Another late, short night (but worth it)...
Category Everything Else
And no, this is not an R-rated post about yesterday being our anniversary... :-)
Yesterday was the kickoff of the high school hockey season. Both of my kids (Ian and Cam) play on the team, with Ian as forward and Cam as the goalie. Now, if you've been hanging around the blog for awhile, you'll remember that last year was the team's first year. They were bad. Really bad. B-A-D. 18 -1, 24 - 2, you get the idea. Not a single win all season, and in nearly all cases the game was over within the first 10 minutes. So when the opening game got pushed from 6:15 pm to 9 pm, you can imagine my despair. Another short night, not enough sleep, and I get to watch the team get mauled. Oh yeah, I'm just living the dream...
This year is different (so far)... They actually picked up some decent "at large" players as they gained the respect of the other coaches by hanging in last year. They now have a coach who knows the game and actually cares. The players who could barely skate last year are actually quite improved. Cam (my goalie) went to summer hockey camp and learned a lot. But would it translate into better play?
At the end of the 1st period, we were down 1 - 0 and had outshot the other team 8 - 4. Last year there were occasions where we didn't get 8 shots on goal in two games! And the end of 2, the score was still 1 - 0. Even if the game ended there, it would have been a huge success. They played well and had a defense in front of the goalie. In the 3rd, we finally scored but quickly went down 3 - 1 with about 9 minutes left. But in a flurry of effort, we tied it with about 4 minutes left to play. Two minutes left, we score the go-ahead goal, and closed it out with an empty-net goal with less than a minute. Final score, 5 - 3, and the first win for the Grant high school hockey team. Yee-haw!
It doesn't get much better than this... My son in goal winning his first game and not being the reason why they lost. My other son grabbing the puck at the end of the game and giving it to Cam for his first win. The knowledge that, although this is only game one of a season that goes until February, they actually look competitve and will not lose just by showing up.
A few more games like that, and I won't mind going to work the next day on about 4 hours of sleep... :-)
And no, this is not an R-rated post about yesterday being our anniversary... :-)
Yesterday was the kickoff of the high school hockey season. Both of my kids (Ian and Cam) play on the team, with Ian as forward and Cam as the goalie. Now, if you've been hanging around the blog for awhile, you'll remember that last year was the team's first year. They were bad. Really bad. B-A-D. 18 -1, 24 - 2, you get the idea. Not a single win all season, and in nearly all cases the game was over within the first 10 minutes. So when the opening game got pushed from 6:15 pm to 9 pm, you can imagine my despair. Another short night, not enough sleep, and I get to watch the team get mauled. Oh yeah, I'm just living the dream...
This year is different (so far)... They actually picked up some decent "at large" players as they gained the respect of the other coaches by hanging in last year. They now have a coach who knows the game and actually cares. The players who could barely skate last year are actually quite improved. Cam (my goalie) went to summer hockey camp and learned a lot. But would it translate into better play?
At the end of the 1st period, we were down 1 - 0 and had outshot the other team 8 - 4. Last year there were occasions where we didn't get 8 shots on goal in two games! And the end of 2, the score was still 1 - 0. Even if the game ended there, it would have been a huge success. They played well and had a defense in front of the goalie. In the 3rd, we finally scored but quickly went down 3 - 1 with about 9 minutes left. But in a flurry of effort, we tied it with about 4 minutes left to play. Two minutes left, we score the go-ahead goal, and closed it out with an empty-net goal with less than a minute. Final score, 5 - 3, and the first win for the Grant high school hockey team. Yee-haw!
It doesn't get much better than this... My son in goal winning his first game and not being the reason why they lost. My other son grabbing the puck at the end of the game and giving it to Cam for his first win. The knowledge that, although this is only game one of a season that goes until February, they actually look competitve and will not lose just by showing up.
A few more games like that, and I won't mind going to work the next day on about 4 hours of sleep... :-)
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Comments
Geez, Cam & Ian have learned something incredibly valuable: that with hard work and tenacity, a bleak situation can turn around! Last year, maybe halfway through the season, who would have thought that such an improvement would be possible? But they stuck it out and now are a competitive team.
Congrats to them and you.
Posted by Joe Litton At 08:32:39 On 10/10/2003 | - Website - |
Posted by Thomas Duff At 15:01:02 On 09/10/2003 | - Website - |
Do you have a magic time machine that creates an extra 12 hours a day for you? Between family, work, reading, studying, and blogging I don't know how you do it! I am awed :)
Posted by Colin Pretorius At 14:30:04 On 09/10/2003 | - Website - |
Congrats on your win guys (Cam & Ian).
Stick at it, and make yourselves, and your Dad, proud of what you can achieve as a team.
Once again, well done.
Posted by Frank At 07:28:17 On 09/10/2003 | - Website - |