May 2008 — Hong Kong 5’s
There are no ringers in international expat tourneys, where having enough bodies is sometimes the only thing that matters. The Gweilos, though, were really helped out this year by Shane Delong and Robert Palmer, both of whom flew in from frosty Western Canada. Captain “Chugger” Delong (someone had to wear the shirt) anchored the D along Palmer. Brian Hunt and Kirk Davies made up the stalwart defense corps that carried us to the finals where we just couldn’t solve the solid HKGFM team from Hong Kong. Goals were sometimes hard to come by in this tournament, but the nucleus of Macau guys all chipped in, with help from newcomers Jake Anderson and Henry Tong. A final record of 4-2 with wins over Shanghai, the Hackers and a young Toronto team helped the Gweilos even up their international record a little. Highlights included Robert’s winning the hardware as best defenseman. Kirk Sabo’s “Top Gun”esque breakaway goal (I’ll stop my stick and the goalie will just slide right by) dazzled the crowd and earned TSN play of the tournament honours.
March 2008 — Bangkok Oldtimers Tournament
Well if we weren’t oldtimers we sure played like
it sometimes! I think it might have been the ice. Only seven Gweilos ended
up making
the trip, but our roster was supplemented with some Bangkok guys who more
than helped out. We picked up one win out of three games in the round
robin games while outshooting every team massively. We were snakebit again
in the bronze medal game as Beijing ringer Rob Gray stood on his head.
Highlight of the tourney was the Thai cabbie who offered encouraging words
as he broke up an altercation between Larry and Sherry about their lost
camera. Kirk Davies, a decidedly young looking old timer, picked up the
award for best defenseman. We’ll definitely be back next year to
make a run at the City of Angels Cup. Gweilos that made the trip were:
Larry Petryk, Jared Birmingham, Tony Burzillo, Kirk Davies, Hassan Hawash,
Herminio Cheng and Neil Westcott.
Hong Kong 5’s, June 2007
The Gweilos got off to a slow start with a lineup that can only be described as patchwork. Early tournament jitters and little playing time together were the culprits. Turning points included our first goal, the result of a dump-in from our own blueline, as well as a team bonding session that officially ended with Tom making it home in time to see Melanie off to work the next morning.
The Gweilos came alive in the playoffs, riding Ray’s stellar goaltending and timely scoring from Jason and Neil to cinch a 3-2 win in the semi-finals. A 4-0 loss to the eventual champion HK Dragons was a tough but good competitive end to our tournament.
