Flyers v Red Wings

Flyers v. Red Wings – Matthew’s Hat Trick

Thanksgiving weekend is tough for hockey.  A lot of kids go away and we are often left with a skeleton team.  This weekend we had 7 players.  A mixture of A and B lines.  The Red Wings had 12 players.  Ironically, this was actually advantageous to us.  It meant that some of our better players had to play against the Red Wings B line.  On the A line, the Red Wings had one very big player.  Matthew came skating to me at the beginning of the game and yelled “He’s a third grader.”  I guess compared to a first grader, he looked Goliath-like.  He scored three goals the first minute of the game.  But on the B line, most of the Red Wings could barely skate.  This gave us the opportunity to get those goals back, plus some.  At one point they had three players in the goal at the same time.  The best part of the game was that Matthew scored his first goal of the season.  In fact, he scored a hat trick.  Frankie scored five goals and Jack scored at least five.  Before thoughts about “sportsmanship” come to mind, it should be noted that coaches do a lot of things to keep the game friendly.  First, we shift better players to defense.  Then we shift them to goal.  Then we tell them to pass and not shoot.  Then we get them off the ice for a break.   Most of all, we don’t keep official score.  But, as always, the kids all seem to know the “un-official” score:  14-4.  

Englewood 4 PeeWees

Englewood 4 PeeWees 1

A couple of weeks ago we had our second exhibition game.  This was against one of the teams that we will play later this year in “League” play (that is, games that count).   I’m not sure whether this is a universal feeling, but I definitely thought that most of the kids on the other team were much bigger than our kids.  Now, I’m not accusing anyone of using Human Growth Hormones or anything, but when did it become normal for a 12 year old have a 5 o’clock shadow?   The game was physical.  Two minutes into the game Alex took the puck behind the net and stopped.  Mistake.  He got clocked by someone from the other team.  Welcome to Pee Wee hockey – checking and all.  Even though we lost, we did not play all that badly.  There were some nice passing plays that the goalie just happened to stop.   It will be interesting to see how we play against them next time.

Pee Wees 4 Flames 2

Our first exhibition game was against the Flames B team.  The Flames play in a different league so we will not see them in the regular season.  For some of the kids on the team (and for me), this was the first game where there was real checking.  Checking is controversial.  Actually, it’s not really checking that’s the problem; it’s the getting checked part that’s tough.  Alex checks Matthew all the time (mostly off the ice). He’s not used to getting checked.

Our first goal was by Nick on a penalty shot.  Penalty shots in these kids’ leagues are pretty rare.  It’s one of the few situations in hockey where there is a lot of pressure on both the shooter and the goalie.  All the action stops and the shooter and goalie are in the spotlight.

We pretty much dominated the game.  We must have had at least twice as many shots on goal.  One of Alex’s good friends on the team, Harry, also scored a goal.  Okay, I know we scored two more goals and I’m pretty sure one of them was by Ian, but I missed a lot of the action.  Even though Matthew plays hockey and understands most of the rules, it’s tough for his six-year old mind to keep his attention on his big brother on the ice.  He, along some other younger siblings of Pee Wee players, run around the rink and under the stands looking for lost pucks, change, tape, nuts, screws and anything else that isn’t bolted onto something.

The other notable aspect of the game was the number of penalties we received.  While some of the penalties were not deserved, there were two times we down two men.  It will be interesting to see whether that trend continues.  While Alex was the first person to get a penalty on his team last year, he avoided getting called for anything this time. Another trend to watch.

Hockey Day

Sundays are hockey days.  It starts with Alex’s PeeWee team in the morning, Matthew’s Junior clinic/game after that and Alex’s Varsity game in the evening.  Sometimes, Alex goalies too, which means additional games.   The hockey rink becomes our second home.  I’m thinking about getting our newspaper delivered there.  

It could be worse.  We play in a program that’s touts itself as the “less competitive” league.  This is a league that puts the kids’ fun above winning.  Yeah, yeah, winning is fun, but this league’s philosophy is that it’s better to turn out well rounded athletes that like to play hockey than rabid hockey players who want to win at all costs.  This is really more of a selection process for parents than kids.  There are a lot of other leagues in the area that are more concerned with being “competitive.”  There is even a local league that advertises on the web that it is specifically designed to help your kid play college hockey.  We lose many good players to those leagues, but that’s ok.  Natural selection doesn’t always mean “survival of the fittest.”  Sometimes it means that good kids who care more about having fun than winning just play together.

Playing Center

There is something truly amazing about watching 10 three-foot tall kids with four feet of equipment all chasing one puck on a sheet of ice.  Today was the first day of the Junior “season.”   The season is pretty long for kids’ sports; it lasts from October through March. The Juniors are the smallest kids in the league, ranging from 5 through about 8 or 9.  But even by 5 they want to be “in the action.”  Every one of them gets on the ice, skates over to me and asks, “Can I play center?”  

I’m not even sure if they know why they want to play center.  I am pretty sure not one of them could name any NHL centers (I know I would have trouble coming up with 3).  But that’s what they want to play.  At this level, the only real difference between the center and any other member of the team, except maybe the goalie, is that the center handles the face-off.  But after that, it is impossible to tell the difference between the center and any defenseman.  Every player on the ice just chases the puck, regardless of the position assigned to him or her.  Oh well, over time they will learn about positional play, but for now, it’s all about skating toward the puck full speed and as they finally get to their target, right in front of the goal, they lift up their stick to make the game-winning goal and promptly fall right down on their little butts.  

Everyone played well today.  In Juniors, we don’t keep score, but every single kid on the ice knows how many goals we scored versus how many goals the other team scored.  According to Matthew, we scored more goals than the Bruins.  It may have been because we had more than twice the number of kids the Bruins had (in the early season, there are a lot of time conflicts with other sports like baseball and soccer).  I would actually rather have them lose their first few games.  My older son Alex had a season where they lost virtually every game.  It may not have been the most fun he ever had, but I am sure he learned a lot about sportsmanship, patience and humility.  That’s why I like to give my kids the “It’s not about winning or losing, blah blah blah” speech after any game they play, win or lose.  This is only week one.

I'm the head coach?

The hockey season has just begun. It's been three weeks of practice (twice a week, once on Saturday morning and once on Sunday morning) and my 6 year old, Matthew, is already complaining. "Dad, why don't we skip hockey and play Lego?" he asks. "You like to play hockey," I remind him. "I do?" He looks skeptical. "Well," I say, pulling out the trump card, "you could go to Sunday School instead." "OK, I'll go to Sunday School." Trouble.

Now wait, don't jump to any conclusions yet. I'm not one of those hockey fanatic fathers that pin my kids' future happiness on making it to the NHL. I don't harbor any fantasies that my kids are are going to get college hockey scholarships. I also don't live my sports fantasies through my kids. Truth be told, I really don't even like to play sports (I don't count golf as a sport. It's more of a reminder that, despite everything you may have been told as a child, you really can't do anything you set your mind to) . I do think that playing sports is great for helping kids gain self confidence. It teaches them about team work. It teaches them how to win graciously and how to lose even more graciously. It gets them out of the house.

"O.K." I tell Matthew, "you don't have to go today, but I am taking Alex to get his team assignment." Alex is Matthew's 11 year old brother. He's a pee-wee and varsity hockey player. He missed his practice already because he got hurt at school (his front teeth got smashed out playing floor hockey) and the doctor doesn't want him playing hockey for a week. Alex still wants to go to the rink and find out what team he's on. Unlike Matthew, Alex is a hockey fanatic. He slept with his hockey stick for a month. Really.

We get to the rink and I start explaining to the director of the league that Alex got hurt but wants to get his team assignment. As he looks through his list of rosters, he mentions, non-chalantly, that I am an assistant coach of Alex's team and the head coach of Matthew's team. I chuckle and start asking about whether Alex could goaltend while he recovers from his accident (which may not technically be what the doctor had in mind but I am never going to keep Alex off the ice anyway). "Really," says the director, "you're the head coach of Matthew's team."


I've never actually played hockey. I did teach both my kids how to skate (my Dad was a speed skater and taught me the fundamentals), but I never held a hockey stick in my hands before Alex started playing three years ago. But I figure I can manage a bunch of kids 6 through 9. I can still skate better than a 9 year old (just barely). I was also assured plenty of help.

So . . . enough background. Matthew is on the Flyers. They wear orange. Alex is on the Kings. They wear black. Alex is also a travel pee-wee (white at home, red on the road). This is their story.