A New Mom In A New Country: Free Blades

The first ceremonial puck is going to be dropped at center ice.

Yesterday marked the beginning of the regular hockey season at home. I was super excited to see their first game against China. Before meeting Justin, I had maybe watched a part of a hockey game or two, but didn't care for it all that much. Over the years I have grown to really understand hockey, and I now love to watch it. This year Justin is wearing #4. Since we were playing China, at the beginning of the game both the Japanese and Chinese national anthems were played. The intro video before the guys come on to the ice is below.

The main difference that I have noticed in the hockey here in Japan from in the States or Germany is that there is absolutely no fighting. If you fight, you are kicked out for the current game as well as the next game. Therefore, no one does it. Which is normally a good thing, since I do not like the fighting aspect of hockey. However, that also means that guys can do cheap shots that could potentially hurt someone with out any serious consequences other than mostly a two minute penalty. I have seen this happen quite a bit already in the first game.

Justin (#4) playing the puck behind the net.

Similar to Germany, the Free Blades has a cheering section that is constantly banging drums and rattling off different chants. The only difference is that they are workers for the team and not the fans, so the cheers tend to be less aggressive and vulgar compared to Germany. The crowd over here is more than happy to join in. The team also has their own recorded song, which is pretty cool.

After we won the game.

We won the game 6-2. Justin had a good game scoring a goal and an assist. At the end of the game both teams will bow to the crowd as a sign of respect, and thanking them for coming to watch the game.