France vs. Holland

A pretty good crowd of 1,300 showed up for the World Championship tune-up match between France and the Netherlands.

As the World Championships approach, teams other than those whose rosters are filled by NHL regulars, begin to prepare by playing exhibition matches against each other. The French team will be playing at the Championship in a pool featuring Russia, Switzerland, and Germany. The Dutch nationals will be playing in the Division 1 tournament in the hopes of making the jump up to the Championship in the coming years. They will be playing against the likes of Italy, Ukraine, Poland, Great Britain, and Romania. Good hockey nations, yet not quite at the same level as Canada, Russia, Sweden, or Finland. As the Asnieres rink is the one of the official training rinks of the French national team, an exhibition match against the Dutch national team was scheduled for this Sunday afternoon.

The game had a good pace and the Dutch proved to be a good test for the French team. The Dutch certainly get style points as they showed off some great speed as well as multi-coloured helmets. The Netherlands actually opened the scoring and held the lead for most of the game. France ultimately proved to be a little bit better in the end and squeeked out a 4-3 victory much to the delight of the home town crowd.

The action was fast paced in the international friendly.

A French attacker wrists a shot towards the Dutch goal.

Facing off in the French zone as the Dutch tried to get a late equilizer.

Of course the talkative twosome (Mindy & Corine) were on hand to miss most of the action while they discussed various subjects unrelated to the game. I think they did see one or two of the seven goals scored.