Yet Another Luncheon...

Today was Tim's first day with the team. Although this morning he missed the ice session to have his medical exam for his visa. He got back for the team lift. After the morning workout, I brought him to the Islanders Office to meet Pei Ying and Mr. Wang. Mr Wang informed us that Lan Li, the main guy in charge of China Hockey, was inviting the whole staff out for a luncheon. So we went upstairs and changed for Lunch.

At lunch we ate, drank, toasted and talked hockey. Mr. An had left early for Beijing to prepare for our arrival, so the lunch crew is below: (L to R: Ms Zhou (team leader), Coach Li, Coach Ji, Me, Lan Li, Coach Liu, Coach Tim, and Mr. Wang (from the Islanders office in Harbin).



It was a great time, everyone seemed pleased with the team's performance and development from the tournament. We all have high hopes for the future.

After lunch was afternoon practice with Tim on the ice for the first time. We had a good practice with a focus on forechecking and a good pace throughout. Tonight after dinner each player has to read her reflections on the tournament as an interesting excercise. Practice tomorrow morning then much time repacking for Finland.

Short blog today, but will get a longer one in before the trip to Finland.

Coaching Coaches...

So, today was my second day of the coaching clinic that I was asked to give. I had 15-20 girls hockey coaches from the Harbin China area, varying in experience from 1-6 years of coaching. This was arranged by yet another different man named Mr. Wang. A tall slender older man, who was very nice and appreciative of me taking the time to help the girls hockey coaches in the area.

Today was a better day, as I had a better idea of what was expected of me. I spent a good 75 minutes on teaching the techniques of goaltending. I had asked ahead of time to have a goalie available to demonstrate. They had 15-17 year old boy who was a pretty good demonstrater as he had decent technique, but also made many of the common mistakes. After that I talked about using small games to teach hockey and how to build drills on top of each other to maximize understanding.

I finished by answering questions that they had had from the day before. Including some more on defensive coverage skills and drills (I did a little the first day), some more passing drills an passing and receiving techniques, and some further explanation on how to build angling technique drills into teaching forechecking.

For those of you with little hockey knowledge that may sound like "Chinese" to you, but they were very attentive and I got many thanks for my help with their coaching. When I return from Finland, we are talking about a one day a week classroom seminar on a different topic each week. There seems to be a lot of interest in that. Among the coaches were two former National team players who were on the best Chinese Olympic team ever, coming in 4th in Nagano in 1998.

This evening, Coach Ji invited Tim and I to have dinner with his family. We met his wife, daughter (15), nephew (10) and sister in-law. Also, the team captain, Wang Linou came out with us. We had a great time, some great food in the traditional round table private room style. His daughter is learning english in school and had a great time talking with Tim and I. Ji and Tim each had their translating dictionaries out and were having a contest of sorts where one would look through the book and ask the other a question in the other's language. Then the other would look up the answer and respond in the other language. Tim is starting to pick up Chinese faster than I have. Ji gave him only 10 days to learn all the player's names.


Time for bed as we begin again at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow! No daylight savings in China so I am now 13 hours ahead of the east coast ;-)

Tim in China too....

Today, the new Chinese National Team assistant coach, Tim "Tio" McNamara arrived in Harbin. To make his experience mirror my own, we took him out with the staff to a traditional Chinese "hot pot" dinner. Lots of toasts and it was great to have the whole staff together finally. It seems like we will have great group.



From left to right: Tim McNamara, Li Taemin, ME (of course), Liu Qun, Ji Weiguang, (the tall man, as he is called, no one seems to know his name), An Zhi Jian (team leader).

We had our hardest practice yet this morning as I really put them through their paces. Then after an off-ice session with Coach Li, and the announcement of the players that will be traveling to Finland, they went home to families for a day and a half. The announcement held no real surprises as the younger players still have a ways to go to catch up with the rest of the team.

This afternoon, I conducted an on-ice clinic for coaches of young girls in the Harbin area (about 20 of them). I had a new translator (as mine was away for the weekend) so I am not sure how well it went over. There were two former national team players who are now coaching, so that was good. I am back on the ice for day two with them tomorrow (and some more detail in tomorrows blog).

Otherwise, what has become a pretty normal routine here in Harbin... only a few days until the train ride to Beijing and flight to Helsinki... Short but sweet tonight from Harbin...

A Normal Day

So the other day, we were ironing out the schedule details and I said to Peter that tomorrow would be a "normal day." He was confused so I said a "normal schedule," still nothing. I then tried "regular," losing ground fast. I finally explained that the schedule would be the same as a few days before and that the schedule was often the same and I think I got through.

Anyway, today was a "Normal Day":
We get up at 6:15 to a referee whistle, eat breakfast, have a practice meeting, go outside and do something active to warm-up and then stretch (soccer, jogging etc.) and then back in to change for practice on-ice from 8-9:30. After practice, we have an off-ice training session. Today, it was a 20 minute bike and extended stretching. Then the players shower and we have Lunch at 11:40. After lunch is nap time, which is well utilized. The referee whistle is used again at 2:30 to wake everyone up for the next practice meeting. Then, it is off to the rink for 3:30 - 5:00 practice time, but I usually go shorter than that to get a high tempo. On-ice in the morning, we work on skills and the afternoon is more systems/tactics oriented. After practice, there is dinner at 5:40. There usually some team meeting activity in the evening. Tonight, each line watched video together for a half an a hour. To end my day today, I met with the captains to get some feedback and talk about the upcoming trip to Finland. And for those of you wondering, it did not snow... cold and rainy.

So, I thought it would a good time to introduce the team captains to you...

The captain is Wang Linou (Wahng Lee-new-ah). She is the oldest player on the team at 26 and has played in two Olympic games. She speaks English very well, especially in relation to hockey terms and concepts. She is a defender and is one of the shorter players on the team at 5'3". She handles the puck very well is quite fast and controls the game when she is on the ice.


One assistant captain is Jin Feng Ling (Jeen Fung Ling). She is 23 years old and played in the Olympic games in Salt Lake City in 2002. She is half Korean and speaks both Chinese and Korean and is learning English. She is also fairly small at 5'4" but is one of our best players and figured in on the scoring of more than half of our goals this past tournament. She has good skills and speed.


The other assistant captain is Sun Ri (Soon Ree). She is also 23 and played in the Olympic games at Salt Lake City. She is a bit bigger at 5'7" and is our most highly touted offensive player. Like the other captains, she works very hard at practice and is very competitive. She also was involved in the scoring of over half of our goals this past tournament. She has explosive speed and is very crafty offensively.


Tomorrow is a busy day, morning with the team, afternoon doing a clinic for coaches and in the evening Assistant Coach Tim "Tio" McNamara arrives in Harbin....

"Language Lessons" Part II

We have started to joke that soon we will all speak Chinglish... the odd combination of Chinese and English words. As I said before, many of the players have a great interest and learning English. They enjoy it very much when they can respond to me in English. The other morning I started my morning chalk talk with "Zao Shang Hao" (Zow Shahng How) to which the team replied, in english, in unison "GOOD MORNING!" (which is of course what Zao Shang Hao means). At any rate, our language efforts have led to some comical interchanges.

Yesterday evening I was "conversing" with Tan An Qi (hiding from the camera on right) and she said something that resembled the word Black followed by Russia but came out like Blike Russia . Trying to connect I said the Chinese word for Black (Hay Zuh) back to her. She shook her head and said Bu - Like Russia, "Bu" being the Chinese word for NO... she was trying to say she did not like the Russian team and knew the english word "Like" but not the negative. Hence Chinglish...

Coach Ji (pictured with me) is very funny. The other day he said to me that he knows 8 english words. Actually, he understands quite a bit more than that and can understand me most of the time. He likes to throw out the words he knows at the right moments to make us all laugh. Him and I have actually started a little challenge to see who can know more words in the other's language. We think he is up to 12 or 15 now and I am at a similar number. This evening, Peter, my translator, was late and I called him to ask when he was going to arrive for our staff meeting. I got a recorded repeating message on the phone. It was obviously in Chinese and I thought I understood the first phrase, but after that.... He saw my puzzled look and grabbed the phone from me and listened. In perfect English, and mimicking the recorded lady's tone, he said "I'm sorry, blah, blah blah blah" It was hilarious... he could translate the first word, which I did understand, and then just spoke gibberish because he could not translate the rest... He had all of us dying. It was also the first english word that I had heard him speak all day.

Anyway, I am sure I will have many more funny anecdotes from my language encounters, especially as I get better and try to speak more Chinese. So now too, I am caught up on my blog-a-day! Goodnight from Harbin....

Justa Maybe Snow?

So I missed a day of posting, and of course some people noticed. Yesterday, we practiced with the younger players, who did not dress for the games in the tournament, in the morning and had a light skate in the afternoon with the all the uninjured players. So, I gave each of the staff a half day off, Ji and Liu, the locals, took the morning shift so they could go home to family in the afternoon. Li and myself took the afternoon shift.

Of course at lunch, we had to have another luncheon. This time we met with some of the leaders of the Hockey school in Harbin. That is where all of the national team players play before they get here. There is only ONE feeder program. We were there to discuss the players from the school that would join our players staying behind to have enough to train with Li while our top 20 players are in Finland. They did not ask alot of me but there was spirited discussion. Originally, they were going to add 6 or 7 or so players to our 9 left behind, but by the end of the meal the number swelled to 12 or 13. It is good if that many can come and get exposed to the atmosphere of the training center and what it takes to get to the next level.

Before the luncheon, I spoke with Mr. Wang and one of the girls in his office Pei Ying. Pei Ying (right) is a very funny girl who speaks a little english but tries real hard. My favorite phrase of hers is "justa maybe" which is how she starts most sentences and phrases. It is very endearing the way she says it. Through her, Mr. Wang asked if I would run a clinic for younger players Saturday-Tuesday before I left (a couple hours a day). I agreed, but we cut my commitment to 2.5 hours on just Saturday and Sunday for a little extra work on my days off, and to not conflict with the training and planning for the Finland trip.

After dinner, the team went to the Germany - Russia game, which was a "friendship game" at the end of the tournament. Russia had beat Germany in the tournament 3-1 which I had felt was an upset. In last nights game, the Germans showed they were in a little better shape wearing down the Russians and winning 4-2.

Today, we were back to our normal 6:00 a.m. wake up call for breakfast, meeting and stretch before practice at 8:00. We had five players from our top 2 lines out today with injuries. After no competitive games since last April, our team played five days in a row against some much bigger players and it took its toll on some of our older and smaller players.

After the morning practice, Pei Ying was back and "justa maybe" I had some time to speak with the man organizing this weekend's clinic. She quickly felt over her head in translating and ran to get our team captain, Wang Linou, to translate. It is a good thing I had time as I found out that the clinic I was running was to teach COACHES how to coach younger players. So now I will have to scramble to come up with five hours of on-ice instruction for coaches. This too is good as it sounds like there is little experience coaching girls hockey in this country.

This afternoon I taught them a new breakout. It involves spreading and stretching the ice to utilize the team speed, which seems to be our strongest asset. I will leave it at that in case the Finnish teams are translating this to scout our team ;-) Also (Finnish translators) all of our players will be healthy for the trip next week according to the good Dr. Gao!

This evening before dinner, a new lady, who I was told was once the team leader, and I believe will be in that role for the players remaining in China while we are gone, called me into her room. She speaks a few english words and is very nice. She had taken the time to type in all of the words from a newspaper clippling about me and the team into Microsoft Word. Then using the built-in translator on Word, allowed me to read the entire article in English. It was a long article on the front sports page of the Harbin Daily and had a picture of me on the bench as well as an action shot of the team. I am hoping tomorrow to scan it in and post it on the blog for all to "read." It must have taken her a long time to do and was a very nice gesture which I thanked her for several times.

I am also trying to compile some photos of the team so that soon, I can begin letting you know a little bit more about the truly amazing and interesting players that I have here.

So, that is all from Harbin for now... According to accuweather.com, tommorrow "justa maybe" it will snow.

"Language Lessons"

So one of my favorite movies is "Better Off Dead" with John Cusack. In the movie there are two oriental brothers, one who speaks no english and one who learned how to speak english from watching the wide world of sports and as such speaks only "Howard Cosell". Those of you who have seen the movie will understand where I am coming from. If you have not seen it, it is an older movie, a great rental that I would highly reccomend! This is relevant to me now as many people have asked me how I am getting along with the language here in China.

I have an interpreter, Peter, who understands me pretty well and can translate my English into Chinese for the players and staff to understand. However, he has a much more difficult time translating the Chinese back into English for me. So when I have questions about things, need things or they have questions for me, it takes much longer to come to an understanding. This seems to be because there are so many different English words and expressions that mean the same thing. Also, in translating languages, the subject or topic is very important. Peter, is translating the Chinese words to me literally, and not topically as he has experience with neither the Chinese nor English idiomatic speech as it relates to hockey terminology. For example, the other day he said this phrase to me: "when we lose a goal." I was very confused for a while as to what that meant. He was referring of course to: "when we get scored on." Another example is that the Chinese word for Defenseman (Ho way) literally means "backwards" as they are the players who skate backwards. Thus, Peter and I are having an adjustment period, so that we understand each other's English. He is with me most of the time, for meetings (with players and with staff) during the day, and on the bench at games.

I am also, with his, the player's and staff members' help, trying to learn important Chinese words, both for hockey and getting around. In the long run, the more I can say in Chinese, the better I will be understood. Here is a list of words and phrases that I know so far and can use and pronounce fairly well: hello, good morning, good night, thank you, you're welcome, yes, no, good, very good, Forward, Center, Defenseman, Goalie, faster, shoot, rebound, exactly, Are you ready?, flexible, water, I understand, very good friend, black line, red line, blue line, green line, white line, and change. I am also starting to recognize some words in Chinese as people are speaking to each other.

Interestingly, numerals (for monetary amounts, time of day etc.) are all expressed here in China as "normal" Roman numerals (1,2,3...etc.) even though there are Chinese characters for each. So, the players all understand me when I use them. The 1-2-2 forecheck, or 5-3 powerplay is understood almost immediately by the players. The older players have also had a North American coach before and can understand me before my words are translated into Chinese. The use of the hockey white board is pretty universal too. Even the Chinese assistant coach uses "D" for defense and "F" forward in his diagrams.

The team captain also speaks English very well and she translates some of the hockey terms and phrases when Peter does not understand the hockey specific language. She is very helpful. There are also some other players who are trying to learn a little english.

The team has an amazing memory too. Before each practice, we have a team meeting to go over the drills for that practice. They each have a notebook in which they write down all of the drills and team systems. They also have a stamp, which is a diagram of a rink. They stamp it into their book whenever they need a rink on which to draw a drill or system. It is a great innovation that substitutes well for buying a hockey specific notebook. So, even with my many new drills, they remember almost every drill exactly when we get out on the ice, without me having to re-explain them. At most, I usually have to stop the drill to demonstrate some technique or body position for doing the drill properly.

So, all in all, I am getting along fine. There are times when it is frustrating not to be able to have a quick one-on-one conversation with a player who is obviously having a bad day and needs cheering up, or a player who needs just a slight adjustment to their play on the ice. But I am learning to communicate with gestures and facial expressions along with how to best use my translator. It is quite a challenge and experience, and has made me further understand the importance of communication.

The players are an amazingly hard working group. I look forward to getting to know them better as I learn to communicate more clearly with them. They are very open to new things and doing what it takes to get better as players and as a team.

As for today, we concluded the tournament with a 3-4 loss to Russia. We played very well in the face of two key injuries to players on both the first and second lines. It was a great game with scoring going back and forth and we had many chances to win. Tomorrow we will rest a little. With days off, We have a only 4 days left of practice here before leaving for Finland.

So the experience continues from Harbin....

German Invasion

Today we faced the best team we have played yet, and lost 4-0. We did have some good chances to score, especially in the first period, but our young team got a little down after we started losing. The positive note today was that we did have the opportunity late in the game to use more of our bench and get some younger players some much needed game experience.

Tomorrow we will face Russia again in our final game of the tournament. They have won all of their games except for the tie with us two days ago. It will be a big challenge to refocus our young team and battle through the weariness of legs that will be playing in their fifth straight game.

Sorry this blog is short, but it has been a busy day, and it is late. I have spent my free time today finishing the team's training schedule prior to the team's month long trip to Finland on November 3rd. As it has been a short post, I should at least include a picture. Below are two players (Yu Bo Wei on the left and Tang Liang on the right) online in the players meeting room where there is internet access.



Signing off again from China, but coming soon, "Ryan in Finland"....

Hockey International...

Another amazing day in China! It figures that my first win as an international head coach would be overshadowed by another amazing cultural experience. Yes, we defeated Japan 3-1 today in a game in which we played very well and never trailed. The team again played better today than the day before and we are still moving in a good direction. However, in the spirit of "it is not whether you win or lose but how you play the game," the win today was just the beginning of another new cultural experience.

After today's game, there was a banquet for the representatives of each team in the tournament. It was hosted by a very important man in Harbin. We walked from the rink after the game to the swim center, where, on the lower level, there was a banquet room. Again, the traditional Chinese round table with the spinning center console with various types of food was the centerpiece for the evening.



Each of the four teams competing had a delegate representing their team. From Russia, there was the team leader, head coach and a chinese interpreter. Japan had a similar delegation with a team leader, head coach and translator. The Germans just sent a team leader, who spoke German and English. From the Chinese team, we had myself the assistant Coach Mr. Ji and the team leader Mr. An. Also, at the head of the table was the Harbin director and a woman who translated everything into english. She is a figure skating judge and as such speaks some english (pictured with me below). She was called over to translate anytime a group wanted to toast with me, so she wanted a picture with me.



The Japanese team leader also spoke good english and we had an excellent conversation about the state of women's hockey in China and Japan (which is similar) and we exchanged business cards and e-mail addresses and promised to keep in touch.

The evening was all about toasts. We began eating slowly, picking at the various items on the table. As is the custom, our host from Harbin made the first toast to the entire table. He then went around to each individual country's delegation and drank another toast with them. He said that he was very happy that I had come to China to help the team and wished me and the team much success, and was very happy with today's win over Japan. After that, the individual delegations went around to each other toasting to the games played and the games to come. There was lots of cameraderie and good will in the room. Several thousand toasts later, we took some pictures. Below you can see me with the Chinese delegation, Mr. An (left) and Mr. Ji (right).



I had some excellent food tonight and learned how to say good luck in Russian. It was amazing that 5 different languages were spoken throughout the night and the common language was women's hockey and its growth, health and good competition. There were no hard feelings between us and the Russians, even after the minor scuffle we got into at the end of our game. Below is the picture of the entire group.



Tomorrow we face a very tough German team for the first time this tournament (playing on our fourth day in a row). It should be a great game... Signing off again from Harbin, China, good night!

The Russians...

Today was game two in our five game tournament. We were playing the older, bigger, stronger and more experienced Russian team. We began the day the same as yesterday with a light skate and stretch. The coaching staff went to the rink to scout the German team at 9:30 am in their game vs. Japan. The Germans are also much bigger, but a little slower. They won in a close 2-1 game. After pregame meal at 11:00 we warmed up and got ready for the game. While they were warming up I got a chance to watch about a period of last nights game as we got the video hooked up in my room finally.

As this was officially the opening game of the tournament there was a little cerimony at center ice with the head of winter sports in Harbin dropping the first puck. Also about 1000 school kids all attended as part of their school in matching uniforms. It was quite a site as they filled one entire side of the arena each with their own chinese flag to wave.

In the first period the play was pretty even and we took the first penalty. Seconds into our penalty kill we sprung one of our top players, assistant captain Jin Fengling, and she scored on a short handed breakaway move through the five-hole for a 1-0 lead. Things were looking up until about 20 seconds later when the Russians scored on that same PP on a penalty kill breakdown.

Little did we know, but that would be all the goals that would be scored in the entire game, as we tied a very good Russian team today 1-1. We played much better than yesterday, but our strength did not allow us to get many shots on net. Although the play was quite even the shots were lopsided 34-8 for the Russians and our goaltender Shi Yao played very well.

The spirited nature of the game came out with less than a minute remaining and a close play around our net. A full out fight ensued after a Russian player cross-checked one of our players with all players on the ice involved. It was reminiscent of the now famous Brown vs. Minnesota fight of 2005. When all was sorted out, we had a 5-4 powerplay but could not capitalize in the final 24 seconds of the game.

Tonight, we had our first video meeting and watched the first period of our Japan game. It was very helpful in getting my points across and I think we are moving forward well as a team. Tomorrow we sleep in a little and face Japan again (as the first game was a warm-up of sorts), in another early 2:30 p.m. Match. There is not a lot of time for photo taking behind the bench, so today I leave you with a view of Harbin at night taken from the other evening.

Game Day...

Today was game day! We woke up about an hour later than normal for some needed extra rest. The players not playing tonight (7 of them) trained on the ice for about 45 minutes, then we had the pregame skate for the team lineup. The team is very excited, it is the first international game for many of the young players. They also received new sticks last night and were getting used to them this morning at practice. We had a short 30 minute skate and warm-up then back to the training room for some stretching.

While the players were stretching, I gave my first interview with a local newspaper reporter. My translator, Peter, had a prior commitment, so Wang Linou, the team captain translated for me. The reporter was very curious about the differences between the U.S. and China in relation to their girls/women's hockey programs. He was very interested to hear if I felt that the Chinese team could get back into the olympic pool for the 2010 Games in Vancouver. If the young players here can continue to develop, there should be a good shot at that happening.

After my interview and the team stretch, it was time for a light snack for the players, then some good rest time before the 3:00 p.m. pregame meal. The pregame meal featured some pasta shells with a meat sauce along with some fish, chicken and some vegetable dishes.

Next was the pregame meeting. The team seemed excited and ready to play. An off-ice warmup in the basketball gym was the next thing on the agenda before changing into their gear for the short trip to the rink (as locker room space is short).

Finally to the game... They played both the Japanese and Chinese National Anthem before the game, then the captains exchanged flags at center ice. Our team was very nervous and had trouble in the first period. Luckily whe got out of it only down 1-0. In the second period, we played much better but could not score. We had a lot of good chances from the outside, but got out muscled in front of their net. Add a couple of mental errors on the backcheck and breakout and we were down 3-0 after two periods. The upside from the third period is that we kept getting better and even with an injury we played well trading goals for a 4-1 final.

All in all, not the best start to the year, but some very encouraging things came out of it, especially since we know we can play much better. We had some good chances and the shots were fairly close by the end of the game. A couple of bounces and it could have been a one goal game either way, in spite of our nervous play. We headed back to the dormitory for a late dinner and bed, as we have a 2:30 game tomorrow against a stronger more experienced Russian team.

Time to refocus! Until tomorrow....

Time to eat!

As I have had many questions about what I am eating here, I thought I would spend tonights entry on the food here. Everyone here has been very interested in how I like the food and they are always asking me if I have any special needs. The dining room is a private room just for our team. We each have a tray and bowl and chopsticks that we store on a shelf in this glass cabinet. The slots are labeled so we use our own personal dishes and chopsticks each meal. At the end of the meal we wash our own dishes and chopsticks in one of the three sinks, and place it back in the cabinet which I think has a built in drying system.

The meals are buffet style. As is the Chinese tradition, there are many selections for each meal. It is very different than the American style of one meat, a vegetable and some carbohydrates. Here there is a selection of many of each. Initially, they gave me a fork, knife and spoon with my chopsticks, but I have been eating exclusively with my chopsticks unless a spoon is called for. I am getting very good at using them. I have given my knife and fork back.

At breakfast, I generally have some bread (there is a cinamon swirl bread that is very good). The milk is heated and served in a big bowl. I use it to mix with the instant oatmeal style cereal they have. They usually have some sausage or ham too. There is almost always an egg dish along with some other dishes that I would normal think of as lunch or dinner items.

Lunch and Dinner offer a wide enough variety that I can find something that I like. I eat a lot of white rice which is served at every lunch and dinner. There are usually a couple of types of rolls and bread. There is almost always one seafood dish, but those of you who know me well know I shy away from those. There are usually a couple of meat options, pork, beef, chicken, and I have tried Donkey (it tastes like Corn Beef). I have eatem some tofu also, which just tastes like whatever sauce it is in. There are usually some good vegetable choices, but all are usually cooked in a heavy oil, good taste, not so good for you. They have sprite, a peach juice and a tang like juice to drink usually. Along with a water cooler that dispenses cold an hot water. There is a microwave if you want to heat anything also. The kitchen staff is great an will get anything you need. They also have these strawberry yogurt shake things which you drink through a straw and are very good. Today, they had pasta with a tomato and meat sauce for lunch as one of the options. It was a very italian meal that I think was meant for me, as I did not see alot of other people eating it. Like I said, they look after me.

It suffices to say, I have been eating fine. They give us fruit every couple days to take back to our room for snacks. I have had some bananas, apples, kiwis, a small crab-apple sized fruit that tastes like an apple/pear combo and has a pit in the middle and the other day I got this huge citrus fruit the size of a bowling ball that tastes like a cross between an orange and a grapefruit.

Tonight, I got asked to go out with the guys for a beer or two. We had some shish-kebab type spicy chicken on a stick that was very good and a HUGE pot of of food on a stick that was made of vegetables and mushrooms. Also, we had what equated to about 3-4 beers each (tough to tell as they come in very large bottles that you share). We had 6 large bottles between the four of us. The amazing thing is that the total tab for this night out was about $4.50 in U.S. Money or about 38 Yaun.

Time to rest now. Tomorrow is my first game as an international head coach. We face off against Japan at 6:30 p.m. China Time. Sorry there were no pictures today... signing off from an increasingly colder and windy Harbin...

Many New Friends...

I thought it might be good to tell you all a bit about the people here. Everyone has been extremely nice, welcoming, friendly and helpful. I have met many people so far on my trip besides just the 29 players on the team. And, I will save the players for a later post. They are a very spirited, hard working and fun bunch of hockey players and will take more time to describe. For now, here are some of the other people I may reference from time to time.

First there is Hu Jie, "Jenny" is her english name. She is the first one I met in the airport in Beijing when I arrived just a week ago. She is like a liaison for Team China as far as I can tell. She communicates with other countries and has been helpful to me as her english is pretty good. She works for Lan Li. Lan Li oversees winter sports training in China (or at least hockey and speed skating). Also working for Lan Li, there is Mr. Fan. He is a very nice man and has been very welcoming to me.

The team leader is Mr. An. He is the logistics man for the team and he lives with us int the dormitory, next door to me. He keeps the team organized and on schedule, waking them up every morning (and after naps) with a referee whistle walking through the hallways.

Dr. Gao is the team doctor, another very nice man who understands and can speak a few english words. He takes care of the players and has kind of looked out for me. Last sunday, he arranged an english speaking teacher who now lives in Harbin to phone me to talk, as he thought I was lonely and had not ahd anyone to speak english with. The teacher turned out to be an American who has been living in Harbin for 6 years and he asked me how I liked cold weather and we chatted briefly.

There are three other coaches working here with me currently. Li Taemin is from Korea and he is on an internship of sorts through the IIHF. He is from Korea, went to college in St. Louis and is now getting a hockey coaching degree from the Vierumäki Institute in Finland. As part of completing that training, he works for a year in various places around the world as assigned by the IIHF. He will be staying in China and working the players we do not take to Finland with us next month. In January, he heads to Mongolia to coach, before returning to Harbin. He has also worked with the men's teams here in China during his stay. He speaks English, Korean and said he can understand about 50% of the chinese. The next coach is Ji Wieguang. He is a former chinese national team player who has been coaching for about 4 years in the Asian League and this is his first year with the women's team. Finally, there is the goalie coach Liu Chin. He had the distinction of being best goalie in China two years ago, and now his twin brother has that honor. It was his brother who played in goal for Harbin in the 4-1 loss to the Japanese team in the Asian league game we watched last night.

Next, there are the people in the Islanders office in Harbin. The office headed by Mr. Wang. He is not to be confused with the Islanders owner, Charles Wang who lives on Long Island. Mr. Wang is actually the father-in-law of a close business associate of Charles Wang. The Harbin Islanders Office is downstairs in the same building in which I am currently living. Mr. Wang and his staff have worked in conjunction with the Islanders and Team China to help coordinate and facilitate things for me here. They have been very helpful in that regard. The other person I have met in that office is Pei Ying. A very nice young girl who speaks some english and has helped me with getting my cell phone set up and translated some conversations for Mr. Wang and I.

Finally, we get to my new translator! He arrived today and his name is Peter. He is a 25 year old who teaches english to young kids part-time. He is very nice and has said that we will become very good friends. He even taught me the colloquial Harbin term for "very good friends" I cannot spell it, but sounded out it is: Guer-mer. He is very nice and eager for us to learn each other's accents so that we can communicate better. He sat with me and had me pronounce some hockey terms this afternoon. He even tried to get on skates to come out on the ice today, but that attempt was short lived.

Luckily, with today's schedule, the team was finished by dinner time. So, Peter took me out on the town in Harbin to show me around so that we could get acquainted. We went to "Center Street" which is the main attraction in downtown Harbin.It can be best described like Quincy Market in Boston except as one long street. There are many shopping areas, two McDonalds, two KFC's and one Pizza Hut and of course, a Wal-Mart SuperCenter!



It is a very european, cobblestone, pedestrian only street, thus safe from the crazy drivers. Peter took me all the way to the end of the street to the Songhua River. It is very low this time of year and we could barely see the water at night. He showed me that it rises what appeared to be a good 30-50 feet up and 100 yards wider than it is now in the spring time. He also took me into McDonalds for a sundae which, by the way, tastes exactly the same. It is 18 Yaun for a Big Mac Value Meal (about $2.25). We took a cab both ways and it cost about $2 each way for us both to ride. The cab driver on the way home was the craziest yet, blowing through two red lights and mainly driving on the other side of the road, but I did get back in one piece!


And just so you know that I am not sitting in Providence making up stories about China while stealing random photos off the internet, here is a picture Peter took of me in front of the oldest, most famous church in northeast China. It is a Russian Church. Much more happened today, but those stories will have to wait for another day... Signing off from Harbin, goodnight!

AHL Hockey...

AHL or Asian Hockey League is the pro league in China, Japan and Korea. China has 3 teams, one in Harbin. Tonight we took the team to see the game against the Ice Bucks of Japan.

The building would take one back to the 1960's or 70's. It seats about 4500 people and had maybe 700 tonight. I was escorted to the best seat in the house a row of padded leather chairs that sat in a press box style row in the first row immediately behind the bench but up above the glass with the players and the rink below. Behind me were about 10 other rows of nice theather style seats in the VIP area. I sat with and next to the Vice General Secretary, Mr. Ji Junfeng. He was knowledgeable about hockey and spoke the best english I have heard since arriving (not counting video and audio IM's).

The level is tough to describe. The pace was good, but the skills were not. The passing was not precise and the puckhandling and shooting was sloppy. But the players played hard. I was told by the Mr Ji that the officials were always from th home team's country and always very biased. This was very clear in this game as Harbin was awarded three 5 on 3 powerplays during the game as well as a very lopsided amount of powerplays. The Japanese team was stronger though and won 4-1. Each team has a limit on the number of foreign players, so most are from their home country. Harbin has four from Sweden and they are not a whole lot better.

The Blog will be short tonight as I need to get some sleep for a busy day tomorrow. In the morning I head out for my medical exam as the first step in the long process of obtaining my Z-visa allowing me to work, reside and go in and out of China for a 6-12 month period. Signing off from Harbin, remember AHL does not just stand for American Hockey League....

Chinese Bumper Cars

Well today was a busy day so no time for picture taking... Since many of you have asked I will tackle the subject of city driving in Harbin, China. First, imagine bumper cars, except right before you hit someone, you honk your horn and both cars slam on the breaks. That only begins to describe the experience of driving around in this city.

You have to realize that the roads are not just for cars. Here is a list of transportation modes you can find on the city streets: Cars, big busses, little busses, old pickup trucks from the 30's, donkeys, motorcycles, motocycle carriages, bicycles (both ridden and pushed), bicycle pick up trucks loaded with supplies (see picture from yesterday), pedestrians, and of course street sweepers. Now by street sweepers I do not mean the American version of a mini zamboni cleaning the streets with automatic brushes. I mean a person in the middle of the street with a broom and dustpan.

All of these things share the road in a chaotic fashion. Yes, there are traffic lights, and they also have a count down until they will change next, which is a nice feature. Each side of the main roads usually has 3 lanes, and the lanes are well marked, yet completely unused. Some roads have a metal fence type barrier running down the middle to keep traffic on its own side. The side streets are like any US city in the winter, cars parked on both sides and barely enough room for one car to pass even though traffic is going both ways.

Every mode of transportation crosses over all the lanes looking for the fastest way to their destination. It is not unusual to have donkey or bicycle stopped dead in the middle of the left lane. If someone or something is stopped in front of you, you simply pull into one of the other lanes, or oncoming traffic if those are full. Instead of using mirrors or turn signals, people simply honk their horn to tell others they are coming through. It is not an option to be stopped in traffic if there is any open room to move, even between two cars who are in their lanes. Remember, the lane lines are only there for decoration, anway they will probably be covered in snow soon for the next five months.

Honking at pedestrians is also important, because they do not have the right of way. Cars do not stop for them, they beep and assume the will move. Which they do, but only if they have to at the last minute. So pedestrians will move one lane at a time until they get across the street. Sometimes they end up standing in the middle of the road inches between busses passing them at 30-40 MPH on both sides, just waiting for the next chance to move one lane closer to the side of the street for which they are headed. There are some rotaries too. A rotary is very Chinese I have decided. There are no lanes and you just beep and merge. They probably actually flow more smoothly in China than in the US. However, the donkeys and bikes and pedestrians cross right through the rotaries too.

Making a left turn is probably the scariest thing. In rare cases, a stop light might have a left turn signal, but many cars will turn left well after the signal has ended. If there is no signal, look out! Cars just slowly merge into oncoming traffic crossing the three lanes to make their turn, much like the pedestrians crossing the street with cars weaving around on either side of them. It really is amazing that there are not more accidents or gridlock.

With all that said, I have ridden twice in a car and once on a bus with the team, all three times with the team driver. He is VERY good. We do stop and start a lot but he gets us around. We only had one close call with the bus and a pedestrian, but I have felt fairly safe with him at the wheel.



I had said no pictures today, but here is a sunset through the rollercoaster in Harbin taken yesterday evening. Good night to you all from China....

Photos from a Day Off...

With the day off, I thought I would take some time to take some pictures of where I am so that you all have a better idea of where I live and work. I also got adventurous and took a walk a couple blocks outside of the Athletic Complex. It was a windy, crisp day, similar to fall in New England, but not too cold. I had not taken a whole lot of pictures so far, not wanting to be the "dorky American with the camera." But, with everyone gone, I got over that today and the irony of an American walking around in China with a camera (given the stereotype in our country) was not lost me. So fewer words and more pictures today.

This is the lobby/foyer of our floor in the dormitory


Last night before the players left, they did their laundry and left it in the hallway to dry. We have two hallways this size.

Here is the team meeting/video classroom. There are a few latops with internet access in here for the players as well.

Not sure what this is but made for a cool picture it is the first thing you see on the right when you exit the dormitory. I am looking forward to comments on what you think it is?

The next thing you go past on the left on the way to the rink is the huge speed skating dome.

Another view of the rink, with some buildings in the background that are outside the sports complex.

For those who do not believe that the NY Islanders have an office in Harbin, here is the sign! The translation I believe says "Yes, the Islanders haved an office in Harbin."

As I ventured out of the complex, I reached a main street. You can see the bikes and cars sharing the street. Many times, like this, the bikes are being "walked" and not ridden.

I decided to go left out of the complex and head southwest and found another thing you won't see in the U.S., the bike style "pickup truck" over loaded with supplies. Yesterday, I saw a man pushing one of these through a major traffic circle, completely crossing fast moving traffic.

Just so you know I am not that far from home, YES, that is a McDonalds. It is about a two block walk from the entrance to the Winter Sports Complex. I decided this was far enough to walk today.

On my way home, a couple of kids riding together on one bike said "Hello" to me in English! They let me take their picture and followed me back to the entrance to the complex and said "goodbye" also in English. They were very funny.

Back through the entrance the same NY Islanders sign is on your left with the Ferris Wheel behind it. This picture is looking northeast from just inside the complex gate.

I return to my room and YES, the roller coaster is running today, it comes by every 5 or 10 minutes, but it is not too loud.


So it is time to work on the plans for next week... signing off on a Sunday afternoon in Harbin, China that is!

Sauna Day...

Today started with my first on-ice practice with the team. Still getting used to getting instructions translated, but they responded very well. Did some power skating and passing drills to see the range of abilities. There is a big gap between the top and bottom players skill-wise so it will be a challenge to make them all better.

But the big cultural experience today was the Sauna and massage. They asked me if I wanted to go with the team as the girls went for a Sauna. “When in Rome” so I went, I figured the staff would just go out for a beer or something while the girls were there. We arrived at the first place and apparently they were busy or did not have what we wanted? So, we got back on the team bus and drove to another place. The driving around Harbin, in a bus in traffic, will be the subject of a future post as it deserves some full consideration (Woh!). I was told later by my de-facto host for the day, the team doctor, that there are many in Harbin. The doctor speaks about 20-30 English words, so it was an adventure. When we arrived at the next place, we were good to go and the girls headed upstairs. Then, I was guided by the doctor with the rest of the staff to the “Men’s VIP Area” (the first English sign I had seen in a while). I was given a locker key to store my clothes in and we headed into the men’s sauna. This began with the typical hot rocks steam room, while alternatively jumping into the ice cold water. We did this a few times, and then into the hot tub style jet beds. After that, I was taken to a “sandpaper rub down.” I am not sure of the official name but that is what it felt like. My entire body was scrubbed down and stretched out with a sandpaper style cloth. Time for a shower next before the massage. The doctor then told me to put on the standard sauna pyjamas. After getting dressed in those, the he showed me around the rest of the place a little, we saw a room where the players were relaxing and watching TV and stretching, then to the sleep/massage room. I got on a soft bed, which was surprising based on the extreme firmness of my own bed in the training center (Soft cement describes it best). I was then given an excellent 30 minute foot/calf massage. Finally, I was told it was time to sleep by the doctor, so who I am to turn down an hour long nap? Anyway, we changed back into our street clothes after that and left. Quite an experience.

The final practice of the day was understandably a little sluggish. I will have to adjust the practice schedule on the next sauna day. We had a staff meeting and set the schedule for next week as we prepare for the tournament in Harbin against Japan, Germany and Russia. Tomorrow is a day off for the players to go home and visit family. A chance for me to regroup and get ready for next week. Thanks for all the great comments on past posts, greetings to you all from Harbin!

My Introduction Day

What an amazing day! I woke up at 6:00 am for breakfast. There was a brief team meeting to go over practice, and a fun soccer/hacky sack warm-up outside with the team, on my first sunny day in Harbin. Again, I just watched practice today to get a feel for the players level and to try and learn their names. The coach from Korea, who speaks English, spent some time with me, giving me some background and his impressions of the team. He is very knowledgeable and was quite helpful. Apparently, he has been hired to stay in China and coach the young players who will not make the trip to Finland next month as we can only bring 20 players.

Following practice, I had a meeting with the current coaching and administrative staff. They gave me the current and historical information on the team and its background. After that, I was formally introduced to the team as their new head coach.

The formal introduction was steeped in ritual and began with a meeting including all the players, coaches and staff from China Hockey. It began with the players all singing the Chinese National Anthem. Next, the top people from China Hockey were introduced and each spoke briefly. I was introduced at the end by Mr. Lan Li of China Hockey and I said a few words to the staff and team.

After the meeting, the China Hockey staff along with Charles Wang and his staff from the NY Islanders office in Harbin took me out for a big banquet, at a new Korean place in town. Everyone was so welcoming, it was an amazing cultural experience. Similar to my first meal in Harbin, we were in a private room with a round table. However the room and table was much bigger as we had a party of 14. While there, I met (and sat next to) the head of Harbin Hockey and was invited to one of the men's league games in Harbin (part of the Asian League). He asked if I could find him one good American for their team (as they are allowed one foreigner). Again their were lots of toasts as is the Chinese tradition, we had shots of something that tasted like vodka and whiskey mixed. I was warned ahead of time that it was very strong. This time at least, it was poured into a very small glass about the size of half a shot. We also toasted with beer. It was a local Harbin beer, an amber, and very good. Apparently, the Chinese are fond of finishing the entire glass of beer on toasts and as the guest of honor I probably ended up having a bit too much. Near the end of the meal, we had this dish that Lan Li jokingly called "Chinese Pizza.” The best way to describe it is a hamburger quesadilla, and it was very good. All in all everyone was very friendly, telling lots of jokes and having a good time.

The day finished with a scrimmage against a local “boys” team (men aged 20-23). They were a bit bigger and stronger than our team, but some good local competition, instead of scrimmaging each other. An exciting day in Harbin.


Tomorrow a couple of practices with a Sauna and massage for the players in between, before they visit their families on their Sunday off. Time to relax in my room (on the right) before going to bed.

First Day in Harbin

I wake up, and for the first time I get to see Harbin in the daylight. I look out my window to find a Rollercoaster less than 50 feet away.



I met my interpreter and headed over to the rink to see the team practice for the first time. The facility is very old and quite cold and the players walk over from the dormitory to the rink in their equipment (about 1000 yards).



I learn from my hosts that only about 80 girls in all of China play hockey. The best 30 are here in Harbin training with the team, ranging in ages from 15-26 years old.



As we head back to the dormitory for lunch, you can see the huge Ferris Wheel in the background on a grey day in Harbin.

In the evening I got to meet all of the players individual using my translator, "Kirby" He is not very strong with the english, so he got help from "Jenny" a representative of the CIHA who stays with the team. The players are very nice and very eager to learn and get better. Time for bed as 6:00 am breakfast will come early.

My Journey to Harbin China...

I departed from good old T.F. Green Airport in Providence on Tuesday morning. My parents dropped me off and took my car back to Vermont for its 7 month hibernation. My hockey bag was predictably overweight, and with the sticks added I had to fork over a little extra dough. The flight from Newark to Beijing was a barely noticeable 13 hours over the North Pole down through Mongolia and into Beijing. I arrived in Beijing at 2:00 p.m. the next day with the 12 hour time difference, and proceeded to Customs.

The first thing I noticed is that the air is different. It is tough to describe, but there is a different smell and weight to it somehow. At first, I thought this may have been inside the airport only, but it was the same outside when I reached Harbin. Getting into China requires three forms and three steps: A health questionnaire, immigrations and customs. The health questionnaire you simply hand to the person as you walk through. At Immigration, I was asked no questions, he looked at my papers and stamped my passport and sent me on my way.

Next to pick up all my bags. By the time I got through immigration, my bags were already on the baggage claim. I picked them up and headed through customs to transfer to a domestic flight to Harbin. The customs lady took my card and sent me along, again with no questions, and all was going well as I put my bags through the x-ray, until I realized I forgot my sticks on the oversized baggage claim. So, with a little communication with the x-ray and customs people. They let me run back and get them.

The next step was to recheck my bags for the flight on Air China to Harbin. This was the first place that the guy did not speak any english. Apparently, there is a 10 yaun fee (about $1.25) to board domestic flights. With some writing on paper, nodding and gesturing, we came to an agreement on $2 American as I had not yet had a chance to convert my money. That problem solved, it was off through security screening to the gate. The airport was very crowded with no seats in the waiting area so I stood. I took advantage of a free internet kiosk and was somehow able to navigate to get to an english website. So, I sent a couple of e-mails to let people know I had made it that far.

About 30 minutes before the flight, I finally met Jenny, my contact from the Chinese Hockey Association. Luckily she speaks enough English to translate for me. With her was Mr. An, the team leader for Team China. We all flew together to Harbin, it was very foggy and I slept most of the way. Upon arrival in Harbin, I met Mr. Wang, who works in the NY Islanders office in Harbin and his associate. The five of us headed out on the road for the 30 km trip to Harbin and dinner. The driving was pretty sane until we hit the city. Once in the city the only rule that seemed to be obeyed is that most of the time people stayed on their own side of the road. Otherwise, bikes, walkers and cars all shared the road in a slightly chaotic fashion with lots of horns and no right of way rules.

Dinner was a traditional Chinese “hot pot” dinner, with an assortment of raw sliced meat, noodles, lettuces on a spinning center table and we each had a hot pot to cook what we wanted and sauce to dip into. It was quite good, I had lamb and beef. We also had a local Chinese “wine” which was more like shots that you sipped, very strong. I learned a few words as Jenny was the only one who spoke enough English to speak with me. The word of the day was pronounced “Knee-bomb” which I was told means bottoms up. The Ryan definition is this: Slam the rest of the freaky Chinese wine that tastes like Rumpleminze mixed with 151 and Chardonnay.

After Dinner, we I was taken to the Winter Sports complex, where I will be living with the team. The entire team was there to meet me and seemed excited to see me. I met the captain, who speaks English well and then was shown to my room, not a bad set up with a full sized bed (kinda firm mattress) and my own bathroom, refrigerator, TV and of course… High speed internet. So after a couple long days, it was time for bed.