What an amazing event!  The 2013 Mega Ice 5's tournament in Kowloon City, Hong Kong proved to be spectacular in more ways that one.   This event hosting week long youth tournament activities against teams from around the globe.  Thunderbirds participating teams were U8, U10 Alumni, U10 Select, U12 Select. 

Congratulations goes to U8 team who won Gold, U10 Alumni who won Silver, U12 team who won Silver!  WOW!  Excellent hockey, great sportsmanship and many sore throat spectators from cheering you all on!  Thanks for a great week of hockey.

 Our U12 and U15 players will be headed to Beijing November 10 & 11 for a hockey exchange with local
Beijing hockey rivals. 

Wish them safe travels, sportmanlike play and many goals ! 

Let's Go Thunderbirds!

The Select teams concluded their trip to Harbin on Sunday having learned a great deal about themselves and their competition.

The U8s provided the most outstanding performance of the weekend going 5-0 against teams from the Beijing Imperial Guard and the Harbin 1 and Harbin 2 teams.  They ended the weekend in dramatic fashion with a 2-1 Overtime victory over a re-stocked Harbin 1 team to win the weekend mini-tournament. The players, parents and fans were extremely excited about their performance and they made the Shanghai Thunderbird’s program very proud.

The U12 team ran into stiff competition against the Imperial Guard and the Harbin teams.  Although they went 0-4 on the weekend the team showed steady improvement and increased their intensity as the games progressed.  The team

ended the weekend in a mixed games where all three teams were combined into two and they played against each other.  This was a good way for the players to meet kids from other programs and play alongside each other in a good show of competitiveness and sportsmanship.

The U15 team had a successful weekend going 2-2 by beating Harbin in two very close 3-2 games but losing to the Imperial Guard in the other two games. This was the first time for some of the U15s to play against other programs at this level and the team was very competitive despite missing a few key players.

The most impressive part of the weekend was seeing the support each team provided to one another during their games and the way they bonded at the hotel and away from the rink.  It was nice to see the players cheering each

other on, especially the U8s in the final, as well as watching the younger players letting the older ones in on their mini-stick games.

Congrats to all the coaches and managers for their efforts and organization and thanks to the Beijing Imperial Guard who organized this weekend andallowed us to participate.

Last weekend 40 Select players from all three teams and almost 50 family members travelled to Okayama and Kurashiki Japan for a weekend of hockey. The kids played teams from the area including the Okayama Bruins, Hiroshima Collectors, Okayama Jr. and Kurashiki Jr.

The Select players made the Thunderbird organization proud with only one loss in 9 games.

The U8’s remain undefeated this season with two wins (7-1 and 8-3) and one tie (3-3). The boys played their hearts’ out despite having to board the bus at 5:15 a.m. on Sunday morning for their final game at 6:15 a.m.