This morning we got to visit a secondary school in Moscow. We were greeted by an enthusiastic crowd of kids and teachers - they even made us necklaces with handprints to signify the "hands of friendship." We listened to a history lesson on Moscow and then the group split up to attend actual class sessions. After that, they put on a play, sang some songs and recited poems for us. It was a great introduction to the Russian culture.
After the school visit, the kids came back to Novogorst with us and we all went into a conference room to watch a video on the 1972 Summit Series. We were honored to be joined by legendary Soviet player Alexander Yukashev, who was gracious enough to go through a question and answer session with our kids and coaches. He talked about the pressure of playing for the Soviets in a time where there great tensions around the world.
Following the question and answer session, our teams took the young students over to the arena and gave them a tour of the locker rooms. Our kids are doing a great job of interacting and breaking down the language barrier with their Russian counterparts.
After the tour, our kids met for lunch and then headed over to the arena for practice. Our session today was run by the Russian coaches and featured a lot of skating and fundamentals. It is an honor to be on the ice with the Vice President of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation, Igor Tuzik.
Following practice, we headed to dinner and then a team meeting. At the meeting, all of the kids and coaches were presented with some gifts from our Russian hosts. Items included in the gift bag included: Summit Series notebooks, a patch commemorating our program here in Russia, a commemorative pin & a limited edition hardcover book about the great goaltender Vladislav Tretiak.
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