The Blues squad continued its century-long tradition of touring Europe in January in preparation for the second half of the season. This year, the team travelled to Munich, Prague, and Berlin with twelve men, including veterans Roderick Lubbock, Rob Bradbury, Jarrad Aguirre, and Dmitri Akatov. Canadian rookies Josh Curk, Julien Gagnon, and Gino Bruni together with Americans Henry Spelman, Pete Mathias, Max Stetson, and Brit Christian Shepherd joined the ranks. For those expecting good competition and even better times, this was a tour that did not disappoint.     

Bringing only stick, bags, a change of clothes, and the Juggernaut Jacket—awarded by the captains each game to the player who hustles most—the Blues travelled over two thousand miles across the fallen empires of Europe. Mostly avoiding cathedrals, museums, or any of Europe’s “historical” spots, the Blues preferred to blaze a history of their own.

The Blues lost their first match to Technical University of Munich as the Bavarian team came out for revenge after falling to the Blues in previous years. Bruni, a Rhodes Scholar from Calgary and the Blues’  leading goal  scorer, earned the privilege of wearing the Juggernaut for his valiant play.                          

The Blues then crossed the Iron Curtain into Bohemia to face Czech Technical University (CTU), one of the largest universities in Czech and the 2010 third-division national champions. The match results validated the ‘easternization principle’–that the competitiveness of European hockey correlates with eastwardly longitude— as the Blues were defeated by one of the Czech Republic’s best university teams. An outstanding effort by defenseman Shepherd earned the Jesus fresher the privilege of the Juggernaut Jacket. At the end of regulation, the competition continued with a shootout. Despite stellar goaltending by Spelman, the Blues’ best danglers were outscored 3-4. The friendly match was followed up with a pub-gathering on the CTU campus, the first exposure for many on the team to Soviet architecture. Despite the excellent taste of Gambrinus beer, most left Prague feeling privileged to have John Radcliffe’s domed library and not Joseph Stalin’s concrete blocks.

The tour culminated in Berlin with a dominant 9-3 victory over a competitive FASS Berlin, a point of pride for the OUIHC veterans who beat to FASS last year in a shoot-out. The Juggernaut Jacket was awarded to Max Stetson, the quick-handed and fleet-footed Bostonian, for his hat-trick. This victory provided much needed momentum for the Blues to carry on into a tough Hilary schedule, including the Varsity Match.