The Mid-West Doesn't Suck

     If you couldn't figure it out from the title, first let me say I'm sorry you're an idiot, and secondly let me now share the adventures of Maine hockey as we participated in the College Hockey Inc. Ice Breaker Tournament.

How many Freshies can fit in a Jetta?

     We started off the trip at 4am boarding a bus that we loaded the night before. Now if you didn't know this hockey teams travel with a lot of stuff, and we are no different. We packed light for this trip in that we only had 40 bags of hockey equipment. The bus brought us from campus to the Bangor International Airport where we checked in and boarded our 6am flight to Washington DC. This first flight, like any out of Bangor was very cramped as we took up 35 of the 50 seats on the plane. I had a window seat towards the front which provided me with something I didn't expect. I had quite possibly the best view of the nation's capitol I could ever imagine. I'm bummed I didn't think quicker and take a picture but I was glued to the window. We came in just off the National Mall and from my cramped seat on the plane I could see the Capital, Washington Monument, Jefferson and Lincoln monuments and all of the museums surrounding the mall. It was pretty awesome to say the least. And to top it after switching planes on take off from DC I was able to get a good look at the Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery.
     We touched down in KC, just after Noon Central, quickly loaded our bags on a van and headed towards the city. I was in the equipment van heading over to start my duties of unpacking and organizing the locker room for a practice later that day. Set up and practice went well and first impressions of the Sprint Center we everything I had heard of it before. It is a beautiful building, with great facilities for teams. We were in the "Home Basketball Suite" which consisted of a Head Coaches office and bathroom, Assistant Coaches office, locker room, bathroom, the team locker room with 21 beautiful wooden stalls, a large shower and bathroom, a full size training room, weight room, hydro therapy room, and to top it off a sauna and steam room (sadly it wasn't working)

Panorama of the locker room

     After practice it was off the dinner as a team, and what else would we get while in KC but BBQ. Let's just say the 3000 calorie plate that was given to each of us was interesting. I love food and had no problem pounding it down. The ribs were amazing, the brisket was fantastic, and the ham was the best I have ever had. Their sauce was tangy yet sweet and their beans were the perfect accent. I also think I was the only person on the trip that didn't complain about the meal.
     Friday was spent at the rink. We had a morning skate to get the guys moving, then while they were off in team meetings and meals at the hotel I went to work setting up for game time. I thought I did up a pretty good locker room for the guys and I could tell by the expressions on the faces of the freshman that they agreed. Sadly it wasn't enough to get the guys a win as we fell to Notre Dame 1-0 in the tournament opener. We had our chances but couldn't put the puck in the net, but such is the game. I stayed and watched some of game 2 (Nebraska Omaha/ Army) and set things up for Saturday so that I could sleep in a bit the next morning.
     Saturday proved to be a new day in many aspects. I woke up and rather than going to breakfast with the team I headed out on my own to take in the city a bit. Pretty much I just walked a different route to the rink than I had done the days before. Knowing that I had some time to kill I also took a tour of the National College Basketball Hall of Fame that was actually attached to the Sprint Center. I was disappointed in the fact that there really was no hall of fame. It was one small room with lighted glass plaques. The rest of the building was filled with basketball courts and annoying kids trying to dunk and beat each other up. It was a good waste of a half hour, just not worth the 12 bucks. The game Saturday prooved to be much better than Friday as we beat Army for the first win of the season. We ended up winning 4-3 and put 55 shots on net. I guess they say getting the first win is always the hardest so lets hope things continue from here.
     Sunday we got to start the return trip at 4am again and we landed in Bangor around 3pm after a layover in Philly which consisted of me eating way too much and then being hyper on the flight home. Once back on campus I had the lucky task of washing all the laundry which kept me rather busy for the next 8 hours. Then it was time to finally head home and pass out... that is after I unpacked my own stuff.
      So there you have it, the overly drawn out recap of my weekend in KC. This next weekend is homecoming, the men play St. Lawerence Friday and Saturday and the Women play UConn Saturday and Sunday, we also have women's soccer, football, and field hockey, so it will be one crazy weekend. Thanks for reading and if you did make it this far congratulations, you just wasted 10 minutes of your life that you can never get back!