Slightly better pic taken by another parent:

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Fuggin kid almost made me eat my words.

So last night Micah was running his mouth about how many goals he was going to score today. He said 7. I said you know what if you even score three I will call the sharks about your tryout. He scored two today.

Dad was proud he victimized some kids taking pucks away from kids older and bigger, out skated damn near everyone. Had two goals and possibly a third but I am not giving it to him. :-) There was a scrum infront of the net and someone shot the puck off a defenders foot into the goal.
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GOOD STUFF Mike.... Tell Micah GREAT game from CA!
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Started the day with some tailgating, which was only about 100 yards away from the ice rink.....(my neighbors & their tailgate site, yes that is an ambulance)

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Then had some hockey....

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Then got our a$$es handed to us in the Utah vs TCU game...
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Mike, goal scorers get all the glory but the assist guys are the ones that have my heart.


Got to watch Mitch play yesterday! He was +3 with a fight (more of a body slam through the ice after a guy speared him in the throat with a broken stick. Man was he pi$$ed! :-)) 7 -1 win Then a 130 mile ride to West Chester PA to watch Penn State kick the snot out of West Chester. Got to see Jr. which was GREAT! He's about two weeks away from playing (keep your fingers crossed). Got home at midnight, sleep, now it's back to West Chester to watch Mitch play the Jr. Flyers.

Going to try and get a couple of photos today to post here.

Think I'll pick up a cigar on the way for the pre-game. :-)
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E.J Heard about that Utah game on the radio. Sheeeeeeeesh is all I can say.
Great pic of the Hockey Game. What I find most interesting about the other pics is WTF? They still sell TAB soda?

AL awesome about the boys. I can only hope one day to need to do that. :-) Hope mitch plants one for me


You know goal scores get all the puck bunnies Al, especially when they got the flow. :-) He is getting more and more aware out there. He just turned 5 this month though and I am more excited that he drives the net constantly and camps it some times calling for a pass, initiates some contact, and has good speed and edge work especially for his age. I guess always yelling "skate skate skate" at him works:-). He is also grabbing the puck and sending up the boards to clear the zone. He is starting to pass to kids. At this age you know what thats like though. Timing the pass on a moving player can be funny.

I know you have been through this. I get so geeked watching him use his head out there and show signs of development.
I had to fight back the smile yesterday when he came to the bench after bumping a kid off the puck to get it and says "dad I couldnt get the puck away fron that boy so I had to bump him" the kid lost his balance.
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Al, where are our photos? (I'll keep my fingers crossed for Jr.)

Good read Mike.... I have yet to find something that gives me a better feeling than I get from watching my children excel at things....

As far as TAB soda....wish I had a response, but I actually gave a WTF when I saw it...???
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Few from the weekend....

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Cluster of a night.... Zamboni went down and leaked everywhere, melting a giant crater in the ice. Game cancelled and they had a bunch of the kids out trying to get the zamboni pushed off the ice & water dispersed....

Anyway, the Assistant Trustee, who was out there helping out, slipped on the ice and smacked his head REALLY HARD. Was out cold for at least 3-5 minutes, maybe more. I was on the phone with 911 getting medical to respond, but was not on the ice. He was breathing and apparently conscious before the medical personnel got there.

I don't mind telling you it gave me a bit of a kick to the gut... When you see someone knocked cold and posture, it always gives me a bit of a sick feeling. I still have not heard how he is doing. I am sick for him, his kids who had to watch that, the whole thing.....
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Any word on condition?
This story actually made me decide to buy a new chinstrap. A while back I took mine off my helmet to give it to a kid who needed one. Never replaced it. Today running horseshoe drills I was shaggging pucks from the net and a kid flew into me and I almost ate it. Instantly thought of the story above. Maybe I will just get a new bucket. I got an old itech with the thick white padding. Birth control helmet.

Micah scored three clean goals today. 2 breakaways, 1 where he crashed the net and jammed in the rebound. He led his team in scoring today. He should have had a fourth but was stopped. He shot it the goalie made a save then he followed it in and the goalie actually made a really nice second save. Everyone on the other team was going crazy after the second save as everyone thought Micahs was scoring.

Really happy today. I told Micah he had to score goals today and skate hard because we were short 2 kids. He skated his arse off and was one of the reasons his team won the first game and tied the second.
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Nothing since Thursday, but that news was not great... Well, that is relative. He was in very serious condition at the hospital, but the bleeding on the brain had not worsened. Breathing tube had been removed & he was responsive.

Just to be clear, if there was some confusion. No skates, no helmet. Just on the ice helping direct the kids during an issue with the Zamboni.
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:-):-):-):-)....NICE!
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As for our ice time, County Rec team was CRUSHED AGAIN. I am trying to not show my frustration with that team. They look lost out there and don't appear to be receiving instruction on simple mistakes as they come to the bench....then go out and do it again. I ask the Little Man about it and ask him to be more of a verbal leader, getting in kids ears in a positive way....we will see where that goes....:-)

He played forward today, which is a change.... Maybe it was due to not having a few kids there.... I thought it went well... Should have had 4 goals, came away with one..... I was a little late on the shutter, but still came away with a decent sequence...

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Evening JV High School game rescheduled due to some High School dance....? We're still in Jr. High, what do we know about this stuff....:-)
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Dude your boy is huge compared to the other boys in that picture.

As to coaching I hear you. Our primary coach is out of town this week with his boy. I don't like running practices and generally police the screwups to keep them on task. The two past practices and today's game was run be assistant coach who's boy is on our team, and coaches his other boys peewee team. Practices consisted of me trying to explain why multi passing drills are bad at this age and we should be working on give and goes as that's how the games go. We either have a boy make a Breakout pass or a centering feed. His response was well help them. I'm thinking lets walk before we run. End result he gets frustrated cause the kids screw up and sends them to the boards to pass the Puck off the wall or to each other. No one learns much.

Today for the first game he just sends out the first 5 boys we got lucky though cause they were already in the lineset we had taught them. Game 2 they were jumbled on the bench he sends out my son the other player on our team who scores and our best d player on the same line. I advise him this is a bad idea. He blows me off. After 3 shifts we are down 2-0. I ask him again to change the lines and tell him what to do. We end the game 4-4. He just doesn't seem to think.
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He's a big kid... Though that pic may be a bit misleading.... He is 14 y/o and 6'1" In the end, he is usually one of the bigger kids on the ice, even when he is out with the HS.... But he's not like 6'4" or anything....:-)
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Well I am much too young to be a hockey parent, but love talking anything hockey. I have been reffing hockey in Ottawa for the last 10 years doing everything up to Major Midget AAA, and have been coaching for 7 years now.
Love reading all of your stories!
I am currently head coach of a major peewee competitive team, and understand the frustration some may have with coaches. It appears you are stuck with one of those "my way or highway" coaches who isn't open to talk about other ideas! I surrounded my self with two assisstant coaches who are not parents also, and kept the manager and trainer as parents to have the lines of communication still open. I make sure to do my rounds with the parents at ice times too, let them vent, or compliment! If they feel they can just talk, they are normally happy. And hey, sometimes they have great ideas which I use!
My team just won a tourney this weekend. Semis went to double OT. The format was messed up. 10 min periods 3 on 3. You were not allowed to change players on whistles. I used some mens league tactics and placed em at the door after a long shift on a faceoff, and boom switch when puck drops!
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Welcome to the BHP thread Mike.... It is just really all things hockey, no kid needed...:-)

Congrats on the tourney win!




Two week tomorrow that this happened and the guy is still in a medically induced coma... The longer this goes on, the more crazy and unbelievable it seems to me.

I just finished reading a blog that his family has been doing...it is stinking emotional. Amazing the ripple effect tragedy has. Hate to see anyone have to go through this crap....

Man life is fragile....
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Here in Ottawa we know this all too well, and you get reminded every hour at the rinks. One night the dude who shovels the left over snow off after the boni comes off, slipped and cracked his skull. As of 3 years ago I believe, no one, NO ONE, in a city of ottawa arena can step on the ice without a helmet, this includes trainers who are attending to injured players, they must have a helmet to run on the ice. Zamboni drivers who dont even step on the ice do it as well...
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Gotta throw out a huge self indulging congrats to my son. His team, Queen City Steam 98 AA has broken into the top 20 of the USA Tier II teams according to 98Rankings.com

They moved up to 19 this week!
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:-):-):-):-) NICE SCOTT!!!!

That is impressive, congrats to your son and his team:-)
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