Another Hockey Break

Sean will be taking a brief break from hockey for the occasion of his sisters' graduations from high school! Yay! Of course that means college. It's times like this that I wish I had encouraged more sports activities with my daughter. Can you say scholarship?

I know, realistically the chances of a child getting a sports scholarship are small but it certainly can't hurt.

Summer for the Hockey Mom

Now that the Stanley Cup finals are over (what a heartbreaker) it's time for me to focus on my own little hockey star.

We're finishing up the spring mini-season and will be starting the summer 3 on 3 cross ice season. That should take us into August and finish up just in time for fall limited travel evaluations.

Now, I've been thinking about this quite a bit. The whole limited travel business. That's what it is, a business. We knew going in that hockey is an expensive sport for both watching and playing. Here's a bit of math. In our limited travel we will be required to travel as far as 45 miles to the farthest rink in our system. Not too bad. That's about an hour each way. Add that to a seven o'clock game time (potentially) and we're looking at leaving the house as early as just a shade before six AM. Ugh! Little did I know that this youth hockey was not just going to cost me a lot of money but a lot of sleep as well! That's still a little way off though for me to worry about it yet.

The rewards are huge though. The sense of team that my child and I will experience will far outweigh the slight inconvenience of losing sleep. I am reminded of an article I read in a hockey magazine. It was about the village that raises a hockey team. The parents of all the kids join together to cheer the team on, watch the siblings, make the game and the whole experience enjoyable for everyone! I can't wait to learn this first hand.

Deflated...(sigh)

Well, it's over. The Flyers season ended Wednesday night in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals. It was a sad day in Mudville. Well, not exactly. Our team gave us an amazing ride. By most accounts we should never have even made it this far. Some even said we shouldn't have made it INTO the playoffs! Do I think they are right? Heck no! The Flyers are full of drive and passion. That's something I hope I can instill in my son. Professional sports do have a place in child-rearing, I believe.

I don't have anything more to say except, "there's always next season."

Nailbiting, Flyers pizza and..Identity Theft...???

Aside from being busy canceling credit and debit cards due to identity theft (don't get me started on THAT whole thing), I've been making a weekly appointment with my manicurist. Doesn't sound very hockey-ish. Oh, but it is. If you're a Flyers fan, you'll understand.

We've been biting our nails since the last game of the regular season. As I've previously stated, it's been an absolutely insane ride to get to this point. But here we are preparing for Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals! Game 1 should have been thrown out since it was basically a track meet followed by a shooting gallery. Both teams admitted they didn't play their best hockey. Game 2 was tighter although it didn't have the outcome I wanted. Now Game 3? THAT was a hockey game! Both teams fought hard but MY team (and dare I say, the better team?) won! I can't wait to see what's on tap for Game 4.

Julie, our hostess for all the games this playoffs, is working midnight shifts for Games 4 and 5 of this series. She will go without sleep before she'd go without hockey! Henrik the Swede, wakes up at two in the morning his time to watch the games with us via internet! THAT'S a real hockey fan! And about that Flyers pizza. We order from the same place every game. The thing is, the scoring doesn't begin until the pizza is delivered. Superstition? Well, call it what you will but we're not messing with a good thing!