Fifty things to do before I'm fifty, Cheering on the Chieftains.

I have very poor balance and co-ordination. I have a real aversion to pain and getting hurt. As a result, I have immense admiration for anyone who is fearless enough to master a skill like ice skating then go into battle against a bunch of burly thugs for possession of a tiny round disc.  

I have a great love for the Olympics, its the only opportunity most of us get to see a huge variety of sports played well. I got into ice hockey watching the winter Olympics in Vancouver, sadly Great Britain weren't so great so the coverage here was mostly highlights. Although I do remember cheering on Canada in the final against the USA at silly O'clock in the morning!  Much as I enjoyed the game on the telly, I did find it quite hard to follow. The game is so fast paced you can only really see whats going on via the action replays. I decided back in 2010 that it would be cool to see an ice hockey match live so after I had the idea of the fifty things to do, on the list it went.

I may have worn too many layers!

Luckily we have a team quite local to us, the Chelmsford Chieftains. They were playing at home against the Oxford Stars. Too good an opportunity to miss!  I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised at how enormous the teams look when they came out onto the ice but I was. They look really intimidating and scary especially when they're racing down the ice at full speed, even more so when they're slamming into the barrier a couple of inches from your seat!

Hard to take action shots.
 The game is ridiculously fast paced and intense, we were on the edge of our seats throughout. I have no idea how these guys can go full pelt down the ice in one direction then stop and turn in a nano second and accelerate back up to full speed in the opposite direction. The players on the ice are rotated regularly and its easy to see why they need to. Its exhausting just watching them! Sadly my pictures don't really show the action in all its glory.

Chieftains defending
 Sadly the Chieftains lost 4-0. The Oxford team were the better side but the home side put in some excellent defence. ( Speaking as a someone who had barely a grasp on what was going on!)


All in all, it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening and we had a great time trying to follow the action!

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