My experience so far with team Finland!

Hello I would like to introduce myself my name is David and work for the New York Islanders in their community relations department! Just to tell a little bit about myself...I started working for the Islanders as a intern in May of 2007. As recent as this past December I graduated from St. John's University in Queens, New York with a degree in Sport Management. After my internship ended with the Islanders I continued my work with the hockey club as a seasonal part-time employee. When first approached with the prospects of working Lighthouse Tournament I was very excited, even more excited when I asked if I would like to be the main guide/contact for the Finland hockey team. I was eager to be able to work with new individuals with a completely different background than my own and be able to learn the customs of Finland! The team arrived on Wednesday, January 16th, picking them up from JFK airport...the trip really picked up its steam today when left the Marriot Hotel in Uniondale, New York and took a journey into New York City...For many of the Fins this was their first trip to NYC and it was great to be a part of that. We hit a snag in our trip heading down to the city as one of the buses broke down and we had pile everyone into one bus! It provided a lot of laughs. We finally arrived into the city at the Museum of Natural History...Within our conversations with the team Finland and myself we exchanged many stories from our experiences from our respective countries. Today was very interesting and I learned a lot about Finland! Time for bed, as tomorrow will be a full day of hockey! I'll write again soon.




Thanks,

David