for the following day. Everyone else arrived and we moved to our respective rooms. Jacqui and I were on the first floor, on an end suite... it was awesome. It was Lakefront, with lots of windows, our own entrance and parking stall right in front. We didn't expect this when we were told we were heading to Nelson!
Day 1 went by without incident...The facility itself was awesome. New, bright, spacious. It was a beautiful rink! Each night we had a meeting to talk about assignments for the next day. Once we got into the games, we got progressively more exhausted. We were tired from exercise, and also tired from lack of sleep due to a tough schedule.
On one of the nights, when we had the late game, the 3 on ice officials and myself (who was standby) needed to get food. We got in jacqui's car, exhausted, and went to the front doors to wait for Nat. She walked into the lobby and didn't see any of us... so Jacqui started honking repeatedly. Nat still didn't hear, but the city cop (who would've thought that Nelson would have city cops...) that just drove by heard us. He did a U turn and came back over, stopped beside our car and rolled down his window. I told the girls to let me talk to him... so jacqui rolled down her window, and so did I in the back seat. He asked us if we were the ones honking, so I said yes, we were honking to get your attention! We are very hungry and need to know what is open at this hour. He laughed and told us to follow him. That is how we discovered Finleys (and Brent) and the best chicken ceasar wraps ever! That was one of 2 experiences with the cops during our visit.
Unfortunately Jamie got hurt during a game while I was on standby. There was a chiropractor there, so he was able to fix her back. That was a relief. I got dressed and finished her game for her. We met the Referee in Chief (RIC) from Nelson named Rick. He owned the concession stand in the arena. He was amazing!!! We were VERY well taken care of, and he also evaluated us at our request. We love you Rick! Aside from that, it was tough to find good food.. when you are starving, only have so much time, and only a couple of us had vehicles. Nelson has a very diverse population.
So the final day arrives, and we have a meeting at 4:45 pm to find out who officiates the championship game, which is happening at 7:30 pm that night. Not a lot of notice, but it is supposed to be performance based, so we never find out until shortly before. After some very, very interesting events that I won't cover here, it turns out that I get selected to ref the final game down the middle, with a linesman from vancouver and a linesman from Dawson Creek (where my mom was born!). The teams competing were the Vancouver Fusion vs the Kootenay Wildcats, who were the home team.
We got told at 7 pm that the warm up would be starting at 7:20, not 7:30. That put us in a bit of a rush, and we left the scoresheet in the dressing room - lol. Judy ran and got it for me before the game started. Then, when they tried to play the anthem, the volume wouldn't work for the stereo or the microphone. Instead, the entire stadium stood together and just sang it. It was magical - it sends shivers down my spine on a regular day, nevermind everyone including the players singing in unison. OH Canada!
I normally don't call a lot of penalties... but the girls were very excited about the game and playing aggressively. I had to call a 5 minute major for boarding in the first period on a Kootenay player. The arena was so loud the entire time, that I could barely hear myself yelling, or my linesman's whistles. I've never heard such a thing at a girls game. Those small town fans sure get into it. There were people there with huge airhorns running around the rink, painted faces, wearing wigs and jersey's from their respective teams. It was good to see.
The first period had two 5 on 3's, one for each team, but ended 0-0. In the 2nd period, white (Kootenay) got momentum... which forced the Fusion to take penalties. That period ended 2-1 Kootenay.
In the 3rd, black cleaned up their game. They came out wanting to win. I made 2 questionable calls.... one on white, and nothing came of it. One on black, which black made the best of by scoring a short-handed goal and tying the game at 2.
The last 8 minutes of the third period was unbelievable. The crowd was so loud, booing any call I made on white and screaming over anything that I didn't call on black. That rink turned into an absolute zoo. I had to call a boarding penalty on white for smashing a kid into the boards. They were both going for the puck at full speed, but perpendicular to each other. Unfortunately, even though I support going hard for the puck, you have to take into consideration where the boards are when you are colliding with another player. Shortly after that, there was an offside call at the black line... my linesman blew her whistle very loud, and at least 1 second after, the white player took a slapshot that hit the black goalie. I had to call unsportsmanlike conduct. It isn't something I ever want to call at the end of a game - but I heard the whistle, and so did the other 9 players on the ice who had relaxed at the sound.
Black ended up scoring with about 3 minutes left in the game. The crowd got continually more displeased and loud all the way until the end. Not only was the crowd bad, but the scorekeepers were Kootenay fans. They weren't filling out the scoresheet properly, or looking at me when I signalled a penalty. During the timeouts, they would not time them or push the buzzer. It was bad. Black took a penalty with 30 seconds left... white pulled their goale, and played 6 on 4. They had four good scoring chances and couldn't put the puck in the net. It ended 3-2 Fusion.
Then it turned into a disaster. A couple of the white players came and shook my hand including their head coach...the rest just came over to say a lot of things to me that I wouldn't repeat. After the handshake with all the black players, I turned to get the scoresheet.. and some mother, wearing a Wildcats jersey was coming onto the ice through the penalty box, waving a camera at me, screaming that I just lost them the championship game, blah blah blah. My linesman had to throw her back into the penalty box and shut the gate lol. Shortly after this, I went to leave the ice with my linesman. There were fans hanging all over the glass screaming at me, including over the tunnel were I needed to go to get to the dressing room. After we got in there, some angry girl and her boyfriend found our refs room (which was actually a dressing room because we needed room for 9 officials) and came in. At that point, Jamie became my personal bodyguard. She escorted those fans out of the arena and threatened to call the cops. I was in the dressing room, but apparently the tunnel outside my room was lined with angry fans waiting for me to come out. The officials who were there were acting as security on the outside.
45 minutes later, I sent someone to find out from the rink guy, if there was a back door we could get out. Thankfully there was, and the fans had disappeared from the tunnel. We get to the outside, only to see commotion going on in the parking lot. There is a guy yelling and approaching a girl... then we realize its one of our refs! I guess she was carrying her ref bag to the car, and he figured that she was me... so he started verbally attacking her. Her name was Teresa. Jamie heard all the yelling, and ran over there telling the guy to beat it. Right then, 6 other men hear this and start walking towards the girls, joining in on the yelling. Jim went out there... and then these 2 guys come running out of the arena who had just been told of what was going on. I recognized them when they came running over to me to ask if everything was okay... they were the Vancouver Fusion coaches, who also happen to be RCMP. I was watching everything from the sidelines, all the other officials protected me well from the public. Thanks guys ;)
Turned out that the 2 rcmp got us to our vehicles, made sure we had everything, and chased those other guys off so we could get out with our vehicles unharmed. It was unlike anything I've ever seen. The city cops arrived shortly after in their cruisers and dealt with the fans.
After things calmed down, we were invited back to Finleys. Rick and Brent had a little gathering set up for us... we ate and drank all night for free. They were incredible hosts, and Brent is a pretty wicked guy all around. That ended our time in Nelson. We left the next morning at 6:45 am and I made the journey back to Vancouver. I had to ref another hockey tournament this weekend, but it was much less eventful than the previous. Thank goodness!
More to come on my recent adventures ;)
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