Took him to the little rink today and watched it for a little while. The head coach of his team also brought his son. I think I understand what your saying though as he mentioned today that his son said he didnt want to skate as much and had complained about skating so much. This came up when I was talking to him about my concearns regarding skating too much. Then we went to the pond skate. On the way home I asked micah what he wanted to do. He chose the game option. No Al I have never once forced the boy on the ice. Just to give you an idea. "Do I have hockey today" is usually the first ghing out of his mouth every morning. If yes the next words are "is it game or practice". Hes a very competitive child. I think we will try it out for a few weeks and see how it goes.

As to the fish bowl. I been watching a little college hockey lately. Seen plenty of boys rocking the bowl. Seems Cali boys often rock the fish bowl.
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Thought I shot my last HS game of the LM's season on Saturday(JV Squad is done), but guess who got called up to skate with the Varsity Wednesday night....:-)

He is really downplaying it("I'm skating 3rd line, I'll be lucky to get 2-3 shifts"), but I am pretty excited. I don't care if he gets one shift, I think it will be a good experience for him.

Coach told him last night before team dinner.:-)
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Played GREAT...and A LOT. They rolled three lines all game long. He played every other shift(switching in with another FR who was brought up) at RW on the 3rd line for the first 2 periods and then the same rotation at RW with the first line in the 3rd.

It was apparently in the 3rd that the coach and the kids on that first line were trying to get him a goal, but it was not to be. Best chance, he was sliding in from the right, was sent a great pass and whiffed on what was as open of net as you will see....:-) I thought he played REALLY WELL, better than I would have hoped going in.

Long story short, it was a fun night. He had a great time, from the locker room before, to the game, to the locker room after.... I am sure it will be a nice confidence boost going into the Summer season and next year.

I am filled with pride.

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Awesome brother.
As Al would say, there is more to hockey then scoring goals, but we know puck bunnies love the goal scorers. :-)
Tell him Micah and I are pulling for him.
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Thanks, Mike....and I will!

Going through the pics last night and I really like this one.... I shot from the penalty box, so I had a little different view. Have to say that it is more difficult to catch stuff down there, but some stuff turns out way better...
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Just grabbed this for Micah.
The Sioux Jersey is probably my favorite College Jersey. Kind of sad they have to change it after yhis year.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...K%3AMEWNX%3AIT
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Not the best day. He skated okay at ice, but just didnt play that well. He had fun though. :-) cannot really complain at his age.

He had been excited all morning because I told him he could play roller hockey at rollinice after hockey this morning. He played his first roller hockey game and scored three goals all breakaways and had a atleast 7 other breakaways where the goalie made saves. They have older kids play goal for.the games. After the game the coaches were talking to me about him as they had not seen him before. I explained he played ice hockey primarily. There is definitely a difference in style of play from ice to roller. He also played a little more physical then is the norm out there. He had a lot of fun and deeked some kids pretty bad. :-) Good times.
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Good on Micah, he'll sleep well tonight!

Today is hockey free @ our house..... Been tinkering around, taking care of stuff around the house and whatnot, feel like I need to be going to a rink somewhere.....:-)
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I guess the wife was right. I have always focused on him having the right gear for him. He has gotten so accustomed to his Graf boots, he asked me if Graf makes roller boots as he doesnt like his reeboks. Says they are a little tight and cramp his feet a little on the sides. I dont like where this is headed. The idea of buying 2 pairs of Graf skates and converting one will be sticker shock for sure.
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Found the back of an empty net today.....

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Forgot to post a pic of this.
Most sundays we let a small group of kids go out to a place called "the hockey pond" we try to let the kids play with minimal guidance for an hour. We dont say anything unless sticks get up or it gets to physical. Small sheet, but the boys get the pond enviornment without worrying about a larger kid smoking them with a slap shot.

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Is that synthetic ice, Mike?
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Nope its real. About as bad as a pond or synthetic on the edges though. The kids friggin love the pond though. They skate for an hour straight only taking breaks to hydrate. We have to drag them off at the end of their hour. $60.00 for the hour usually 6 -8 boys. Micah likes his skates sharp. With doing the pond, a practice and a game we are sharpening his skates atleast every other week. Throw in the occasional skate lesson and yeah.

The kid in the Crosby Jersey is our resident bender/duster. The boys make up their own games. That was Micah and Ryan battle on the boards while Alex and Daniel wait for the feed and battle infront of the net. Not bad for three 6 year olds and a 5 year old. The kid playing goal is one of the better kids in our league. Normally we actually have a kid who plays goal with full gear. Then it got all fugged up by crosby. :-) still though they really work hard out there and have a lot of fun.
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Rape is not a strong enough word to describe what happened. :-)

Boys played two games. Most of our good players went on vacation for school holiday. The other teams good players all stayed home or decided to leave after the games. Not our kids parents :-)

. We had the worst kid on our team playing goalie and 8 skaters. I honestly dont believe he stopped a single shot on net in the first game. Micah was double shifted all game. First game they lost 9-2 micah scored one and another boy scored early and then they just started slowing down and the beat down was on. Game two they lost 6-0. The coach tells micah to play defense game two. The end result was no offensive production. Had to have a pep talk after the games as he started slamming his stick on the ice and got into an argument with one of the kids on the other team.

With all that he wanted to go play roller after. I guess he was pissed. In a fourty minute roller game he scored 10 goals. 8 of his teams first 10. :-). They stopped counting goals at 10 but he kept scoring.
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I'm getting a little better at taking decent hockey pics, but this one was through glass, above the ice. What a strange rink, there was no seating in the rink, only an upper level to look down on the action, and it was enclosed. You couldn't hear anything going on in the rink.

Look above the goalies head, near the white support bar, the puck is in the air. My kid had a gimme on that goal :-)

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Mike, nice bounce back for Micah!

Scott, good capture. Pics are getting better!
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Nice pick Scott.
I got to get a good camera. My wife doesnt like me touching her slr.
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Well, the boys lost in the final four of the State Tourney tonight.... It is sure tough to watch those final minutes for the seniors....

I have 3 more years, but don't mind saying that I was watching and thinking.... "This is happening too fast." I just remember the trustee contacting me last Jan/Feb asking if the Little Man was going to play in the Summer with them....
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Thats why I am living it up now EJ. Not looking forward to the day he plays his last jr game.

Micah had a great game today scoring 2 and had a nice little assist. He had his wheels today and was flying around the ice. A teamates parent taped the game and I want the footage. He had a scoring chance where he was on the left wing got past two kids came across the front of the net with the puck on his stick and then.............. aahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh couldnt pull the trigger in time and hit the post on his shot. I just stood there though thinking HSh!t he almost went epic for his age. I guess him wakjng up at 6am and turning on nhl network really is "where I get my moves from"

He got got a talking to from a ref today. A kid was going to the net with the puck and he was chasing the kid. As the kid was about to shot he used his stick and pushed the kids right skate and the kid went wobbly and never shot the puck. I have not had time to sit and talk with him, but looks like I neex to. On one hand its crazy and a little cool to me he has figured out some of these things, on the other hand its just not okay at this age group. Guess tomorrow we will have a talk.

Al if you read this what do you think?
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Not sure how Al will respond, but I wouldn't say a thing, Mike.... If he gets sent to the box....so be it... He's not putting someones health at risk, just pushing the envelope a bit....



Little Man played his first Rec game in forever today.... Dominated the ice....was being a little too physical and spent a bit of time in the box because of that. But it was a good day.

Also spent some time out on the ice with some special needs kids with the HS team. This is the second time they have done this, whoever has set it up needs some kudos. I think it is as important for the HS kids, as it is for the special needs kids.
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