The Little One was out there again today, started level III of Start Smart. She kicked tail and I am convinced that she will be the best skater in the family when it is done.... She has an internal drive that is unexplainable.... I am very much enjoying watching her progression....

Found out that they do have some women only teams locally. I have no interest in them at this time, but at some point, assume she will do both.
[Reply]

....as I type, I hear something in the backgroung....what????....she is banging the chit out of a door downstairs with a ball.....

Nobody tells you that it isn't just equipment, it is household fixtures that figure into the costs....:-)
[Reply]

My son's team hosted a round-robin get together this weekend, with the TPH Thunder (Huntsville) and Affton Americans (St. Louis) coming to Cincy.

Our boys didn't do too well, but other than the first loss they hung in with the other teams for the rest of the games. TPH is a great team. Affton is tough and getting better every time we see them.

Our boys are on the left, TPH in the middle and Affton on the right.

Image
[Reply]

Good stuff Scott!

What lens is that shot with?
[Reply]

Finally started going through the photos from Friday night.... Tough to go through and just a reminder of how rough it is for those seniors.... Man we are going to miss some of those kids...

Image
[Reply]

I have the Canon Rebel XS, that was the EF-S 18-55mm that came with the camera. Another hockey parent tried to get the same shot, and for some reason she used her telephoto lens and couldn't get far enough back on the ice for the shot.
[Reply]

Here is my pic with graphics added by our team mom to make it look official:

Image
[Reply]

Good stuff.

Anyone got a cure for ripped pants on the front thigh pad. Micahs right thigh has a rip. I took it to a shop that does stitching, but they said buy a new pair. They are not selling these anymore and I want to use these as long as he can. The pads have great oversized tailbone pads and he loves the fit and they are broken in.


BTW total hockey has some good deals on sticks right now.
[Reply]

Mitch is headed to Fitchburg MA (D3) next year. Coach really wanted him and said he would get a lot of ice as a freshmen. Nice to be wanted. He's happy and that's all that matters to me.
[Reply]

Al no Arizona?
Figured sunshine and pretty girls with hockey would win the day.
[Reply]

No guarantee of a spot. Coach said he would more than likely make the team but Mitch didn't want to move that far away on a maybe.

Ok by me as he'll only be 4 hours away. :-)
[Reply]

Man, I am late on this... Would have picked up 1-2 of those Louisville X-Lite Composite Stick just because. Though I am still fired up with TotalHockey for the skate fiasco back a few months...

Did some weekend shopping at The Monkey due to Jackson needing (ie wanting) some socks. Long story short, that ended up costing me a few items for Abby(stick and helmet).... Came VERY close to picking up those youth Bauer X60 12.5EE's as well....:-)


Good for Mitch....and ultimately, good for Al and the Misses...
[Reply]

Discussion on another board about this I know the great stick handlers run short sticks. Micah has been using a long stick because at his age I believe it has allowed him to keep his back straight and as a result head up. He has great awareness on the ice and moves around kids with little effort. I think its because his stick is a little longer and hes never bent over. That said his elbow is bent when hw stick handles and this goes against classic logic. His style of play is strong on boards and camps the net and digs so I thought longer would be better. That said he is very fast and getting faster. One of fastest in the league. When hes flying his back is down like in the pic, but when skating in the open his knees are bent, but back is straight. Im worried about a shorter stick leading to bend while skating in the open at this age. This is a trait I want to avoid. I always want him to have his head up.

When there is a scrum for the puck I see all the kids get tied up bunch togeether. Many times he will skate in reach in with the stick pop it out and skate away as he has reach and space. As I said at this age I am more concerned about his skating and his understanding how important keeping his head up to see as much of the ice as possible.

Anyone have a take. Im far froma good player and dont have sick dangles
[Reply]

So I cut down Micahs old stick that he uses in the garage and didnt tell him.
I retaped it and we went into the garage to screw around. As soon as he picked it up and startex to skate he said something was wrong. I then took a photo of him and sure enough he was more bent over when stick handling and his head was more facing the ground. I took a photo with his othee stick and his back was straighter and head was up.

I know the many of the great stick handlers have shorter sticks, but Kids at 5&6 atleast mine cant remember to many steps. So some of us are just keeping the sticks longer. I guess I care more about him skating with his knees bent back straighter and head up then being a dangler. He also prefers this skating position.

Of course this goes against this webpage and proven stars as someone pointed out on another board.
http://www.cuthockeysticks.com/
[Reply]

I've always just gone with the nose without skates on.... Just did it again today....

Where are you cutting it for Micah(skates off)?
[Reply]

eyes with skates on. Kind of between average and long.
http://www.hockeyreviewhq.com/hockey...-length-guide/

He got 1 at ice today and 5 at roller. The roller goalie was 10 though, not a regular goalie, but kid was like wall against the little kids :-) When we came home he wanted to shot pucks. Wife commented he has the sickness bad.

Hes really excited after weeks of him asking we are skipping the pond skate and letting him play in that small U9 house league at a different rink. He wont stop asking and as we are considering moving him up to the mite league 7-8 league next year so he can stay with his friends hes been playing with for the past 2 years we figured its a good way to gauge if he will be intimidated playing with some bigger kids.
[Reply]

Image
End of the bench

Image
Behind the kid in white with the puck.

:-) kid has no damn fear and got rubbed out a few times by big kids on the wall. He got so much ice time. Fifty minute game no breaks. 2 lines per bench, 2 minute shifts. The big kids make the little guys skate their butts off. He had a lot of fun and said he wanted to do this instead of the pond skate. Fees are pretty cheap for here. 10 for the game. Place is very lacks, we didnt have to sign or pay anything. They said just go out and try it.
[Reply]

:-):-):-)...SWEET Mike!

Good Job Micah!
[Reply]

The boy had his last Peewee game today. The coach rewarded him with playing Center the last 2 games. We couldn't have been more proud, and he didn't disappoint. He was literally like some unstoppable freight train on the ice today. I love this age!

Image
[Reply]

Your pictures are getting better every time Scott....


A few from my weekend....

The Little One is really loving being out there.... I may end up getting her some private lessons to work on her stride... As long as she is pushing to be at the rink as much as I will take her, might as well get the fundamentals dialed in.
Image
Image

The Little Man had his second to last house game of the season Saturday. They got crushed, but he did a little crushing of his own....(just missed this hit)
Image

Little semi-breakaway that he didn't finish... A few nice chances, but couldn't convert.
Image
[Reply]