They came, they played and they conquered.
On Tuesday night, Dec. 22 when it seems like everyone in the world is going insane looking for the perfect Christmas present, there were at least 300 people who didn't seemed at all worried about the craziest time of year.
Instead, 300 or so people braved the cold confines of the Springside Arena to take in something that happens less often then Christmas day itself does.
The Moscow Atlant girls hockey team was in the process of shaking up southern Saskatchewan cities, testing out the various teams as they played seven clubs from the local female hockey league.
Among those stops were: the Swift Current Colts, Weyburn McDonald's Angels, Woodriver Ice Cats, Lumsden/Bethune Lions, Prairie Storm (Balgonie), Springside Parkland Lions, Moose Jaw Warriors and Estevan Power Dodge Chargers.
Shooting the game was not my challenge on this night. The hard part came when it was time for post-game talks. Here is the part that nobody ever could have prepared me for.
There are some things that college doesn't teach you: what to do if a coach does not want to talk after a game, how to balance things with the crazy hours schedule that comes with sports journalism, and last but not least how to conduct a good interview through an interpreted.
Never before had I ever had to interview someone who in turn interviewed someone else who then passed those answers onto me.
When the Moscow Atlant female hockey team made its Springside stop on Dec. 22, that is what I was faced with and the weird thing is there is nobody around telling you what to do or say or what questions to ask (or what questions not to ask).
I didn't know who to look at or what gestures to make, or what gestures not to make all I knew was I was going to shoot whatever comes to mind and hope that the Russian woman who was answered didn't fire back with one of those looks that says 'what on earth is he talking about?'
I didn't get that look so I guess I did alright.
The Russians came to Saskatchewan in the middle of December and they proved that whether it's men or women, boys or girls, they know how to play hockey.
From what I was told they helped fill up Springside Arena to the point that not many more people could have filled that arena. Slightly fewer then 300 tickets were sold for this game before game night even arrived.
The Russians were awesome. They opened the scoring and they closed it with 2:56 remaining in the game.
They scored goals that are considered goal-scorers goals. They opened up a 1-0 lead but didn't score again until later in the game.
Springside's Katelyn Breitkreuz did her part to get the home side back in the game and scored with 10 seconds left in the first period. The teams skated off to the dressing rooms deadlocked at a goal apiece.
Springside was quite happy with the score at that point.
However the Russians dominated the game in the second period, scoring five goals.
Following their 8-4 victory, Violetta Simonva, head coach of the Atlant seemed content with her teams win. She also said she did not feel it came easy. Simonova credited much to Lions' goaltender Tamara Ulmer, who kept the score close through the opening period.
Simonova also said her team got "a good challenge" that night..If there's anything you'd like to see covered by Game 7, please forward your suggestions to the Yorkton This Week sportsdesk by phone (306) 782-2465, fax (306) 786-1898 or email.
