American Pride

Entering the final day of Olympic competition there's only two events left. One of them is Men's Ice Hockey. How would have thought that the US team would have made it this far? Not many. In fact, a few newspapers felt that the US team would make a good showing in the opening games and then go home early. Well, not so!

As any member of HockeyNation we've been following this tourney very closely. Women's Hockey was not as exciting a tournament but the final was both exhilirating and heartbreaking. The women faced many opponents that were no competition whatsoever and to make it to the gold medal game was almost a given for the women. They lost but won a silver medal. It's sad to think about the process. When you win a bronze medal, your last game was a win. When you win a gold medal, your last game is a win. When you "win" a silver medal, your last game is a loss. It's almost sad to think of that huge accomplishment in terms of defeat but I'm sure that's how the US Women's Ice Hockey Team felt. Almost like, "it's great to be here but we still lost." I feel badly for them. I know I shouldn't but I still do.

During this tournament the Men's US team has been undefeated. That's a good sign. They are the underdogs. Another good sign. They beat Canada once during these Olympic Games in a game that was viewed by more people than any Stanley Cup Final...EVER!!!! I think that's a good sign!

Men's Hockey gold medal game is today. We will play Canada for the gold. Since we were the number one seed we, technically, will be the home team. I'm sure it won't feel like a home game for our boys though! The Canada Hockey Place will be a sea of red for sure. Here's an interesting Olympic hockey fact. The US team has won gold in the last two Winter Games ending with a zero (there have only been three). 1960 and 1980. Coincidence? I think not. Both of those were won over teams wearing red. Coincidence? I think not. The US won the 17-U and World Juniors gold medals this year...both over Canada. Coincidence? I think not.

So today, we will gather in front of the big TV along with the rest of HockeyNation with our Buffalo (Sabre) Wings and our American Lager and cheer USA!!!! USA!!!! USA!!!! Except for my son, who is convinced that one day he will play in the Olympics for Team Canada. Ah, the innocence of a six year old!

Sweets for the Sweet

In the midst of the festivities of the Olympics and Sean's hockey game and Olympic Open House was a special moment only the mother of a hockey player can appreciate.

At the end of the game, Sean all garbed up in the goalie pads (again) held the game puck in his catching glove and tossed it into the air a couple of times to shake off the melted ice. He called me over to the door and handed me the puck. Not sure what I was supposed to do with it, I tucked it into my purse along with the puck the ref from the Rowan game gave him last night.

When he came off the ice and got undressed he said to me, "Mom, did you like your Valentine?" I looked at him with that I-have-no-idea-what-you're-talking-about look. He said, "the puck. Remember, I told you I was going to give you the game puck for Valentine's Day."

Ahhh...how sweet...

Let The Games Begin!

Well, after back to back home & home sweeps of the division-leading Devils and the just-ahead-of-us Canadiens the Olympic opening ceremonies began.

Sean was so excited about the Games that he stayed up to watch the Opening Ceremony. He fell asleep just short of seeing The Great One light the cauldron along with three other Canadian athletes. He wasn't disappointed in the least.

Today, he was in net for his game. Following his game we had lunch with two of our other hockey families. I have to say this is probably my favorite part of Sean playing hockey. The close knit fabric of being a hockey parent. The kids had such fun playing games while we parents kept an eye on them and enjoyed our own kind of fun! We laughed and joked and ate. Can't wait for the next get together!

Later on at the rink, there was an Olympic Open House. There were demonstrations of all the learn to skate programs and then several figure skaters showed off some of their talents. Then the hockey kids took the ice. They had some of the learn to play hockey kids passing with some of our cross-ice kids. Then they had a short exhibition game. Sean had his first shut out! He was making some incredible saves. He really thinks he wants to be a goalie. I'm hoping not.

After the cross-ice kids played, the big guys came out and did their demo. It's hard to imagine Sean playing hockey at that age still. It's hard for me to imagine Sean being any other age but 6. I know he'll get big one day but not too soon, I hope.

Then they had a variety of other events. There was a luge demo where the kids were pushed across the ice on sleds. Then they had a slalom. Kids had to slalom skate the cones. Sean was pretty quick even in the goalie pads.

At the end they had a medals ceremony and even a podium for the winners! So fun! I'm looking for ward to watching some of the the Games. We like hockey, obviously, but I find curling to be an interesting game. I wouldn't necessarily call it a sport but it looks like something you could play while drinking a few beers. Hmmm....

Sigh....

Ok, so the Flyers were on a 10 game road trip and performed very poorly. I haven't blogged about it because it was such a disappointment. These guys almost always perform poorly against Western Conference teams. I have no idea why but it happens. The Islanders win the other night was sloppy and the loss to Buffalo was a real downer after the holiday yesterday and my home-game hockey drought. Well, the jersey goes in the wash tonight and hopefully we'll start winning again.

The reason I decided to check in here today is youth hockey. We always watch professional hockey and are usually amazed at the skill these guys possess. Their ability to handle a piece of hard rubber sliding across the ice always impresses me! But we rarely stop to think about how these guys got their start. I'm not talking about AHL, Juniors, Olympics, OHL, whatever...not even college...I'm talking about where they REALLY got their start. This part of hockey is featured in this season's annual Flyers Yearbook.

I started reading some of the articles and the first line of one almost brought a tear to my eye. I STILL haven't read the whole thing yet. It started off conjuring images of driving to the rink before dawn and packing the hockey bags and whatnot and it really hit home for me. I am part of a very elite group. It's a group of parents who make HUGE sacrifices for their children. For their children's love of hockey. The sacrifices we make aren't just monitary. We sacrifice our time AND our sleep to make sure that our kids are able to participate in the sport they love! We brave the cold inside the rink and out, sipping gallons of coffee (since it IS only 6:30 am). We brave the ungodly STENCH that eminates from the hockey bag (and our kid). We are an elite fraternity. We are a team unto ourselves. The sense of community that hockey parents are a part of is something that no other parent can understand.

I don't even fully understand it yet but I'm willing to find out.