Postcards From Quebec: Feb. 18

After a lengthy day on Monday, the Colorado Avalanche Pee-Wee team was given the morning off leading up to their third exhibition match of the trip. The pee wees faced-off against Cardinal-Roy Royal, another local school team in Quebec.
The Tuesday afternoon game wound up finishing in a 2-2 tie with forwards Dimarco Benallo and Brayden Hall scoring for the Jr. Avalanche while goaltender Griffin Niedzielski was in net. After regulation, the referees allowed the teams to play in a shootout to decide the victor.

One of the Jr. Avs player's billet brother shot first for Cardinal-Roy, scoring on a nice backhand move. Dimarco Benallo added another goal in the shootout but the Jr. Avs fell short 2-1.
Following a team meal and free time at the hotel, the pee wees headed to Videotron Center for the Quebec Remparts game. The Remparts, who compete in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, defeated the Shawinigan Cataractes 5-0 in a regular season match up.

Due to this game landing in the middle of the Quebec International Pee Wee Hockey tournament, hundreds of pee wee players were in attendance, causing the pin trading scene to be exceptional. Players from all over the world communicated to exchange each other's pins.
The Jr. Avs will play in an exhibition game on Wednesday and Round 3 of the tournament on Thursday night.
Defenseman #13 Sean Grohman
Dear Avs Fans,
We got to sleep in this morning, I laid in bed until 9:45 a.m. then ate breakfast with my teammate Max and my billet dad. I had frosted flakes. I watched some TV before it was time to go to the rink. The exhibition game was great. I thought it was very fast paced and physical. The other team was really good, it took us a little bit to get our legs going, but after the first period we were playing our game. The other team skated hard and always had sticks in passing lanes. Their passing was also very accurate. The score was tied 2-2 when the game ended. In the shootout, we missed the first try and the other team scored. We wound up losing the shootout 2-1. Even though we lost, it was exciting, fun and fast.

I like that we do team meals every day, there is a good variety to pick from. I liked when we got to eat pasta before our big game on Monday. Even though the marinara sauce was kind of orange, it was still good. Later in the day we went to watch the Remparts play at the Videotron Center. I loved it. It was also very exciting. When we first got to the game, I went to go trade pins with my teammate Grady. I got a pin from the Frontenac team which is really cool and big. After that I went and sat with my family to watch the game. There was a lot of scoring in the second period--three goals and a penalty shot--that was fun to watch. Quebec is awesome, the trip is going by so fast. Lots of activities and I love all the games we've played. The pin trading is insane, some pins are huge. I'm so glad I got the opportunity to go to Quebec and play in Avalanche gear, it's great.
Sincerely,#13