The Huron Perth Lakers Minor Midget team took a hiatus from their regular season play to enjoy some team
bonding. First stop on their trip was to the home of the Bowling
Green Falcons where they were given a tour of the Slater Family Ice Arena
which included the players lounge, dressing room and arena facilities available
to the team.
The team also visited the football stadium where the state-of-the-art workout facility is used by all college teams. Mr. Ty Eigner, Assistant for the hockey team educated the boys on the ins and out of college hockey and certainly gave the players something to think about going forward in their hockey careers. After the full day of events the Lakers watched the Falcons take on the Lakers of Lake Superior State. Avenging a loss the previous night the Falcons went on to defeat the Lakers 5-2 in front of a very energetic Bowling Green fans base.
Next stop, and the most eagerly awaited, was Nashville Tennessee! After a lengthy bus ride the team arrived in Music City on Sunday afternoon and enjoyed some free time exploring downtown Nashville. Monday was jammed packed full of activities and surprises. The morning started out visiting the Bridgestone arena, home to the Nashville Predators, where the boys watched the Predators and Lightning during their teams morning skates. In between the skates the Lakers were treated to a surprise guest, P.K. Subban. Mr. Subban spent time taking photos, answering questions and signing autographs for every player. Meeting an NHL player of this caliber put a huge smile on every players face! Another surprise was meeting Ethan McLean, a young hockey fan from Northern Ireland. Ethan is battling Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and was on a trip from Ireland as a special guest of the Nashville Predators.
Next on the agenda was a tour of Bridgestone Arena provided by Mr. Brandon Walker, Manager of Hockey Operation for the Nashville Predators. Mr. Walker showed the boys the dressing room, workout area and team lounge.
Early that afternoon the team was lucky enough to be able to spend 1½ hours of ice time at Bridgestone Arena for a quick practice and a high energy game of 3 on 3. Parents and siblings joined for the last 20 minutes of ice-time to experience the NHL ice surface. In the evening the team attended the game between the Preds and Lightning. The fast pace game ended in a 3-2 victory for the Predators.
The whirlwind trip ended with a very long bus trip home where the players and parents reminisced about the past 3 days adventure.
A special thanks Bowling Green University and the Nashville Predators for hosting the Huron Perth Lakers Minor Midget team.