Photos: USA-Canada Maccabiah gold medal match
The Maccabiah Games are an athletic tournament that takes place in Israel every four years, where Jewish athletes from all of the world come and compete for "Jewish Olympics" gold. This year, for the second time ever, ice hockey was incorporated as an event (the last and only other time they ice hockey in the past was in 1997).
Five countries competed in this year's tournament: Israel, Canada, Russia, United States, and Ukraine. The games all took place in Metulah, the northernmost town in Israel, which sits right on the Lebanese border and is home to Israel's only Olympic-sized ice skating rink, in the appropriately named - and funded - Canada Center.
The hockey tournament this tear was sponsored by 6 NHL team owners, who I'm just going to go ahead and guess are Jewish. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was here for the opening ceremonies, which was the beginning of the total mindfuck which was seeing all these faraway fandom elements all of a sudden appearing right here (as well as the mindfuck of seeing Bettman pose with half-naked Jewish teens, but in hockey - except for the Jewish part - that's par for the course).
I had been set on going ever since I'd realized about a year ago that this would essentially be the closest thing Israel ever got to a professional level hockey game, as some of the players would be minor leaguer players in the US/Canada, draft prospects, and even the occasional former NHLer (with a record of perhaps a handful of games). I'd originally planned to go with
marina, but it didn't pan out logistically, and I was spending the weekend up north with my family anyway. So: four weeks ago, I drove up north my my family, ditched them at the crazy luxurious boutique spa hotel we were staying at, and continued the drive yet more north to the border, destination: hockey.
The result was many, many photos.
We begin...
Baby fan! Or kid who has no idea what hockey is! Who knows!
You can't tell but other than this section, it was a full house (free tickets of course) watching the zamboni in the first intermission
STOP no refs allowed in group hugs
Ref trying to awkwardly sneak in anyway
The Junior Canadian team (who won gold in the Juniors tournament a scant two hours earlier) watch their older compatriots (aka MEN) battle for the gold on the ice. GUYS I DON'T WANT TO TELL YOU HOW PERVY I FELT EAVESDROPPING ON THESE GUYS but oh my god. They are just like all the fic, ALL OF IT. So handsy and bro-y and chirpy and young. With massive thighs. Yes I am horrified at myself.
Team Ukraine watching the game from the bleachers, after having achieved bronze.
Obviously I just pretended this dude was Tazer the entire time. I had Jewish!Tazer, Jewish!Bobby Ryan, Jewish!Malkin, Jewish!Carts. It was awesome. Also convenient to remember players by, given that Team USA apparently didn't have the budget to add names to their jerseys.
So this was Jewish Canadian Bobby Ryan to me
Hockey player teeth, ballerina toes.
(...and I am now at the point where I typo toes as "toews" instead of the other way around. Wow.)
I have literally no words for how exciting it was to see someone with a Crosby jersey in Israel. I suspect it was a Canadian player's family/friends, but still. (The jerseys behind him are all Junior Canada jerseys.)
Team USA Juniors players watching the game, like everybody's little brothers. They were SO FUCKING ADORABLE. And friendly. AND BROS. And jesus, just like the camaraderie of junior players is portrayed in fic, TV and media, it was amazing. Varsity teams are not a thing in Israel - we don't have school spirit, jocks are not part of the caste system, there aren't many school teams in high school or college and even if they exist, they're not very prominent, so just observing them was an anthropological experience.
Also yes they had jailbait hockey thighs. MOVING ON.
Goalie!
Team Canada player displays utter exuberance after scoring a goal
Fantastic ice quality, as you can see in the second intermission. TOTALLY NOT MELTING.
There were faceoffs! I saw faceoffs. SO EXCITING.
Players playing hockey!
This is probably one of my favorite photos. Run, boys, run.
Team USA resting on their bench at intermission. There was no visitors' locker room, I guess, just... a bench.
More junior players watching the game from the gallery
More hockey happening
Fight! No fighting in international hockey, guys, come on, you know that. It was pretty minor though. Resulting in:
A penalty!
This is what the penalty box was like. Where players can sit, feel shame, surrounded by mocking children, with the minor disturbances of kids prodding, poking, and occasionally climbing into the box with them if they feel like it.
The teen with the backwards cap was in charge of opening the penalty box door once the penalty was over. The other kid was wearing a Sabres jersey like a baby Patrick Kane oh my goodness gosh.
The officials keeping track of the game sheet.
Meanwhile, on a table between the two penalty boxes, the medals await...
Back to the game! Like synchronized swimming.
Shhh... be vewy vewy quiet--
Come to me my preciousssss
Team Canada ATTACK
I am really happy I got some good action shots wooo
Guess who won the game?
Team Canada's coaching staff, led by THREE TIME STANLEY CUP WINNER Guy Carbonneau (Team USA was coached by NHL analyst Billy Jaffe).
The handshake line, with the US goalie being super adorable and smiley after the 7-1 loss to Canada. All of them were super friendly afterwards though, I guess a lot of them knew each other anyway.
More handshake smiles
Team Canada pose with the flag
As they celebrate, the Junior teams line up for the medal ceremony - gold for Canada, silver for US, bronze for Israel.
Zooming out, note their respectful and rather appropriate attire
Seriously what a bunch of schlubs, skidding around on the ice in like flip flops
Juniors ceremony done with, moving on to the Men's: Team Canada's captain receives the trophy as the Power Rangers line up for photos
The cup!
Team US shake hands with Team Ukraine after Ukraine get their bronze medals
Jewish American Hockey Clark Kent lines up to receive his medal
Team Ukraine!
US and Canada shaking hands again, being seriously so friendly to each other, it was awesome.
HOCKEY SUPERMAN I'm telling you
I love the part of medal ceremonies that's all about bowing your head
Jewish!Prusty y/y?
At least they managed to get a goal in the net against Canada, so you know. not bad overall.
Last photo for home.
Overall - it was a super awesome experience. There were actual Israelis there with hockey sweaters - I saw a Flyer, Panther, Canuck, Sabre, Penguin, Maple Leaf. There was a full crowd in the stands, most from the Metulah area, probably some of the only people in the country who have access to hockey schools in ice complex there. There was a lot of cross-borders fist bumping and smiles. There were "KEEP CALM AND STUDY TALMUD" (but too much for me lol) t-shirts beneath national hockey team sweaters. There were songs, and Brass Bonanza playing after goals, and Rocky music, and the horrific Maccabiah theme song, hockey moms and parents and families, and a whole bunch of people who loved hockey. It was great <3
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Five countries competed in this year's tournament: Israel, Canada, Russia, United States, and Ukraine. The games all took place in Metulah, the northernmost town in Israel, which sits right on the Lebanese border and is home to Israel's only Olympic-sized ice skating rink, in the appropriately named - and funded - Canada Center.
The hockey tournament this tear was sponsored by 6 NHL team owners, who I'm just going to go ahead and guess are Jewish. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was here for the opening ceremonies, which was the beginning of the total mindfuck which was seeing all these faraway fandom elements all of a sudden appearing right here (as well as the mindfuck of seeing Bettman pose with half-naked Jewish teens, but in hockey - except for the Jewish part - that's par for the course).
I had been set on going ever since I'd realized about a year ago that this would essentially be the closest thing Israel ever got to a professional level hockey game, as some of the players would be minor leaguer players in the US/Canada, draft prospects, and even the occasional former NHLer (with a record of perhaps a handful of games). I'd originally planned to go with
marina, but it didn't pan out logistically, and I was spending the weekend up north with my family anyway. So: four weeks ago, I drove up north my my family, ditched them at the crazy luxurious boutique spa hotel we were staying at, and continued the drive yet more north to the border, destination: hockey.
The result was many, many photos.
We begin...
Baby fan! Or kid who has no idea what hockey is! Who knows!
You can't tell but other than this section, it was a full house (free tickets of course) watching the zamboni in the first intermission
STOP no refs allowed in group hugs
Ref trying to awkwardly sneak in anyway
The Junior Canadian team (who won gold in the Juniors tournament a scant two hours earlier) watch their older compatriots (aka MEN) battle for the gold on the ice. GUYS I DON'T WANT TO TELL YOU HOW PERVY I FELT EAVESDROPPING ON THESE GUYS but oh my god. They are just like all the fic, ALL OF IT. So handsy and bro-y and chirpy and young. With massive thighs. Yes I am horrified at myself.
Team Ukraine watching the game from the bleachers, after having achieved bronze.
Obviously I just pretended this dude was Tazer the entire time. I had Jewish!Tazer, Jewish!Bobby Ryan, Jewish!Malkin, Jewish!Carts. It was awesome. Also convenient to remember players by, given that Team USA apparently didn't have the budget to add names to their jerseys.
So this was Jewish Canadian Bobby Ryan to me
Hockey player teeth, ballerina toes.
(...and I am now at the point where I typo toes as "toews" instead of the other way around. Wow.)
I have literally no words for how exciting it was to see someone with a Crosby jersey in Israel. I suspect it was a Canadian player's family/friends, but still. (The jerseys behind him are all Junior Canada jerseys.)
Team USA Juniors players watching the game, like everybody's little brothers. They were SO FUCKING ADORABLE. And friendly. AND BROS. And jesus, just like the camaraderie of junior players is portrayed in fic, TV and media, it was amazing. Varsity teams are not a thing in Israel - we don't have school spirit, jocks are not part of the caste system, there aren't many school teams in high school or college and even if they exist, they're not very prominent, so just observing them was an anthropological experience.
Also yes they had jailbait hockey thighs. MOVING ON.
Goalie!
Team Canada player displays utter exuberance after scoring a goal
Fantastic ice quality, as you can see in the second intermission. TOTALLY NOT MELTING.
There were faceoffs! I saw faceoffs. SO EXCITING.
Players playing hockey!
This is probably one of my favorite photos. Run, boys, run.
Team USA resting on their bench at intermission. There was no visitors' locker room, I guess, just... a bench.
More junior players watching the game from the gallery
More hockey happening
Fight! No fighting in international hockey, guys, come on, you know that. It was pretty minor though. Resulting in:
A penalty!
This is what the penalty box was like. Where players can sit, feel shame, surrounded by mocking children, with the minor disturbances of kids prodding, poking, and occasionally climbing into the box with them if they feel like it.
The teen with the backwards cap was in charge of opening the penalty box door once the penalty was over. The other kid was wearing a Sabres jersey like a baby Patrick Kane oh my goodness gosh.
The officials keeping track of the game sheet.
Meanwhile, on a table between the two penalty boxes, the medals await...
Back to the game! Like synchronized swimming.
Shhh... be vewy vewy quiet--
Come to me my preciousssss
Team Canada ATTACK
I am really happy I got some good action shots wooo
Guess who won the game?
Team Canada's coaching staff, led by THREE TIME STANLEY CUP WINNER Guy Carbonneau (Team USA was coached by NHL analyst Billy Jaffe).
The handshake line, with the US goalie being super adorable and smiley after the 7-1 loss to Canada. All of them were super friendly afterwards though, I guess a lot of them knew each other anyway.
More handshake smiles
Team Canada pose with the flag
As they celebrate, the Junior teams line up for the medal ceremony - gold for Canada, silver for US, bronze for Israel.
Zooming out, note their respectful and rather appropriate attire
Seriously what a bunch of schlubs, skidding around on the ice in like flip flops
Juniors ceremony done with, moving on to the Men's: Team Canada's captain receives the trophy as the Power Rangers line up for photos
The cup!
Team US shake hands with Team Ukraine after Ukraine get their bronze medals
Jewish American Hockey Clark Kent lines up to receive his medal
Team Ukraine!
US and Canada shaking hands again, being seriously so friendly to each other, it was awesome.
HOCKEY SUPERMAN I'm telling you
I love the part of medal ceremonies that's all about bowing your head
Jewish!Prusty y/y?
At least they managed to get a goal in the net against Canada, so you know. not bad overall.
Last photo for home.
Overall - it was a super awesome experience. There were actual Israelis there with hockey sweaters - I saw a Flyer, Panther, Canuck, Sabre, Penguin, Maple Leaf. There was a full crowd in the stands, most from the Metulah area, probably some of the only people in the country who have access to hockey schools in ice complex there. There was a lot of cross-borders fist bumping and smiles. There were "KEEP CALM AND STUDY TALMUD" (but too much for me lol) t-shirts beneath national hockey team sweaters. There were songs, and Brass Bonanza playing after goals, and Rocky music, and the horrific Maccabiah theme song, hockey moms and parents and families, and a whole bunch of people who loved hockey. It was great <3
comments on Dreamwidth.