End of the Tournament

Well, it's finally over! I'm "hockey'd out" for at least a few days. The boys played with only 11 on the team today; this is really when Harrison shines. He played great today and had some great checks. The team's only goal was with him on the ice as well. Too bad the "real coach" wasn't there today! Anyway, here are some snapshots of some of the play. We were at U of M Dearborn today. Harrison is number 19, red jersey. The first photo you see him working his man.


In the second one, which I happened to like, you see him leaning up against the boards between play. This is a pose a often see him strike in the time between playing.








The next one was of half our players in the box, but now it's disappeared! Hopefully, it will "reappear" when I publish the comment!

After that is another shot of play; Harrison is facing the camer skating with his stick out in front of him on the ice.




The last one is just before they were to score.





So, they ended up losing every single game, but they played quite well last night and today. Especially today.

I can't wait for the next two weeks to be gone. I know I shouldn't wish away time, but they are going to be so stressful. The week of Halloween is try-outs. Harrison wants to be on the team "for real" so badly; he practically lives to play hockey. I was talking with another mom of a kid who was cut last year and she shared a story of not only how heart-broken he was (and cried) but how they worked through it. It seems unfair somehow that the nicest kids are the ones who get hurt, or conversely, the meanest kids (on and off the ice) get to "win." Our coach last year, T. Battersby was AWESOME. He put together such a good team and it was a team of by-and-large great kids. They lost 9 of 10 preseason games, but in the end won the division championship (many of you may recall!). This was sportsmanship at it's best - Coach Battersby took a bunch of kids and taught them to play better individually and as a team and led them to victory over much better players and teams. I believe this was because he believed in these kids and the kids all appreciated the opportunity and had good hearts that never quit. I'm not so sure the "best" players are always the "best" players. I suppose one only need look at the quality of person many professional sports people are to see that!

So, here's to the next two weeks flying by and to a happy November! Well, I'm not so sure about the first week of November, either, now that I remember we'll be voting!! So, I'm going to enjoy the next 3 hours, which is all the weekend time I'm going to get before jumping back into another week. Wishing you all a better week than we will have!!