The Marshals first trip to visit the Fairbanks Ice Dogs started with a long day of traveling at 3am on 15 Dec. We arrived safely at the Hotel around 5pm (8pm here) to a white and very cold winter wonderland. For some of the guys it was their first experience with the cold weather and snow (2 degrees when we got there), and some were pros in dealing with it. Even all the bags and suitcases arrived with us.

     Thursday’s two hour practice went well in the Big Dipper Arena and indications were that we were ready for the two games. Unfortunately, the Ice Dogs had other plans for us. I must say that the boys kept on trying but could not get the puck in the net. Saturday was another cold day and winless game, but again, the boys kept the pressure up. One thing is for sure, both of our goalies deserve kudos, their performance was unbelievable and kept us in the games .

     Since we did not have a flight back until Sunday evening, we decided to take those who managed to get up by noon to North Pole, AK to see Santa and Mrs. Claus and the Reindeers. We all felt like little kids again and it was a lot of fun. Finally came the long ride back home. Between ice and snow we had some delays but managed to make all the connections and arrived back in DFW around 11am. Along the way we lost some of our boys who started their Christmas break in either Anchorage or Minneapolis, the rest left from DFW and they all were ready to go home for a week. My Christmas wish was for them to come back refreshed and ready to tackle the 2nd part of the season.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE.

Ursula