Tales From The North showcases some of the unique experiences of the members of our North family in their own words. In this edition, we catch up with hockey player Alex Kann about her North experience, and what keeps bringing her back.
Tell the people a little bit about yourself:
My name is Alex Kann and I’m 33 years old. I grew up in Phoenix, AZ where I first started playing hockey at the age of 6. I then went on to play hockey at Michigan State University (ACHA D1) from 2010-2014 where my team won the national championship my freshman year (2011) and I was captain my senior year (2014). I graduated from MSU in 2014. I also did Army ROTC while at MSU so I moved to Colorado in 2016 where I have been living pretty much ever since. I served 6 years on active duty as a Logistics Officer and got out in 2020 at the rank of Captain. Now that I am out of the Army, I am the COO of Reliable Precision Alignment and Co Owner of Reliable Trucking Group. Both of these jobs allow me to work from home and work virtually anywhere, which is why I am able to go on so many North Hockey Trips! I also still play hockey regularly on a few beer league teams, and I also coach the Air Force Academy women’s hockey team and a local girls high school hockey team. When I’m not on the ice, I’m playing golf, volleyball, pickleball, or traveling somewhere new! I’ve been to over 30 countries and I don’t plan on slowing down any time soon. My goal is to travel to every continent and I have Australia and Antarctica left.
How many trips have you been on, and where have you travelled with The North?:
I have been on 3 trips so far, with a 4th one scheduled for November of 2025.
First tour: Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Czech Republic
Second Tour (my favorite): Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia
Third Tour: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Hungary
What have you learned about the European hockey community from your time travelling with The North?:
I have learned that the European hockey community overall is pretty damn good at hockey! We’ve been smoked by a few teams. And also that there are a lot of people of all ages that play which is great. It feels like part of the culture in some places and everyone who plays loves to play against new people and meet new people. I believe they think highly of Canadian and USA hockey as they seem to really love playing against us and being able to say that they have played against Canadians and Americans. Drinking and hanging out together after games is also a big aspect to the hockey there.
What is one moment or memory that stands out to you?
It’s truly hard to pin point one moment/memory that stands out to me because I have SO many great memories from these North Tours. One thing that I still talk about to this day is being in Prague and cruising around town on Lime scooters. We had almost the whole team riding around on the scooters at once and we had a blast. And it was such a great way to see all the sites.
What keeps you coming back?
What keeps me coming back is how well managed and organized these tours are. Everything is always planned out, tickets for attractions purchased in advance, transportation booked, etc. There never seems to be any sort of hassle while I’m on these trips which allows us to maximize and simply enjoy our time in these new countries without having to worry about the logistics! I also like how there is a set schedule each day, but there’s also free time to be able to venture off on your own if you’d like to see and do something of particular interest. Lastly, everyone that I have been on these tours with has been awesome and we all continue to remain friends well after the tours have ended.
