EvanL
03-25-2004, 04:24 PM
By SHAWNA RICHER
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
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Fredericton — They came running off the ice toward the locker room singing God Bless America at the tops of their lungs -- and that was just the Canadian kids.
A few Americans bringing up the rear hummed O Canada. One even attempted the lyrics, and soon the anthems melded just as the players themselves had.
Yesterday afternoon, in an exercise designed to soothe hurt feelings between Canada and the United States, peewee hockey players from the Fredericton AAA Canadiens and the Brockton Boxers from Massachusetts met for a game they called the Friendship Series at the University of New Brunswick.
When the Brockton team visited Canada last year, they left horrified, frightened and disgusted. The bus carrying coaches, players and their parents, travelling to Montreal for a four-day tournament, was surrounded by an angry crowd of anti-war protesters.
U.S. President George W. Bush had recently invaded Iraq, and the Brockton team bus, emblazoned with the American flag, made an easy target. As the 11- and 12-year-olds watched through the windows in horror, the protesters made crude insults. They pounded on the bus; they burned a U.S. flag. Later, they booed The Star-Spangled Banner.
Most of the parents vowed they would never return to Canada.
John Reilly, father of 12-year-old Brockton forward John Jr., was one. But he, like the others, feels differently now.
"It was horrible," his son said of that day. "I said I'd never go back and so did my dad. You saw middle fingers and heard rude comments. They were rocking the bus. But this [trip] has totally changed how I feel about Canada. This made everything right."
Spearheaded by Brian Johnson, manager of the Canadiens, the City of Fredericton invited the Boxers here to make amends. New Brunswick Premier Bernard Lord even travelled to the Massachusetts State House in Boston last week to hand-deliver invitations and team jackets to the players.
"Those young hockey players didn't send those troops to Iraq," Mr. Lord said yesterday. "We have a long history of business and friendship with New England and we wanted to make sure that those fences were properly mended."
To say they were mended would be an understatement. When the Brockton bus arrived at the Canada-U.S. border crossing at St. Stephen, N.B., on Tuesday afternoon, the scene was overwhelming.
"The defining moment for me was pulling into St. Stephen and all these young hockey players were lining the streets, banging their sticks on the ground and chanting 'USA! USA!'," said Leslie Nardi, mother of 14-year-old James Nardi. "It pretty much had everyone in tears. This whole trip has been beyond belief. I'm in awe."
In St. Stephen, an impromptu street game even broke out, with all the kids batting around a rock and swapping hockey stories afterwards.
Yesterday, the kids practised twice, so they could showcase their skills to prospective coaches ahead of the game. Then they gathered and waited for their names to be called. The mock draft, 12 rounds in all, served both to boost spirits and to mix players from both countries on each team.
The U.S. team took an early 2-0 lead, but both sides then traded goals at a rapid rate. Late in the third period, the U.S. answered with two goals to take a 7-6 lead and Zach Phillips of Fredericton soon scored the winning goal, making it 8-7, with 29 seconds to play.
When the horn sounded, both winners and losers threw their sticks and gloves in celebrations. In this game, there were no losers.
"That was the most fun I've ever had playing hockey," 13-year-old Darcy Meyer of Fredericton said. "I feel like I have 17 new friends. I knew it would be fun, but not this great. The Quebec thing is behind us now, but we should do this every year."
As the kids lined up along their respective blue lines to receive their medals, they threw their arms around each other's shoulders, new friendships formed.
"My son came home last night and told me he had five new friends," said Darcy's mother, Hilda Meyer. "We've made lifelong friends through this.
"When I heard what had happened a year ago, my first thought was: 'That could have been us.' Imagine your kids seeing that? We had to right a wrong. We had to let them know that not all Canadians are like that."
Today, the kids will eat lunch at a Dairy Queen in Fredericton, where the Stanley Cup will be on display. Yesterday, hockey legend Frank Mahovlich told them before the game to "go out and play as hard as you possibly can and have fun."
And they did. For just a few days, Fredericton was Hockeytown.
Personally some of it sounds like a little bit of ass kissing. But its heartwarming non the less.
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
E-mail this Article
Print this Article
Advertisement
Fredericton — They came running off the ice toward the locker room singing God Bless America at the tops of their lungs -- and that was just the Canadian kids.
A few Americans bringing up the rear hummed O Canada. One even attempted the lyrics, and soon the anthems melded just as the players themselves had.
Yesterday afternoon, in an exercise designed to soothe hurt feelings between Canada and the United States, peewee hockey players from the Fredericton AAA Canadiens and the Brockton Boxers from Massachusetts met for a game they called the Friendship Series at the University of New Brunswick.
When the Brockton team visited Canada last year, they left horrified, frightened and disgusted. The bus carrying coaches, players and their parents, travelling to Montreal for a four-day tournament, was surrounded by an angry crowd of anti-war protesters.
U.S. President George W. Bush had recently invaded Iraq, and the Brockton team bus, emblazoned with the American flag, made an easy target. As the 11- and 12-year-olds watched through the windows in horror, the protesters made crude insults. They pounded on the bus; they burned a U.S. flag. Later, they booed The Star-Spangled Banner.
Most of the parents vowed they would never return to Canada.
John Reilly, father of 12-year-old Brockton forward John Jr., was one. But he, like the others, feels differently now.
"It was horrible," his son said of that day. "I said I'd never go back and so did my dad. You saw middle fingers and heard rude comments. They were rocking the bus. But this [trip] has totally changed how I feel about Canada. This made everything right."
Spearheaded by Brian Johnson, manager of the Canadiens, the City of Fredericton invited the Boxers here to make amends. New Brunswick Premier Bernard Lord even travelled to the Massachusetts State House in Boston last week to hand-deliver invitations and team jackets to the players.
"Those young hockey players didn't send those troops to Iraq," Mr. Lord said yesterday. "We have a long history of business and friendship with New England and we wanted to make sure that those fences were properly mended."
To say they were mended would be an understatement. When the Brockton bus arrived at the Canada-U.S. border crossing at St. Stephen, N.B., on Tuesday afternoon, the scene was overwhelming.
"The defining moment for me was pulling into St. Stephen and all these young hockey players were lining the streets, banging their sticks on the ground and chanting 'USA! USA!'," said Leslie Nardi, mother of 14-year-old James Nardi. "It pretty much had everyone in tears. This whole trip has been beyond belief. I'm in awe."
In St. Stephen, an impromptu street game even broke out, with all the kids batting around a rock and swapping hockey stories afterwards.
Yesterday, the kids practised twice, so they could showcase their skills to prospective coaches ahead of the game. Then they gathered and waited for their names to be called. The mock draft, 12 rounds in all, served both to boost spirits and to mix players from both countries on each team.
The U.S. team took an early 2-0 lead, but both sides then traded goals at a rapid rate. Late in the third period, the U.S. answered with two goals to take a 7-6 lead and Zach Phillips of Fredericton soon scored the winning goal, making it 8-7, with 29 seconds to play.
When the horn sounded, both winners and losers threw their sticks and gloves in celebrations. In this game, there were no losers.
"That was the most fun I've ever had playing hockey," 13-year-old Darcy Meyer of Fredericton said. "I feel like I have 17 new friends. I knew it would be fun, but not this great. The Quebec thing is behind us now, but we should do this every year."
As the kids lined up along their respective blue lines to receive their medals, they threw their arms around each other's shoulders, new friendships formed.
"My son came home last night and told me he had five new friends," said Darcy's mother, Hilda Meyer. "We've made lifelong friends through this.
"When I heard what had happened a year ago, my first thought was: 'That could have been us.' Imagine your kids seeing that? We had to right a wrong. We had to let them know that not all Canadians are like that."
Today, the kids will eat lunch at a Dairy Queen in Fredericton, where the Stanley Cup will be on display. Yesterday, hockey legend Frank Mahovlich told them before the game to "go out and play as hard as you possibly can and have fun."
And they did. For just a few days, Fredericton was Hockeytown.
Personally some of it sounds like a little bit of ass kissing. But its heartwarming non the less.