Keeping It Secret

Well, it's getting to be about that time. My son is finally going to be part of a limited travel team. Not like the alleged limited travel we're part of right now, where two teams of boys play each other over and over and over and over and...well, you get the point. It's a REAL limited travel team.

We'll be traveling between five rinks that farthest of which is just a shade over 40 miles from home. Not bad to get our feet wet.

Anyway, my husband in his hasty enthusiasm, felt that it was important to educated the boy on what it means to be part of a travel team. Keep in mind my husband has never played organized hockey AND it's been a very long time since he was a six year old boy.

Imagine how difficult it was for me to explain to Sean that he WOULD NOT be going to play the Penguins in Pittsburgh in March!

Next time, Honey, let's keep it a secret until it's closer!

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.

Wow! What a Weekend!

Everytime I think I can handle this job something comes up that makes me rethink the decision to allow (and encourage) him to play this sport. This weekend was a prime example.

It started Friday. Pick Sean up from the bus, check the backpack, wait for the husband to get home from work and it's off to practice we go! The boy got some new equipment this week (skates which needed to bake and gloves) so we had to get to the rink a bit early. Traffic was light and we got there in plenty of time to bake the skates and get them sharpened. Sean was a bit disappointed that he couldn't wear them for 24 hours. "24 hours is long," he complained. Anyway, practice on Friday evening followed by dinner. Ok, one down, four more hockey events to go!

Saturday morning. 7:15 AM game time...ugh... A hat trick for my boy and again, I'm amazed at how much these little guys improve each week! Saturday night, the three of us plus a friend go to the Flyers game. Wow!!!!! What a game! The Flyers trampled all over the Panthers. Briere scored two goals, JVR scored his first NHL goal, and aside from some pretty nasty hits (hope David Booth is getting better quickly) it was an awesome game! Razor was on fire! There were a couple foiled breakaway chances but we still won, 5-1!

Sunday morning. Do it all again. 9:45 AM game time. Sean has another great game. FOUR goals today! Being a parent in the stands it's pretty funny to watch him score. He hangs out in front of the net waiting for something to come his way. Then drops it in the net. Simple enough. But then comes the fun part...he slides across the ice on one knee a la Danny Briere after EVERY goal!!! All the other parents think it's cute. I just have to laugh. He's been working on that move since he saw his first hockey game!

Sunday night. Babysitter obtained. Jack and I head out for the game. I'm pretty pumped to see what they're going to do after last night's insane contest! It can only get better! Unfortunately, I had more confidence than my team could stand up to and they presented me with a lackluster performance. I was very disappointed to see the weak passes, weak shots, and very poor officiating on the ice. We lost to the San Jose Sharks, 1-4. Boucher gave up some goals and he just seemed to roll over, literally and figuratively. The Flyers lone goal was scored by Darroll Powe. He and Arron Asham have really stepped it up this season and are looking pretty promising! On the upside Captain Mike richards will not be suspended for the Booth hit.

The Fly Guys are taking the train a little way south to the Verizon Center to face Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. I wonder which team will show up for this game.