Representing the HK Typhoons Bantam team, I went to Singapore for an ice hockey tournament on the 9th – 11th March.
My most memorable game in this tournament was the runner-up finals with the Singapore Ice Dragons Red Team. The whole match was just multiple attempts, one after the other, from both sides until the last 5 minutes when we scored! Unfortunately, we were all quite exhausted and accidentally let Ice Dragons Red team make their first score in the last 2 minutes of the game. So we had tied, which was frustrating after 3 exhausting periods, especially because the winner of the game would be decided by the luck of shooting out just like in football. This is always unfair as the Singapore Ice Dragons won purely by luck. The skill level of both teams was pretty close though, so it was hard to tell which team had the upper hand.
Overall I really enjoyed the tournament but one thing that really bothered me throughout the tournament was the contact. Contact is allowed in ice hockey, but it’s often misunderstood as rash and with ill intent. All of my teammates were disappointed with how contact was judged unfairly in some games. A lot of the foul contacts were overlooked particularly when we played against the National Team of Malaysia. We were so frustrated but thanks to our coach Simon Ferguson, a former NHL player, we managed to control our emotions and turned the 3-day tournament a precious learning experience for the team.
After this trip to Singapore, the game has made everyone a stronger individual on and off the ice. With genuine skills and emotional management, we brought the Silver Cup back to HK.