He was open between the circles, and when his teammate put the puck on his stick, it was over. Bang. Pardubice was up 1-0 at the first intermission. They should have been up by much more. They had something like seventeen shots on goal, compared to one by the other team. It was like the ice was tilted.

The goalkeeper for K pulled off about four miracle saves in the first period. I take that back. You do it once it’s a miracle, four times is brilliance. fuego and I imagined the locker room. Coach: If we dont skate better, I’ll hold your hands to the table while goalie cuts off your fingers.”

The contest ended 6-3, supergoalie miraculously the winner. Crazy stuff going back an forth. A great game to watch. It’s a speed game here, all about skating and passing, and I miss watching people being forcibly removed from the puck. Still, it’s hockey. They have to take the puck with them as they skate across the vast arctic tundra. When they cross the blue line between the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the rubber disk has to go first, and the passage is fiercely contested. That’s not a metaphor—the ice is that much bigger here.

It’s funny how many of the players I see in the penalty box are NHLers. The game is different here, Honestly, I like the small-ice, high-contact version of hockey they play in North America, but dang. I could be watching soccer.