Christmas in Oslo (Doubles HYPE!!)

[Jericho 917]

Christmas in Oslo

 

VHLM players spend the holidays volunteering

 

The winter holidays mean different things to different people. Some people spend the time with their loved ones, some spend them drinking alone, some spend them online. The players on the Oslo Storm, however, took a different route. Rather than spending the holidays doing whatever they wanted to do, the players of the Oslo Storm spent their time helping the less fortunate. The players filled a wide variety of roles over the holidays, and they did a lot of good things that helped out a lot of people.

 

Xander Finn, Brock Dragonslayer and M.T. Power visited the pediatrics wards in the hospitals around Oslo. They hung out with kids who couldn't spent the holidays at home, taking pictures, telling stories and things of that nature. They did what they could to help the kids forget that they weren't at home with their families. When interviewed afterwards, Xander Finn had this to say:

 

"It was really refreshing to get to meet these kids. With the season going on I wasn't going to be able to be with my family anyway, with them being in Toronto and me being in Oslo and having games each day. I still got to hang out with some great people and got to do some good over the holidays."

 

Dragonslayer, Finn and Power taking a photo with a mother and daughter

 

Diego Jokinen, Fook Yu and Kai Abendroth volunteered with the homeless, handing out meals at a shelter. They fed over a thousand meals over the course of 3 days and handed out many kind words and smiles with each one. Fook Yu was even seen giving out a few hugs to the masses.

 

Shawn Gretzky did the noblest of all Christmas related professions, he worked as a mall Santa. Over the course of 4 days he met with over 300 different kids, was cried on 12 times, peed on twice and propositioned for sex by 4 different mothers (and one dad). After the experience Gretzky gave a statement:

 

"That was one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever been a part of. Not only did I get to make a lot of kids happy, I also got to have sex with a guy! This was everything I wanted for christmas."

 

Shawn Gretzky as Santa

 

With the holidays over the Storm are back to focusing on the game full time. With 14 games left in the season every win is going to matter. The difference between 2nd place and 5th place is a mere 7 points, and Oslo could find themselves anywhere in the standings. Heading into playoffs the Storm can rest easy knowing that over the holidays they've made a bunch of new fans. The kids in the hospitals, the men and women in the shelter, the families who visited the mall, that one kid's dad, all of these people are going to be cheering for the Storm for the rest of the season, and heading into the playoffs. The players hope that they can meet these expectations. With the core of these players either joining the next draft class or already having been drafted, it's unlikely that the Storm will have the same opportunity to compete next season, so each of these guys wants to get it done while they're still here.