A Long Hike Before Another Victory

Yesterday, I hiked up my first mountain in Austria, Schneealpe mountain in Neuberg an der Mürz.  My children, also known as my Canadian roommates (Courtney Bradley and Jessica Jenkins), did not want to come along on the hike because that would mean they would have to get out of their beds before noon.  While the children slept soundly in their beds, I went hiking with one of our team's trainers, Axel Riegler.  At Quinnipiac University, I hiked up Sleeping Giant mountain, but that mountain seems like a hill now after climbing up Schneealpe.  It took more than an hour to hike to the top of the mountain.  A little restaurant, Schneealpen Haus, stood at the top of the mountain.  The restaurant seemed like the perfect place to rest.  I got Kaspressknödelsuppe (cheese dumpling soup) and a beer.  The soup was good; however, I enjoyed my Kaspressknödelsuppe better!  After the break, we ventured over to another mountain which had a tall cross located on top of it.  This mountain seemed more difficult to hike up, especially after having a beer.  There were no specific trails to walk on, and most of the hike involved walking up slabs of rocks.  It definitely was a relief once we reached the top.  Overall, I enjoyed the hike although I did not expect it to be so strenuous.  This morning, I woke up with throbbing muscles from the long, enduring hike. 

Photo Courtesy of Günter Angerer

Although my muscles were sore, I knew I had to fight through it for I had at game at 4:30 p.m.  It was our final match-up against Turkey.  We ended the two-game series with a 15-0 victory, one point short from clinching Friday's result (16-0).  We started off slow and only took a 1-0 lead after the first period.  The second period seemed to be our best period, with three shorthanded goals all during one penalty kill.  I think this got the team fired up and we started scoring...and scoring...and scoring.  We scored 12 goals in the second period, including three from me.  We finished the game scoring two more goals in the third period.  For a full game recap, click here (F.Y.I. It's in German).