The Sharks season ended somewhat unceremoniously, but not without significant prideful effort or drama this past weekend. Three round robin contests; three one goal games including a 1-0 win in the opener, a 2-1 loss to one of the strongest opponents we’d faced all year and a 4-3 heart-breaker to cap things off.
As an aside, I must reflect briefly on a scene that I happened upon between games one and two which could only occur with a group of 13 and 14 year old girls. Many of the parents had decided to book hotel rooms on the first night of the tournament as we were just over 90 minutes from home with an early morning game on day two. After game one, we grabbed lunch and then most of the team retreated to the hotel to kill some time. After checking in, my room was almost immediately usurped by 3/4 of our 17 player crew with an iPod boom box and several curling irons in tow. Players who only an hour earlier had battled hard in corners or jostled aggressively along the boards for pucks were now partaking in what I could only best describe as a “pretty party” complete with a blasting techno/rap soundtrack. I peeked in at one point to discover my room had been converted into a makeshift salon. Half the players taking on the roles of stylists and the other half as satisfied patrons donning new curly locks, which would shortly be jammed into sweaty helmets in preparation for another hostile on-ice engagement. The dichotomy of the moment did not go unnoticed or unappreciated.
The third and final result in our last tournament was particularly stinging because our side entered the third period with a 2-1 lead needing only a tie to advance to the quarter-final round. Our tenuous one-goal lead was flipped to a 3-2 deficit with just over two minutes left following a few ill-timed penalties and scattered play in our defensive zone. However, our ever-resilient squad battled back with just under two minutes remaining to tie the game at 3. We went from the top of the coaster to the bottom and then back up again all within a few minutes. Unfortunately, there was yet one more disastrous trip down as our foes managed to pull back ahead again with less than a minute to go. Another magic marker was not to be found in our creative comeback kit so the vision of a Provincial crown came to an abrupt conclusion. Not the results we wanted, but also nothing to be ashamed of. We knew the competition would be stiff as all 24 teams needed to qualify for this tourney as we had. I was most pleased with the level of compete displayed by our young players after having not played any games for a few weeks. Rather, the Sharks picked up their competitive play from where they’d left off in our league division finals.
And so, all that’s left is an end of the year party scheduled for later this week with a game of mini-putt, a few slices of pizza, thank yous for the many volunteers who helped the team function and no doubt the recollection of some memorable moments from a topsy-turvy year. I, for one, have been enriched and handsomely rewarded by my rookie head coaching experience. I hope the Devil is able to say the same about having her old man run the ship. I am sure there are those onlookers and perhaps even players who disagreed with my approach, my attitude and/or the decisions I made behind the bench this year. In fact, I believe my hockey loving wife was an unwilling witness to some of those opinions recently; opinions I respect whether I agree with them or not. But I’m quite proud of what our team was able to accomplish from the beginning of the season to the end — proud I had at least a small part to play in the progress we made as a team — confident I granted each player a fair opportunity to compete and have fun playing this kids’ game — hopeful I was able to impart some lasting messages; hockey-related or otherwise. A few months ago when the opportunity came up to reapply for a head coaching position our squad was going through a rough time on and off the ice, which in part led me to decide to forego pursuing a second campaign. But now, of course, after the team’s impressive turnaround there may be a twinge of regret in that decision.
Instead, for now, the day after the Sharks’ end of year party I will reclaim a spot up in the stands to invoke my parental bias and simply cheer on the Boy and the Devil in their renewed quests to make the rosters new teams for next season. Perhaps the next coach will see fit to have me help out on the ice or behind the bench. I’m pretty sure I won’t miss being responsible for selecting and more importantly not selecting who makes a team.
Yup, just the one partial week away from the rink is all this hockey dad will be afforded in the short-term. However, as I’ve mentioned on more than one occasion recently, I will enjoy each and every moment of my kids finite minor hockey careers to their fullest and wherever they shall lead us.
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The latest installment in a somewhat annual tradition hockey mom and I started a few years back. She’s a photo nut, as our burgeoning library of scrapbooks will attest, and I generally have a few hundred hockey shots to pick from and put to music at the end of each season. I’ve been told parents now look forward to, and maybe even expect, these little photo montages. Though I curse through their production and conversion to DVD each year, I am always generally pleased with the final result, which I hope will be appreciated as digital keepsakes by the Boy and the Devil when their minor hockey days are over.
2011-12 Midget Hockey Year in Review
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We’re in an odd sort of stage of the hockey year; hence my recent silence.
The Boy’s season is long-since over with a final team party at a local watering hole in a couple of nights. Though he’s going to be heading back to the ice for a Junior “A” tryout in a couple of weeks; as much for the experience as anything else. No doubt more on that to come.
On the Devil’s side, once the league playoffs are over, which prematurely occurred for us a few weeks back, there is a month delay until the Provincial Championships start. For some teams, who exited earlier than we did this can mean 5-6 weeks without meaningful games before having to hit the ice for a relatively important tournament. Hell, even the NHL is off for nearly a week. I hope I don’t start shaking uncontrollably or speaking in tongues. We have had a bunch of practices over the last couple of weeks, but that’s just not the same. Even though we finished our league play with two losses, the Sharks had established some pretty good momentum. The Provincials start this weekend. All of the competition is sure to be stiff, but we’ll see who’s able to rev the intensity back up in a hurry. There will be plenty of teams who feel they have something to prove. In an initial three-game round robin format over two days, a team’s fate can be determined pretty quickly so it will be important to motivate them in a hurry.
One bit of added incentive for our girls and those from other centres is that tryouts for next year will begin just a short while after this season-capping competition. All will be acutely aware they are not only trying to win the Provincials; they are also potentially auditioning for a future coach tucked away strategically in the stands. Our association’s coaches for next season were actually assigned well before our league playoff series was done, so those auditions have been going on for a while. The Devil has already commented about feeling the judgmental eyes following her during one particular game; one in which she did score on a power-move to the net this soon to be just-a-hockey-dad-again might proudly, if not slantedly, add. She will have her work cut out for her being the youngest in a three-year midget division next year. No doubt more on that to come as well.
All said we should be able to get a rest in about a month’s time. Then, depending on the coach, it’s off to dryland training or summer skating in preparation for 2012-13. I said “brief lull”, not “full stop”. Did I start this by complaining about too much or too little hockey? Such is the fickle rink life.
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I believe I’ve allowed myself nearly enough time to grieve what I deem to be the Sharks’ premature exit from their surprising Cinderella run. But it still stings when I consider we gave up 2-0 leads in two consecutive games; either one of which would have earned us the lofty title of division champions and secured us a spot in the league finals. I guess Don Cherry knows what he’s talking about when he says 2-0 is the worst score in hockey. One goal against puts the other team right back in the game, swinging momentum for a second and tying goal which opens the flood gates for a game winner. Doing it twice in a row is doubly dangerous, which is just what we did. In fact, taking an early 2-0 lead was our downfall on several occasions this season. For us I’m pretty sure it became something of a psychological barrier we’d need to battle as much as we did the physical competition on the other side of the face-off circle.
As always our two final games were not without their share of dramatics.
In game two we did not help ourselves from taking nine penalties vs. three doled out by the refs to our foes. Let’s just say our competition’s style of play involves getting under the skin of their opponents. In the final two periods of the second match they did that quite well. In fact, all three of the opposition’s goals were scored while we had someone sentenced to the sin bin. While I readily admit most of our penalties were well deserved, at least three were questionable; particularly based on precedents set earlier in the game by the refereeing tandem. One which irked me in particular was a boarding call which the ref explained to me was made because he didn’t actually see the infraction, but he heard it and saw the result which was an opposing player lying on the ice. Now in my way of thinking, if you don’t see the infraction there should be no penalty called whatsoever. But enough with what could be misconstrued as sour grapes (by readers like my father, in particular, who is quick to rightly point out the referees don’t let in the goals) – we gave up the lead and lost the game; not the officials. Reducing our time in the box would be a major theme discussed before the final confrontation.
While game two saw many calls go against us, game three included a number of questionable non-calls involving our players being knocked abruptly to the ice pre and post-whistle. My pleadings around these apparent infractions fell on def ref ears, or in one case, drew an unappreciated smirk from the man in stripes striding across the ice.
In this final game we took our 2-0 lead into the second period, but found ourselves deadlocked at 2-2 entering the third. During the Zamboni break between the second and third, there was definitely a sense of panic, which I tried to balance with the notion of only having to win a single period pointing out we had won several against this team to date. I also looked to lighten the mood by reminding the girls to have fun…that this moment was what it was all about and that a few weeks back we would have been very happy to have the opportunity to reach this point.
One incident worth noting came courtesy of the lone rival goaltender. This young lady had throughout the season displayed a flair for the dramatic whenever opponents neared her crease during a stoppage in play. On more than one occasion she would fling off a glove, toss her stick or once even her helmet. More often than not she would vehemently jabber at the refs for her protection. In this particular game in the third period and amidst a 2-2 tied score, one of our players was pulled down from behind on a partial breakaway (which did result in a penalty) and found herself sliding into the fragile keeper. What followed was a fifteen minute delay as the goaltender lay semi-motionless on the ice. Now, I don’t want to sound heartless or insensitive, but the collision was not of a particularly violent variety. I’m not saying the goalie wasn’t shaken or possibly hurt, but if that were the case, then she should have been removed from the game; problem being she was the lone netminder. And so, after a lengthy delay, she shook off her ill effects and the game resumed – our side with the man advantage and their side well rested to kill it off. To that point in the final frame we certainly had controlled the balance of the play. But alas, we missed this opportunity to capitalize on the chance afforded us.
Unfortunately, a power play goal for the other team would prove to be our death knell as our rivals put the proverbial nail in our coffin with just over five minutes left to play with a shot from the high slot that weaseled its way to the twine. Our charges would continue to battle to the end, but not find the back of the net with an overtime-forcing equalizer.
Post-game, post-series my assistant coach and I let the team know we were very proud of their efforts; having battled to a division final game three after limping through the regular season at the back of the pack. We always knew they had the potential for greatness and that is still the most frustrating part. Even though making it as far as we did was an impressive turnaround, I still believe we were the better team and should have won the series. And a good part of the blame for not being able to preserve 2-0 leads has to fall in the coach’s lap. So maybe I’m not quite done grieving and will spend a good part of the next week or so going over what we could have done differently in either of those two final games to coax our way through to victories.
However, the lamenting will have to end quickly as we have yet to battle through a Provincial Championship tournament to close out the year. The crafting of the tournament is a little questionable as some teams from populous regions have to jump through several hoops to qualify while others gain automatic entry if they’ve no suitable competition within their zone. That being said, a good representation of teams from the entire province, including many from our region will be present. Making it through to the top of this tourney will be no small feat. So we have a couple of weeks to prepare with some practice time and perhaps an exhibition game of two mixed in. I might suggest we start any exhibition games with at least the premise of a two-goal lead and perhaps on the penalty kill since it would seem this is where we need the most preparation.
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Link: Hockey Dad Wields Blinding Laser Pointer – Uggh
This one is too much. Apparently some idiot father tried to blind opposing players during a game. The game was lost and disputed….you can read the rest.