Somethin's Bruin in Philly!

Here I am sitting at my local bookstore (since my wireless network is down at home and I can't even get internet access on my desktop). My mouth is STILL hanging open at this point. Could this be happenning? Is it really true? The Flyers have forced a Game 6 when NO ONE (including my diehard Flyers fan husband) thought we had a chance to come back from a three games to none deficit! I feel like someone needs to pinch me. I still can't quite comprehend.

It would seem that the Flyers should have been counted out yet here we are preparing for a Game 6. The boys in black and orange have been faced with nothing but adversity since the slide they took back in November. A sudden coaching change. The loss of our star goalie to a potentially career ending injury. Our second string goalie coming back to Philly after ten years. Our third string goalie getting picked up off waivers and starting the Winter Classic after injuries to our second goalie and then facing a possible season ending injury himself. BARELY making the playoffs when it came down to the last shooter in a shootout on the last day of the regular season. Eliminating the number 2 seed in 5 games of the first round. Losing two of the top goal scorers in that series to..you guessed it, injury. This is the stuff of Hollywood.

Now facing elimination in the second round. Backs against the wall. They win game four in overtime with the game winner coming from a player who was thought to be done for the season! Game 5 brings us injury again, losing our newest number one netminder, who was our second stringer earlier in the season and is destined to change his past by redeeming himself after ten years.

What can I say? This team is making me believe in hockey miracles. This Hockey Mom is definitely saying prayers to the hockey gods at our hockey altar (my son's unused hockey equipment in the livingroom) and hoping for a Game 7!

In mini-mite cross-ice news: Sean goes back to ortho on the 24th to see if he'll be playing the rest of the season. He's suffering from hockey withdrawl and has resorted to playing video hockey on the big screen to get the feel of playing on the ice. It's not the same but it's all he's got for now. Poor Kid. I will say this. He put on his brand spankin' new Ian LaPerriere jersey and the team started winning. He's really feeling like part of the team. As we all are!


Do YOU believe in miracles??????

The Second Season

Well, it's been quite a while since I posted anything on this blog. I've been super busy with Sean's season and have been without a desktop/modem for about two weeks now too. But I'm sitting in a bookstore that has free wifi and figured I should update!

So, here we are. In the midst of the Playoffs. They call this hockey's "second season". I have wondered why that is. Now I know. The Flyers were unsure of the their playoff status until the last game on the last day of the regular season. It came down to a shoot out. Lundqvist versus Boucher. One goalie, one shooter. Boucher bested the Rangers on the third shooter and the Wach went nuts!!!!!

Then we faced the NJ Devils in the first round. We won the first game! WooHoo! We thought we had it locked up...we did. But it took 5 games to do it! But even still. It took 7 games to determine who we would play in the next round. Much to our surprise the 8th-seed Canadiens beat the 1st-seed Capitals and we're now playing the Bruins! That hasn't happened since 1978! I hope we have better luck that the 77-78 Flyers who lost that series in 5 games.

I guess anything can happen in the Playoffs. THAT's why it's the Second Season. It's ANYBODY's Cup!

In mini-mites news: Sean is an injured scratch for at least the next three weeks with a fractured arm.
He fell while skating and sure enough, it's broken. He went to practice/game Friday night in a show of support for his team. He even had some of his team mates sign his cast.

Making a Run For It

Well, it's been a long few weeks since our hockey hiatus but we've been watching the NHL. The Flyers have been teetering on the playoff bubble for the last couple of weeks. It's been rough. We're in decent position now with only two games left. We'll see what happens next.

It's really kind of sweet to see my son really enjoy watching this playoff run! It was adorable to see him jumping up and down tonight when the Islanders beat Montreal! He doesn't understand all the points and game-in-hand lingo but he does look at the standings and wants to know where the Flyers are every day!

Sean starts back to hockey on Friday. His cross ice mini season starts. He's excited! He wants it to start tonight!

Off the ice, he's learned how to ride his two wheel bike...today! I teared up a little when I got to my room. It's kind of sad for me. He's growing so fast. Before I know it, he'll be graduating high school. That's where I am right now with my daughter. She will be finishing high school this year. Very sad for me. Ugh!

Hockey Hiatus

Four weeks. Four weeks with no traveling to the rink. Ah...I can't really believe it but I miss it! I miss the chats with the other moms. I miss watching my little guy try his hand at the various positions. But, luckily, it won't be long until our cross-ice mini season starts. April 9th!

We had a hockey party at an indoor playplace this past Friday night. Sean was so excited but he didn't know why there was going to be a party. I told him it was to celebrate the end of the hockey season. He got pretty upset and said, "but I don't want my hockey seasons to end. I want to keep playing!"

In the NHL we've made some impressive moves in the standings. We've moved into 5th in the East. Wow! Emery's out for the season with his hip injury. Leighton, our waiver-wire wonder, is out for 8-10 weeks with an ankle sprain. Boucher started twice this week. He had a very impressive game against Dallas but had a pretty poor showing in Atlanta in the first of a home and home series, giving up five goals. Not sure who's going to get the start tonight in Flyers vs Atlanta part II.

As any hockey fan knows this is a very precarious time in hockey. Every game, every win, every point can make the difference of being in the playoffs or not making the cut. It will also make the difference for those teams in the playoffs to determine their opening round.

For the Fly Guys, fifth is actually a pretty good spot for us to be in. It's an intense rivalry but not nearly as intense as say, Pittsburgh. New Jersey is a team we can beat but not without consistant goaltending! This has been our problem all season. It's our problem EVERY season!

I, along with the rest of Flyers Nation, will be watching this game very closely!

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....