Winter Break at EC

My winter break at home was short and sweet. Nine days flew by, and, before I knew it, it was December 27th and I was on my way back to EC. Members of the Men’s and Women’s basketball teams, Women’s Hockey team, and my team, Men’s Varsity Hockey, were all back on campus early to prepare for the games scheduled over break. The Men’s hockey team had to prepare for three very important games, including contests against Oswego State and Plattsburg State, the first and second ranked teams in the country.

It was pretty quiet on campus with no class and no one around. We spent most of the day practicing or working out at the rink. The evenings on campus meant movies, video game tournaments, and a lot of watching hockey.

The World Junior Hockey Championship started December 26th and ran into January. The top hockey players under the age of 20 from around the world represented their countries in a 14 team tournament. The favored teams were Team Canada and Team USA. Coincidentally half the Men’s Varsity Hockey team at EC is Canadian, and half is American. The friendly competition and rivalry between the two sides made for a lot of fun, especially when watch the games on TV. Being Canadian, the high point of the tournament for me was watching Team Canada beat Team USA in a shootout during the preliminary round. Unfortunately my bragging rights didn’t last long, as the US later beat Canada in overtime to win the gold medal.

By January 2nd, it was time to travel to Oswego to play our own games. We played the Milwaukee School of Engineering first, and won 4-2. The next day we played Oswego. Unfortunately, a poor performance all around left us with a 3-1 loss.

The next week was much the same, cumulating in a game against Plattsburg, which we tied 1-1. We remain ranked 6th in the country and continue to have high aspirations.

I can’t believe break is already over and second term is underway. The first part of the year went by so fast. It seems like yesterday that I was driving to Elmira in September, shocked that I was already starting my sophomore year. It’s amazing how time flies.