The Roos men's hockey team is taking part in an exciting opportunity as they are traveling overseas to Europe for a 10-day trip beginning on Saturday, December 14th and returning stateside on Monday, December 23rd.

Day 6 & 7 Recap from Adam Petric, #14

The boys wrapped up the trip by spending the weekend in Geneva, Switzerland. Personally, this was my favorite part of the trip as I felt very at home in the city setting. 

On Saturday, the team spent the day roaming around Old Town Geneva and paying a visit to Saint Peters Cathedral, the main church in Old Town Geneva which was built between 1160 and 1252. The group was very fascinated by the church's history and stunning architecture, along with the stunning view of Geneva from atop the church's towers. 

On Saturday night, our group attended an NLA hockey game, which is basically Switzerland's version of the NHL. We watched the hometown team, Genève-Servette HC, play against Fribourg-Gottéron HC. We were left stunned by how crazy the atmosphere was at the game. I've never seen anything like it at a hockey game, NHL included! This was definitely one of the best parts of the trip, in my opinion. 

On Sunday, we were free to spend the day roaming around Old Town. Along with other guys on the team, I used this time to walk around town and explore many of Geneva's stores and restaurants. After this, we gathered for one final dinner as a group. 
 

As a whole, I think it's safe to say that this was a trip of a lifetime. Many of us may never visit Europe again, so getting to experience a trip like this as a team made it that much more special.

On behalf of the team, I'd like to thank our coaches, parents, tour guide Jim, and anyone else who made this trip possible for us. I'd also like to thank our athletic trainer, Mikaela Shelby, and our academic liaison, Barat Wolfe, who also made the trip and continue to provide for the team without receiving much credit for their efforts.

I hope that this trip can be repeated down the road so that our future Roos can be a part of such a memorable experience. This trip definitely brought us together and made us that much closer as a group, so we're all very grateful for the experience! 

Lastly, we're all excited to get home and spend the holidays with our families and then return to Canton in the new year ready to start our second half of the season. Go Roos!
 
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Day 4 & 5 Recap from Adam Petric, #14
On Thursday morning the majority of the team woke up to spend the day skiing or snowboarding in the mountains. After attending the women's downhill skiing World Cup earlier in the week, the team was excited to head out there and test out our own skiing skills. From what I've been told, the team had a great time in the mountains as they were able to revisit some stunning scenery and enjoy a beautiful sunny day skiing or snowboarding.
 
For those of us that didn't spend the day on the mountain skiing or snowboarding, we decided to use this time to relax at the spa. I think the majority of us felt the same in saying that spending a day at a spa is something that we'd never do on our own time at home, so it was nice to spend the day relaxing as a small group.
 
 
After splitting up for the day, the team reconvened for a nice dinner as a group at another restaurant in town. After eating, we were surprised by a duo of singers who performed for us. The group definitely enjoyed this, parents and coaches included, as it was a good bonding experience for the team.
 
On Friday the team traveled to Italy to play the final game of our trip against Valpellice at 5:30 PM local time. We left Méribel, France early Friday morning to make the four-hour trip to Italy for the game. Following the game, we will be traveling another four hours to Geneva, Switzerland where we will be situated for the remainder of our trip. The boys are excited to play our last game of the trip and then have the weekend off in Geneva!

Game 4: SUNY Canton 5 Valpellice 1

Game 3 v. St. Gervais: Canceled

Game 2: Chambery 8 SUNY Canton 4

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Day 3 Recap from Head Coach Alex Boak
Tuesday morning the team got up and made their way via ski lift to the top one of the many mountains in the area and down into the town of Courchevel where the women's downhill World Cup was being held. The boys got to be able to cheer on the skiers especially American Mikaela Shiffrin who had the first run of the day.
 
After a couple of hours of cheering on the skiers and getting some grub we took the ski lifts back into the town of Méribel to start to prepare for tonight's game against Chambéry. The day was filled with great views going up and down the mountain. Some guys (I won't name names) but wear 33 and 22 were stuck in the corner of the lifts scared of the heights. The pictures don't do the area justice on how beautiful it is.
 
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Day 2 Recap from Adam Petric, #14:
 
On Monday, the team spent the day preparing for our first game here in Europe against Méribel Courchevel, the local team here where we're stationed for the majority of our trip. As hockey players are typically creatures of habit, we tried our best to stick to a normal gameday routine. Consequently, this consisted of a team breakfast in the morning followed by a pre-game skate at noon, and then a pre-game nap before heading to the rink for the game.
           
Although I didn't skate with the team during the pre-game skate due to an injury, most of the guys were stressing about how the high altitude really tires you out quickly while you're out there on the ice. This is definitely something we're not used to dealing with at home, so making use of a pre-game skate was definitely beneficial in that regard.
 
In relation to that, I'm also certain that I'm not the only one whose gotten an earful from Coach Boak complaining about how the high altitude makes it tough to walk up and down the mountain from our hotel to the rink and such. Poor guy was asking for an oxygen tank (sorry Boaker, all in good fun).

Following our pre-game skate, we had some time to kill before winding it down for a pre-game nap. Most guys seemed to make use of this time by exploring around Méribel, visiting some of their various shops or trying out different restaurants. One thing we came to realize is that they close many stores and restaurants here at 1 PM and reopen again at 4 PM, as this is prime skiing time. This is definitely something that caught us by surprise.  
 
As for our game, we ended up defeating Méribel Courchevel, 7-4. Right from the get-go it was very evident that they play a much different style of game than we're used to in the NCAA. With the bigger ice surface here, their style of game is much less physical than what we're accustomed to. Although this is true, they kept us on our toes for the majority of the game as we traded goals back-and-forth, making it an exciting game to be apart of. I also can't go without mentioning fellow sophomore forward Matt Needleman, who dominated the chuck-a-puck contest during the second intermission.
 
After the game, our group shared a dinner with the opposing team at the rink and we gifted them with a blue Roos jersey as a token of appreciation.

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Game 1 Recap: SUNY Canton 7, Méribel Courchevel 4
 
The men's hockey team won the opening game of its Europe trip on Monday, December 16th earning a 7-4 win v. Méribel Courchevel. Tyson Bruce led the Roos with two goals and one assist, while Max Routledge added a goal and assist. Jesse Farabee, Noah Robinson, Bailey Conklin and Sean David also scored for the Roos. Canton scored two goals each in the first two periods and added three third period tallies.
 
Goal 1: Jesse Farabee from Max Routledge
Goal 2: Max Routledge from Matthew Headland
Goal 3: Noah Robinson unassisted
Goal 4: Bailey Conklin from Kyler Matthews and Tyson Bruce
Goal 5: Tyson Bruce unassisted
Goal 6: Sean David from Anthony Filoso
Goal 7: Tyson Bruce unassisted
 
Note: All game statistics during the team's Europe trip do not count towards season totals.

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Day 1 Recap from Adam Petric, #14:
 
To no one's surprise, the team had a very exciting and eventful first day of travel over to Europe. Our journey started at the Roos House and took us to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport in Montreal. Before we had even made it half way to the airport, we were already getting word that some parents' flights into Montreal were being canceled, so I had a feeling that this was just the beginning of what would turn out to be an eventful day of traveling.
           
After arriving at the airport and getting everyone checked in and accounted for, we had time to wind down before the flight. Nevertheless, we were all eager to board the plane and embark on our journey over to Europe. Our flight, which was about seven and a half hours long, took off sometime after 9 p.m. and landed in Geneva, Switzerland at 10 a.m. local time. Considering the six-hour time difference from home, many of us got minimal sleep before arriving in Geneva, however, we were excited to finally begin our adventure in Europe.
 
           
After landing, we took a bus over to Annecy, France. This, of course, came after we were stuck waiting on the bus for a certain someone (I won't name names, but he wears #12…) who accidentally left his passport on the plane and wasn't being let through customs. Still, we got to spend a few hours roaming around Annecy after arriving. Annecy is a beautiful alpine town filled with cobbled streets, pastel-colored houses, and a countless amount of small shops. It was a pretty surreal place to experience!
 
We then hopped back on the bus for an hour and a half trip down to Méribel, France, our home base for the majority of the trip. Méribel is a ski resort town in the Tarentaise Valley of the French Alps. I think I can speak for the whole group in saying that we were all in awe after arriving and getting a view of the alluring mountains in the backdrop along with the captivating town itself.
 
After getting situated in our hotel, we finally got to wind down and enjoy a nice dinner as a group and were free to explore the town and enjoy our first night here in Europe as a team!
 
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Pre-Trip

The team will play four games during the foreign trip, which the NCAA allows an institution to make once every four years. The Roos will visit the countries of Switzerland, France and Italy. Statistics and game results do not count towards the team's season results and statistics. All game times listed are local time in Europe. Eastern time is approximately six hours early than local time.

Men's Hockey Europe Schedule
12/16                     Méribel Courchevel           8:15 PM
12/17                     Chambery                         8:15 PM
12/18                     St. Gervais                        8:00 PM
12/20                     Valpellice                          5:00 PM
 

The Roos plan to take over the SUNY Canton Athletics Instagram account (@rooathletics) during the trip and this page will be updated when possible with photos and updates from the team. 


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