Day Four: Porvoo

Thank heavens, the Hawks families had Wednesday morning free, and most took advantage of the time to sleep a little later and do a little shopping in Helsinki. At 1:00 p.m., the bus arrived to transport the group to Porvoo, where it would meet up with the boys. Porvoo is a quaint town with charming little shops and a historic area about 35 kilometers (45 minutes) north of Helsinki. (Think New Hope, only with all the signs in Finnish and Swedish.) We were met in Porvoo by two tour guides, so we split into two groups, bundled up, and started our chilly walk through the picturesque town. Old Porvoo is not very big--as one Helsinki native told us, if the tour lasts more than an hour, they are probably showing us things twice--but its inhabitants are very proud of their town and its history. When we had seen the river, whatever wooden buildings had survived the many fires through the years, and the Porvoo cathedral, we were free to shop in the little boutiques--and the Brunberg candy shop, conveniently located next to the restaurant at which we were to eat.

While some Hawks loaded up on delicious Finnish treats, a few parents found the Irish Pub across from our restaurant, where they warmed up and rested up. In chatting with the pub manager, they found that he had played for the Porvoo Hunters 86 team that had played in the very first Hawks-Viikingit Exchange tournament in Helsinki in 2000. In fact, we had photos of that Hawks-Hunters game with us to show him. It was a reminder of how small Finland is, and how long the Exchange has been going on.

After a delicious late lunch/early dinner at a Finnish homestyle restaurant, everyone climbed onto two buses to go to the Porvoo ice rink for games with the two Porvoo Hunters 98 teams. We were greeted at the rink by a welcome table set up by the friendly Porvoo parents, with maps and booklets about Porvoo. We also were delighted to find heavenly warm cinnamon buns at their snack stand. Cal Bibeau's grandfather even got a tour of the rink's cooling system. The games went well--the Cappo team won 5-3, and the Gibson team coasted to a 9-3 victory--as the players became accustomed to Finnish referees and international ice. But the real excitement occurred in the locker room after the first game. Albert Bleznak's big toe had an unpleasant encounter with another player's skate blade. It was sliced deeply across the top of the toe, just under the toe joint, and it produced an unsettling amount of blood. An ambulance was called, and Albert was transported to the Porvoo hospital for treatment. A foot surgeon was found to evaluate the injury; he determined that fortunately, the tendons were intact and the toe needed only five stitches, not the surgery that we had feared. And the boys learned a valuable lesson about taking their skates off IMMEDIATELY in the locker room!