https://twitter.com/JessTaylor2712/status/548967826665791490

There is a special place in my dad and I’s hearts dedicated to the IIHF World Junior Championships.  In late December of every year, the best 20-year-old and under hockey players in the world descend to one place, to represent their countries and fight for the most prestigious winning in junior hockey.

Every night for the week and a half of play my dad and I would move to our respective spots in front of the TV and flip the channel to the NHL network as my mother rolled her eyes at us.  It was like clockwork.  And there we would sit for the next 3-4 hours, watching as either Team USA or Canada played again some (usually lesser) foe or, on a special night, against each other.  We cheer less for teams than for specific players, keeping our eyes peeled for the boys we know and love (and sometimes love to hate).

You see, these players are “our boys.” Our local hockey team, the Erie Otters, is a part of the best junior league in the world, the Canadian Hockey League (CHL).  (This is debated by some, but that is a discussion for a later post.)  This system is the main feeder for Team Canada players, and the NCAA is the main feeder for Team USA, with very few overlaps. (Another topic for later discussion.) So almost every year, some of the players we have been rooting for all season leave our team to join their country, along with the rest of the leagues’ stars.  In recent years, this has been a long list of names, including Connor McDavid, Dylan Strome, Travis Dermott, Anthony Cirelli, and Taylor Raddysh for Team Canada and Alex DeBrincat for Team USA.  So in front of the TV we sit, and root for our boys to bring home the Gold.

However, this year we had a unique experience in hosting a pre-tournament game at our home arena in Erie.  So a week before the actual tournament began, we went to our home arena to watch Team USA take on Sweden.  This was the first time either of us had been to a live international game, and we were pretty excited.  While none of “our boys” were on either of these teams, there was no shortage of players worthy of watching.  Multiple players drafted by our favorite NHL teams were on the ice, including USA star and Buffalo Sabre’s draft pick Casey Mittlestadt.  The level of skill we saw in the game made it very entertaining and it was a very neat experience cheering on our country in person.

(On a side note, one of my favorite parts about the game was seeing local hockey fans with all of their varied jerseys, with many Otters jersey littering the stands, of course, but also name NHL and NCAA jerseys as well. I shared a few knowing head nods with some old men who were also wearing Penn State jerseys that day. Great experience.)

Going to the game only made me want to experience the tournament in person more.  Even though this year’s was only two hours away in Buffalo, my dad and I were not able to make the trip.  So instead, I settled in for the nightly ritual of games with my dad.  What more could I really ask for?