Country #47 Croatia 🇭🇷

Croatia was a hard place to get organized ! On all my travels I haven’t really met too many Croatian hockey players and have never met a team or played against one . Even the tournament organizers in the region didn’t know of any to contact but there was this one guy that kept popping up in my feed named Dado Ljubic who was recommended by a few guys and in true Balkan fashion getting the ice time locked down wasn’t really easy either once we had been in contact . I really took a risk booking this but I am persistent and really wanted to finish my Balkan experience by playing in the last three countries in the Balkans that I’ve not played in …. That is unless you consider Moldova a Balkan country which apparently is debatable .

My day started by heading out to go for a curry with Oliver which was fantastic and cheap ! It was called Bombay Grill and if you like curry and you’re in Zagreb then this is a must visit . After that we went to the Irish pub which I had a cola at because I must play tonight and I want to be in decent form . Oliver was lucky to get a ticket for the Dinamo Zagreb vs Hajduk Split Derby for 5€ which is peanuts for a sold out game . We weren’t going to see each other again so we said our goodbyes and I headed back to the hotel to relax before having to make my trek to meet my ride .

I had to meet a fellow named Miljenko at the Supernova Buzin which is a mall and was told to be in parking lot at the front . I’m guessing to pull in and wait in the closest spot so I got my Uber to drop me there for 6:30 pm and nobody was there ? I got on the free wifi from the store because I was also told not to get a SIM card at airport which I’m never doing again because I never found the time to look for one for the three days so I was kinda lost without it but that was what I was told since my driver was waiting at airport . I know it doesn’t make any sense …. I also didn’t know what hotel I was staying in until I got on the plane :( anyways ….. my ride was nowhere to be see so I took photos of where I was got on free wifi and began asking where this guy is ? Apparently he was there at 6:30 also but couldn’t find me until 7 even though I was contacting Dado to let him know with pictures and everything ! We are on the ice at 7:30 apparently in a town called Sisak .

Before I go further …. I thought my ice time was Sunday but was told upon arrival it was Saturday and was told on Saturday it was Sunday . This is mass confusion for someone travelling let alone anyone living there but again I have to roll with the punches and I’m also thankful for all that’s being organized albeit with very bad timing . So when I met my ride I piled in and headed to this other town . Miljenko is a really nice guy and explains the problems they have is because there is only two arenas in all of Croatia . Wow ! Now things make a bit more sense about the scheduling issues .

The rink is really nice in Sisak with big lockerooms . Unfortunately there are only two which I was told afterwards . There is a bar upstairs too ! This would be perfect for a tournament and I told the guys that and was told the rink was recently refurbished as it was an open roof rink a few years back .

The teams were split in two with the local Sisak guys playing on one team and I played for the Zagreb guys that all drove in to play which they do every week . When I was in the room the guys said they wish they knew I was there because they needed a goalie on Saturday . 🙄 a lack of communication is to blame I guess . A couple of the Sisak guys played for us and were really good . It was a mix of skill levels with a couple Canadians that could wheel and then there were a few guys that have only played for three years but generally everyone is just there to have fun playing the sport we all love .

Not too sure what the final score was but I was told that we won . It was open ice shinny basically 3 on 1’s constantly and I made a few big saves . Pretty sure I got way more rubber fired at me then the other goalie did and after the game we all shook hands and grabbed a beer in the room and took a shower . While I was showering I smelled smoke and turned around and the other goalie was there smoking . Oh I hate this smoking indoors thing , it’s so gross . We went upstairs and I was gifted a whole bunch of Sisak stuff which was really unexpected and very nice of the guys to give me this stuff ( pennant ,stickers , patches ) it will look good in my man cave/garage .

We went upstairs had another beer and Miljenko had to get going so I chugged after telling the guys about why I’m there and what I do which they all loved and honestly I could have stayed there for hours but had to respect my rides wishes . He has to work in the morning so I don’t blame him. On the way home he asked if I was hungry and I thought we were going to McDonald’s or something which always happens but he has his own ritual of stopping at this gas station for a hot dog so I said what the heck and had one also , they were actually quite delicious . That’s a first for me stopping at a gas station for food and avoiding the other late night option .

When I got back to my room at The Westin i spread out my gear , opened a window and turned the a/c on high to blow air and dry my gear at the same time to not destroy the room I was in . That was fun , I know it sounds like I’m complaining but I’m just explaining the process of what I had to do and go through to make this happen and again it’s all thanks to Dado .