7 degrees.

No, that wasn't the temperature inside Omsk Arena for the Russia-Canada Junior Hockey Summit Series down the road in Moscow this week. It actually represents the highest temperature reading of the day here in St. Petersburg, at the Russian Open Beach Volleyball World Tour event.

That is just downright cold! I'm not sure who picked the September date for a beach event in Russia, but I guarantee that person does not have a job today.

The cool temperatures reminded me of another frigid event that I played in Edmonton back in 1994 - a Jose Cuervo domestic tournament, where the temperature dipped to 8 degrees. But that record was surpassed on Friday, with more single digit temperatures to follow on Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately for the promotor, that resulted in another record low for the event - the attendance - which I'm quite sure had everything to do with the temperature. It’s a shame too, because the Russian team of Dmitri Barsouk and Igor "the Bazooka" Kolodinsky, made it all the way to the final!

Kolodinsky, who has clocked a world record serve this year of over 110 km/h, couldn't quite get his serve to go that fast considering the cold temperatures, but he did serve up another great finish, making his 8th final four finish of the season.

Too bad nobody was there to watch it.