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| London, Whitney, Harper & Bruce Graham |
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| Bruce Is The Americans All Time Leader In Goals Scored With 91 |
Bruce is playing for the Nottingham Panthers of the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) in Great Britain. It is a ten team league with four teams including Nottingham based in England, four teams from Scotland, and one each from Wales and Northern Ireland. Nottingham is currently in first place with a record of 30-8. Bruce has 50 points (28 goals & 22 assists) in 43 games which is second on the team. Bruce started out slow as he had only one goal in the first eight games but he had a great December with 11 goals in 12 games. He has had six goals in the last five games including a hat trick Saturday night.
Whitney, tell us a little about your summer?
We went back home to Moncton, New Brunswick. Moncton is a small city (138,000 in the metro area) but growing rapidly. We actually just bought a house at the end of last season. It is so nice to finally have a place to call home since we move around so much. We weren't able to move in as soon as we made the long trek home from Allen so we had to live out of suitcases for a couple weeks. I feel like we are always on some kind of reality show with hidden cameras. When we got home the first week was bitterly cold, it was awful since we had just been lounging by the pool in Allen the week before. The past summer I didn't work and stayed home with the girls. In the past I had served at a steakhouse that I have worked at every summer for 4 years. Bruce usually spends a lot of time training for the next season and then works odd jobs here and there.
Bruce, how did you end up in Nottingham?
I know the coach, Cory Nielson, who is from New Brunswick and had been in contact
with Cory for 2 or 3 years. It is something Whitney and I always talked about as we really wanted to experience hockey in Europe. We figured with the girls being so young it would be a good time to experience hockey and life in a different culture.
How have Harper and London adapted? Has it been difficult having young ones in a new place?
It not only took a while for the girls to adjust but it also took us a long time too. After being in Allen for 3 years in a row, that kind of became home for us. We loved it there so much and continue to miss it on a daily basis. When we first got to Nottingham, it just seemed as though nothing could go right. The girls got sick, we got sick, the girls got our colds and it was just a vicious cycle. It lasted for about 6 weeks until things finally started falling into place. We actually weren't able to get our own internet here until October 31. That was literally 2 months without it. Luckily our neighbors kindly gave us their connection and we were able to get internet in one room of our place. That was the saving grace as we were able to Skype with family and friends.
Bruce, are you used to living a long way from home yet? What do you guys do when you have time off, if you have any?
We are definitely use to living so far from home. This would be the 8th year/season we've been away. Whitney usually is able to go home once every year to visit our families but with two kids now, she was unable to travel home. When I do get some time off we usually just try to find something kid-friendly to entertain the girls. We go to a lot of parks and take a lot of walks. We seem to get a little bit of 'cabin-fever' if we sit at home all day.
How do you find hockey different there versus the CHL? Does they style of play fit you better?
The caliber is very similar to the CHL or the ECHL. The one big difference I found was the size of the ice surface (rinks in Europe are Olympic size which are about 13 feet wider). I was actually looking forward to playing on the different size ice and thought it would be an advantage for me but I found it harder to play and took me a while to adjust to the different size. Now that I've played 5 months on the Olympic size ice I really enjoy it and find I have more time to make plays and use my body to protect the puck.
Are you pleased with your point production (50 points in 43 games) and have you stayed healthy?
I had an extremely slow start which was so frustrating. Late November I finally got the feel of it and have been having a good season since. Health-wise I have had a good season just a few bumps and bruises.
Looks like the team is doing great and the league championship playoffs will be held in Nottingham. I know when I read about how the playoffs work it was a little confusing. Can you clarify?
Whitney - I still don't understand it.
Bruce - There are 3 titles during the season. The main title is the league championship. The challenge cup is a tournament that is basically spread throughout the season. Play-offs are a max of 4 games with the semi final and final game being a single game elimination. It set up like professional soccer in England.
Have you had many family or friend visits?
Bruce - My parents visited us for 2 weeks at the end of November. It was so nice to have them here. The kids were so excited to have Grandma & Grampy visit! We were also just as excited and it gave us a few nights out with the team. Unfortunately we haven't had any other visitors but luckily we are able to Skype with all our family who aren't able to make the trip!
Any funny stories about the girls, language, customs you could share?
Whitney - If we started telling funny stories about the girls we would keep you way to long. They are so entertaining and keep us on our toes every single minute. They sure know how to put a smile on our faces.
When we first moved here we didn't think understanding England English would be any different. The first week here I think when we spoke to people it just kind of went in one ear and out the other. We found they spoke fast and their terms and saying are different. One of the wives asked me "Do the girls get on?". The look I gave her she must have known I had no clue what she meant. What she meant was "Do the girls get along?". The other one that we noticed was "You alright?" which means " How are you doing?" but when people respond they say "You alright?" ..... I still don't get it!
Bruce - Whitney things England English is hard to understand, try Scotland. haha
What were some of the challenges of moving from Allen to Nottingham?
Bruce - Driving on the wrong side of the road, the wrong side of the car and where people park just about anywhere. We also found moving away from Allen hard after being there for 3 years. We were comfortable, we knew the area, we had friends all around and the weather was perfect!
What do you miss about the North Texas Area & the Allen Americans?
Bruce- Brio, Mooyah, Cowboy Chicken, Chipotle, Paradise Cafe, Blue Fish. We've definitely saved money from not eating out. The restaurants there are unreal. I miss the friendships with the guys since we were there for 3 years. We met some great people while we played in Allen. Whitney misses drive-thru Starbucks, Target and the great people she met!
Anything else you would like to share or any message for your friends here in Texas?
Bruce - We hope to make a trip back to Allen to visit our very supportive adoptive family the McClures. We speak to them on a weekly basis and miss them very much! Also, good luck to the team, looks like this is their year!
I am sure everyone joins me in wishing Bruce, Whitney and the family good luck the rest of the season in England. They sure are missed in Allen as it was always fun seeing the little ones at the AEC. And with the current slump the team is enduring wouldn't it be nice to have those 30-35 goals per year in the line up.
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