Tag Archives: dad

And we’re off…

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The Devil’s team had their first exhibition game of the new season this evening.  It looked like most new team’s first games with plenty of caution and trepidation.  In my biased hockey dad opinion, the Devil could have skated harder and played her position, albeit a new and somewhat foreign position, a little better.  In many instances, you could tell line mates and team mates weren’t quite in sync.  Passes were a little off and support, when needed, was a little delayed. All of these players are talented and have strengths on their own, but it is quite another thing to couple those individual skills with the trust and confidence it takes to play as a team.

And so, with this first game as an early bench mark, it will be interesting to watch and gauge the progression of these individual players and this team as a whole. Herein lies the challenge for the coach and his staff, who are tasked with melding these players’ skills and psyches into an effective unit – to make the sum greater than the parts.

Of least importance tonight was the final score; 2-1 for the wrong team from someone with another admittedly biased opinion. While wins and losses have some bearing on team success these are certainly not the only criteria when we’re talking about the development of young athletes and burgeoning adults.

#imahockeydad

And we’re off…

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The Devil’s team had their first exhibition game of the new season this evening.  It looked like most new team’s first games with plenty of caution and trepidation.  In my biased hockey dad opinion, the Devil could have skated harder and played her position, albeit a new and somewhat foreign position, a little better.  In many instances, you could tell line mates and team mates weren’t quite in sync.  Passes were a little off and support, when needed, was a little delayed. All of these players are talented and have strengths on their own, but it is quite another thing to couple those individual skills with the trust and confidence it takes to play as a team.

And so, with this first game as an early bench mark, it will be interesting to watch and gauge the progression of these individual players and this team as a whole. Herein lies the challenge for the coach and his staff, who are tasked with melding these players’ skills and psyches into an effective unit – to make the sum greater than the parts.

Of least importance tonight was the final score; 2-1 for the wrong team from someone with another admittedly biased opinion. While wins and losses have some bearing on team success these are certainly not the only criteria when we’re talking about the development of young athletes and burgeoning adults.

#imahockeydad

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Most times it’s the smallest things that have the biggest impact.

The Boy’s team had a tourney in Ottawa the year before last.  Our boys won their first two games and were doing quite well.  In the third game, they came up against a weak opponent and, with a semi-final berth secured, the coach decided to shuffle his players around for the third period. Defencemen were moved up to forward positions and forwards (including the Boy) were moved back to defence where they could get some experience and have some fun in a somewhat foreign role. The Boy, who is defensive minded, has played forward for the last several years, but was moved back to the blue line on this rare occasion.  This was also a year when all players began adding slap shots to their repertoire, invariably trying to mimic the booming blasts of NHL stars. But they all had a ways to go to reach Al MacInnis status (or even the much lesser known Bob MacInnis status, for that matter)  

As it turns out, this tournament also had an enterprising local businessman who would record and burn every game to DVD and then offer the same to proud parents for a “nominal” price. Our team took advantage of a special offer, whereby we would each get full recordings of all games for $20.  We would receive six DVDs in total as it turned out because the Boys made it to the Finals; so not a bad deal at all. Personally, the $20 I spent on the DVDs was simply justified by a roughly 10 second clip within a single game.

The particular game in question found several other fathers and I standing right next to the videographer who was dutifully capturing the sights and sounds on the ice below.

To paraphrase and somewhat colour commentate the 10 seconds of action provided herein, a puck sent around the boards by the other team in the offensive zone was intercepted by the Boy (top left corner of the video) who was pinching in from his new found defensive position.  Recognizing an opportunity to unleash a gargantuan blast from the point, the Boy loaded up and took a mighty swing……..  If you listen closely, you can hear several fathers and I bellowing out a resounding “Whoooaaas”, “OLEs!” and “Ha Ha Ha’s” as the Boy triumphantly misjudged the position of the puck or the length of his stick. In short, he flat out missed. Unfortunately, what you don’t see in the video is the Boy’s subsequent response to our emphatic “OLE!”, which is nothing short of classic.  At 13, the Boy had the presence of mind to give us a ceremonial middle-finger salute and I could see the grin on his face from across the ice. These are the images which shall forever be etched in my memory.  He immediately grasped the humour of the moment and played right along.

This seemingly simple snippet of time in an inconsequential game is the true definition of hockey for me and why I cherish watching my kids play. Had the Boy simply fired the puck into the corner or even put a decent shot on net, it wouldn’t have left the same idelible mark as that wondrous miscue and the honest reactions that followed. I should, however, point out that the “Whoas”, “OLEs” and “Ha Ha Ha’s” have come back to haunt me in spades as the Boy regularly looks and derisively comments on the rec hockey miscues of his 40+ Dad, which occur on a much more regular basis.

As I watch this clip again for the umpteenth time, I just wish I had more of this stuff on video.

#imahockeydad

Most times it’s the smallest things that have the biggest impact. The Boy’s team had a tourney

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Most times it’s the smallest things that have the biggest impact. The Boy’s team had a tourney

Most times it’s the smallest things that have the biggest impact.

The Boy’s team had a tourney in Ottawa the year before last.  Our boys won their first two games and were doing quite well.  In the third game, they came up against a weak opponent and, with a semi-final berth secured, the coach decided to shuffle his players around for the third period. Defencemen were moved up to forward positions and forwards (including the Boy) were moved back to defence where they could get some experience and have some fun in a somewhat foreign role. The Boy, who is defensive minded, has played forward for the last several years, but was moved back to the blue line on this rare occasion.  This was also a year when all players began adding slap shots to their repertoire, invariably trying to mimic the booming blasts of NHL stars. But they all had a ways to go to reach Al MacInnis status (or even the much lesser known Bob MacInnis status, for that matter)  

As it turns out, this tournament also had an enterprising local businessman who would record and burn every game to DVD and then offer the same to proud parents for a “nominal” price. Our team took advantage of a special offer, whereby we would each get full recordings of all games for $20.  We would receive six DVDs in total as it turned out because the Boys made it to the Finals; so not a bad deal at all. Personally, the $20 I spent on the DVDs was simply justified by a roughly 10 second clip within a single game.

The particular game in question found several other fathers and I standing right next to the videographer who was dutifully capturing the sights and sounds on the ice below.

To paraphrase and somewhat colour commentate the 10 seconds of action provided herein, a puck sent around the boards by the other team in the offensive zone was intercepted by the Boy (top left corner of the video) who was pinching in from his new found defensive position.  Recognizing an opportunity to unleash a gargantuan blast from the point, the Boy loaded up and took a mighty swing……..  If you listen closely, you can hear several fathers and I bellowing out a resounding “Whoooaaas”, “OLEs!” and “Ha Ha Ha’s” as the Boy triumphantly misjudged the position of the puck or the length of his stick. In short, he flat out missed. Unfortunately, what you don’t see in the video is the Boy’s subsequent response to our emphatic “OLE!”, which is nothing short of classic.  At 13, the Boy had the presence of mind to give us a ceremonial middle-finger salute and I could see the grin on his face from across the ice. These are the images which shall forever be etched in my memory.  He immediately grasped the humour of the moment and played right along.

This seemingly simple snippet of time in an inconsequential game is the true definition of hockey for me and why I cherish watching my kids play. Had the Boy simply fired the puck into the corner or even put a decent shot on net, it wouldn’t have left the same idelible mark as that wondrous miscue and the honest reactions that followed. I should, however, point out that the “Whoas”, “OLEs” and “Ha Ha Ha’s” have come back to haunt me in spades as the Boy regularly looks and derisively comments on the rec hockey miscues of his 40+ Dad, which occur on a much more regular basis.

As I watch this clip again for the umpteenth time, I just wish I had more of this stuff on video.

#imahockeydad

Priorities #imahockeydad

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The Boy had a team meeting and then practice from 8:30-10:30 last night…seriously cutting into my ability to catch the first NFL game of the season between the Vikings and defending champion Saints, a rematch of last year’s NFC championship game and the return of the ageless Brett Favre.

I was going to just drop him off and pick him up after the practice.  But he said he wanted me to check out his sweet new yellow practice jersey and Atlanta Thrasher-style socks.  Maybe I would also get to see him make a nice pass in a drill or make a goalie look silly on a breakaway with a sick deke or bar down shot. How could I resist a chance to catch any of this potentially hyperbolic action.  Hockey Mom reminds me that I better not complain because I’ll sure be sorry when he stops wanting us to pay attention. Of course, he could have showed a little more regard for his football-starved father after practice and just tried this one time to be one of the first players out of the dressing room. We got home with enough time for me to catch the fourth quarter of a relatively boring season opener.  There will be many more football games I’ll be able to miss as the Boy’s, Devil’s and NFL seasons collide in the months to come. As chance would have it, the Devil was to have a game this Sunday, but its been cancelled and the day now actually looks hockey-free; so I’ll likely be on the couch soaking up as much of Week One pigskin action as I can to tide me over for the rest of September.

#imahockeydad

Priorities #imahockeydad

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The Boy had a team meeting and then practice from 8:30-10:30 last night…seriously cutting into my ability to catch the first NFL game of the season between the Vikings and defending champion Saints, a rematch of last year’s NFC championship game and the return of the ageless Brett Favre.

I was going to just drop him off and pick him up after the practice.  But he said he wanted me to check out his sweet new yellow practice jersey and Atlanta Thrasher-style socks.  Maybe I would also get to see him make a nice pass in a drill or make a goalie look silly on a breakaway with a sick deke or bar down shot. How could I resist a chance to catch any of this potentially hyperbolic action.  Hockey Mom reminds me that I better not complain because I’ll sure be sorry when he stops wanting us to pay attention. Of course, he could have showed a little more regard for his football-starved father after practice and just tried this one time to be one of the first players out of the dressing room. We got home with enough time for me to catch the fourth quarter of a relatively boring season opener.  There will be many more football games I’ll be able to miss as the Boy’s, Devil’s and NFL seasons collide in the months to come. As chance would have it, the Devil was to have a game this Sunday, but its been cancelled and the day now actually looks hockey-free; so I’ll likely be on the couch soaking up as much of Week One pigskin action as I can to tide me over for the rest of September.

#imahockeydad

The Devil’s busy too #imahockeydad

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As suspected, we’ve received the Devil’s schedule and it’s no less hectic than the Boy’s.  In fact, early on it looks to be even a little more demanding.

With girls’ rep hockey in our jurisdiction, leagues are structured according to a system whereby teams are ranked and put into divisions based on results in exhibition game. All teams are tasked with scheduling a number of “pre-season” games against teams believed to be of similar caliber in order to gauge their ability, or inability as the case may be, to compete with these teams. In order to get a the most accurate rating it makes sense to book a fair number of these games.  Mind you this is generally left to the discretion of the coach and his/her staff.  In previous years the Devil has been on teams where the coaching staff either did not have the desire or interest in finding out where the team should be properly ranked and thus played a seemingly bare minimum. This can, of course, come back to haunt a team which may be placed in a higher division than it should be. Some would argue this simply means a higher level of competition, but it can also mean a season of lopsided losses and dejected players.

Such is not the case this year, as the Devil already has eight exhibition games scheduled this month including two games in two different towns on one Saturday and an early morning practice followed by a late afternoon game the following Saturday. This schedule is sure to test both the ability and the conditioning of the team, while at the same time getting them all quite familiar with one another.  All good stuff in the eyes of this hockey dad.

So I’ve now combined the September schedules and it seems that in the 23 days starting the day after tomorrow there will only be 4 where either of our two young athletes will not be engaged in some form of hockey-related activity (i.e. practice, game, dryland training). We’ve yet to decide exactly who will be taking who to which practice and/or game, but we’ll likely just play it by ear depending on other scheduling challenges. Mix in some more fundraising activities (i.e. bottle drive, raffle ticket sales, something else will likely pop up) and there’s nothing like easing into the pre-season. Bring it on I say! It’s what I’ve been waiting all Summer for. Alright, besides the introduction of HST, the start of NFL season and the latest installment of Glee! (jk)

#imahockeydad

The Devil’s busy too #imahockeydad

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As suspected, we’ve received the Devil’s schedule and it’s no less hectic than the Boy’s.  In fact, early on it looks to be even a little more demanding.

With girls’ rep hockey in our jurisdiction, leagues are structured according to a system whereby teams are ranked and put into divisions based on results in exhibition game. All teams are tasked with scheduling a number of “pre-season” games against teams believed to be of similar caliber in order to gauge their ability, or inability as the case may be, to compete with these teams. In order to get a the most accurate rating it makes sense to book a fair number of these games.  Mind you this is generally left to the discretion of the coach and his/her staff.  In previous years the Devil has been on teams where the coaching staff either did not have the desire or interest in finding out where the team should be properly ranked and thus played a seemingly bare minimum. This can, of course, come back to haunt a team which may be placed in a higher division than it should be. Some would argue this simply means a higher level of competition, but it can also mean a season of lopsided losses and dejected players.

Such is not the case this year, as the Devil already has eight exhibition games scheduled this month including two games in two different towns on one Saturday and an early morning practice followed by a late afternoon game the following Saturday. This schedule is sure to test both the ability and the conditioning of the team, while at the same time getting them all quite familiar with one another.  All good stuff in the eyes of this hockey dad.

So I’ve now combined the September schedules and it seems that in the 23 days starting the day after tomorrow there will only be 4 where either of our two young athletes will not be engaged in some form of hockey-related activity (i.e. practice, game, dryland training). We’ve yet to decide exactly who will be taking who to which practice and/or game, but we’ll likely just play it by ear depending on other scheduling challenges. Mix in some more fundraising activities (i.e. bottle drive, raffle ticket sales, something else will likely pop up) and there’s nothing like easing into the pre-season. Bring it on I say! It’s what I’ve been waiting all Summer for. Alright, besides the introduction of HST, the start of NFL season and the latest installment of Glee! (jk)

#imahockeydad