The Raiders bring home the Silver Medal!!!!!!

The boys are decorated with silver today following a tough game against the hometown Prague Vitkovice U16 team. After a slow start the Raiders were behind 4-0 at the end of the first. According to Coach Jeff we were outshot 42-1 (or something close to that anyway!) in the first period alone. The boys woke up after our first goal in the second and the period ended 5-3. Despite digging deep, the boys couldn’t come all the way back and lost the gold medal match 6-3. Each and every player owes Stefan lunch as he basically did everything including standing on his head to keep the game close. He was amazing to watch in the net today and he certainly had a great workout. We kept the bench in the penalty box warm for awhile, with 18 minutes in penalties...unfortunately they seemed to be all at the same time or pretty close to it.

Gino was named tournament “best player” for the Raiders and he definately deserved it. Each and every game he came out with a job to do and made a difference. Scoring twice in this game he was assisted by Yusuf, Adrian and Adam with 2. Andreas netted our other goal assisted by Nathaniel and Mitchell. Gino was interviewed by Czech TV and we can’t wait to see the tape. Congratulations Gino...you deserve the honour.

Our flag bearers Evan, Kyle and Sam did another fabulous job sparking up the crowd and helped fill us with pride during the playing of O Canada. We were joined in the stands by our billet families who helped cheer us on, complete with drum to get the boys pumped. They won their game this morning to take 5th place in the tournament.

At the closing ceremonies, the Raiders were presented with a trophy cup, silver medals, a chocolate cake and joined on the ice by the other teams in the top 5. We have great pics of all 5 teams together as well as our boys with the billet team.

After a lunch of chicken schnitzel and boiled potatoes we are again on the bus heading to our next stop at the Hotel Maly Pivovar in Ceske Budejovice. It is about a 2 hour ride and while most parents are sleeping, the boys in the back are still going strong. We have a free night once we get there so most are taking advantage of the opportunity to rest.

Other tournament game information
Game 1
Raiders (2) vs Sapa Fehervar (3)
Goals by Gino & Lucas, assisted by Yusuf (2) and Jeremy
12 penalty minutes

Game 2
Raiders (7) vs KHL 2AGREB (3)
Goals by Mitchell (2), Yusuf, Andreas, Brandon, Gino and Dylan. Assisted by Markell (2), Gino, Derek, Andreas, Jamie, Adrian and Lucas.
6 penalty minutes

Game 3
Raiders (6) vs Belgium (4)
Goals scored by Lucas (2), Andreas (2), Jeremy and Nathaniel. Assists go to Jeremy(2), Mitchell (2), Andreas, Yusuf and Gino.
10 penalty minutes

The Raiders did us proud and we want to say Thanks to the boys for making this such an enjoyable tournament – for trying hard when they were tired and perhaps hungry and rising to the challenge of all the games. It was a pleasure to watch and you should be proud of your accomplishments.
Will add more of our adventures later tonight with pics!