Stocksund's Newest Hockey Player

Graeme has joined the ranks of the Swedish hockey organization. We zipped home after school on Wednesday to suit up our player then raced down the hill to the outdoor rink. We had been by the rink on Saturday and one of the trainers on the ice encouraged us to just show up one day to sign Graeme up. We entered the Ishall (ice hall) and were pleasantly surprised by the clean (meaning odor free!) and homey atmosphere (there were candles lit up and tableclothes on the tables in the snack bar area!). We spotted a young man hopping around on one skate and asked him to point us in the right direction. Turns out, he spoke excellent English and he is one of Graeme's "trainers". Within 10 minutes we had Graeme on the ice and all the paperwork done! I can't believe how easy it was! Needless to say, Graeme caused a bit of a stir when he made his appearance. Not only was he the only child out there in full hockey gear, but he spoke no Swedish!! The other boys gathered around Graeme and spoke to him but it all sounded like garbledygook to him!
They quickly got down to business doing drills and such, very similar to what Graeme is used to. The ice surface is quite a bit larger than what we are used to in Canada, and it was outside so a bit darker than usual too. Graeme is going to continue to play hockey three times a week on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday until early March when the season ends. It was amazing to watch the way he blended in with all the other boys. He certainly showed us his very confident nature to be able to make it look so easy!