Russian youth hockey players in W. Dundee

A group of 12-year-old boys crowd into the pro shop of the Leafs Ice Arena in West Dundee to check out the latest ice hockey gear from skates to stick tape.

Backward baseball caps cover unkempt hair and red sweatshirts protect the boys from the cold temperatures inside the arena.

A boy buys a new stick, which his friends admire for a few minutes before going back to the skates - their attention short-lived.

It's a typical group of teenage boys - except they are from another country, on a different continent and speak a language foreign to most Americans.

A group of more than 40 Russian ice hockey players, their coaches and a few parents, descended upon the West Dundee arena in November to play an exhibition against the local Leafs. The local families of Leafs players took the international players into their homes in hopes of teaching them about American culture, and learning about another.

"This is a cultural experience, an exchange of cultures," said Elaine Bryans of Crystal Lake whose son Euan, plays for the Leafs' Pee Wee Major Team.

"It doesn't matter what language they speak, hockey is what draws them together."

Bryans said the visitors act like typical 12-year-old boys.

"They are the same as our 12-year-olds," Bryans said. "They like to wrestle, jump on the trampoline, ride bikes. It doesn't matter where they come from, 12-year-old boys are the same all over the world."

The '97 Russian RUS team - the year indicates the players' year of birth - and the '96 Russian Red Army team were in the Chicago area for the Bauer International Invite, a prestigious four-day, 400 team junior hockey tournament from Nov. 5 to 8.

It has been fun; I have been learning a lot," said Zach Schingoethe, 13, of Algonquin, a forward on the Leafs' Bantum Minor Team that took on the Russian Red Army Team.

Zach's house guest, 13-year-old Erik Shkolnyy, of Moscow, said he enjoyed playing mini-hockey in the family's basement and seeing Chicago

"It is different here in America, there are skyscrapers in Chicago and in Moscow there are not," Erik said.

For the most part, Erik said he prefers Russian food. He does, however, love American breakfast fare.

"I like American pancakes and syrup and sausage," he said.

While the 12-year-old and 13-year old teams had been housemates for a few days, they were rivals by the time they met on the ice for the exhibition.