Old timers travelling to Europe

In the spirit of pre-Olympic competition, the Golden Nationals, the local old-timers hockey club, are travelling to Germany and the Czech Republic for two weeks of international hockey.

From November 1 to 15, the Nationals will be touring through a series of small towns to play eight games on an exhibition tour.

“We’ll be travelling with 15 members – plus a goalie,” says team member Kindy Gossal.

Three years ago, a team from Germany came to Golden to play an exhibition tournament. Since then, the Golden team has been organizing a trip to Europe for a rematch. Last year the team initiated a series of fundraising events including; a Christmas draw, a pond hockey tournament at Reflection Lake and a summer softball tournament.

Team members say that with the upcoming trip they made a point of trying to go to the smaller towns in order to meet people, make connections and promote local competition.

“Hockey is the international language,” says Gossal.

“We’re integrating into the community at a grass roots level,” says team member Mike Palumbo.

“For many of us, it’s our first time going to Europe, it’s going to be a cultural exchange,” says teammate Brent Bolin.

All the team members spoke excitedly about an outdoor soccer stadium that had been converted into a hockey rink for the tournament.

“We’re going to promote the town pretty hard. Hopefully in a couple years these teams will think about coming back to Golden and making this a regular thing,” says Palumbo.

“We’re going to give our hosts a package with a bunch of information about Golden and promote the tourism around here. We’re also going to be giving away toques with our logo on it. That’s what the German team did when they were here,” adds Palumbo.

When asked if the team was worried about playing international rules hockey with a larger ice surface, Gossal responded that the classic Canadian versus international dynamics were at play.

“What we lack in skill we make up for in girth,” jokes Gossal.

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