Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Keep the laces. :p

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Someone was hard on those skates.

Even with regular sharpening, those blades should not have looked THAT much different than the brand new ones after only one year of use.

:2

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

A pint of blood. 130ish shipped. Westside skate in NY. Graf only does the yoith skates once a year in August so once the sell you get to hunt them down. In August I will be buying the next size. These wont last as long hes growing already.

Yeah I found a sharpener I think we will be sticking with. So hopefully this problem is over. I took his old ones in amd he explained why they were being done wrong and how he would do them.


EJ I grabbed him the graf yellow laces in his size when I grabbed them. When he got home from the math enrichment program my wife has him in he gets all jacked when he sees them runs over, but immediately says "wheres my green laces" I cant complain its the only dusty thing he likes to do.

Took him out last night he was happy actually having some toe on his skates:r. Skated well and was much more confident in doing transitions at speed.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

the Little Man moved to black laces and I like it SOOOOOO muchbetter thanhis orange laces... Don't knowif I have pics of them yet....

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Was just looking through all the PFD's, wanted to see if they gave a % breakdown by sport, but couldn't find anything.....

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

The girl is playing at 5:30 and then the boy at 6:45, same rink...

I don't know if I remember this ever happening.....

(pics to follow)

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Well after speaking with a few coaches from the Hawks and a couple of parents we are not going to have Micah play travel mite Cougars this year. We are going to have him play up in age at house mite jr. Sharks still, but not at the travel level.

The Hawks coaches and I were discussing the new boundry rule that went into effect for the upcoming season. Basically we are smack in the middle of the boundries for the Cougars and Hawks. Literally 11 miles from both rinks. The Jr.Sharks disolved their mite club so the Hawks control that boundry area for the Jr. Sharks rink at the mite level where this matters. Norcal hockey has now instituted a rule where geographic boundries control what club you can play for at the mite level. Once you play for a club if the boundries are close a petition may be required to leave the club and apparently the club can refuse to release you under the new boundry rule.

The Hawks coaches have been great and very positive about Micah, but you can tell they just think he needs the extra year to get bigger and get better in certain areas. In the end the comment that stuck with me the most was why rush him focus on the areas he needs to improve so hes ready next year. While having him play travel a year early may be cute the coach reminded me there are kids that may take a run at him and whats the point of risking it when hes technically not old enough to play mite. There are weekly skating skills classes I can put him in if he plays sharks mite inhouse and a secondary league if he wants to play an extra game each week as well as the roller hockey he likes to play saturday morning. So in the end we decided the Hawks coaches seem to have his best intrest in mind and have a lot of experience in this area._

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

You need a Long Porch! Ever seen "The Tournament"? Canadian TV series about insane hockey parents. One guy was building a 'long porch' to extend his property over to the 'good teams' geographic boundaries!


(Btw, I'm kid-less this week, just dropped my kid off in Buffalo for a hockey camp!)

W00t!

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

:r:r:r

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

I thought it was crazy that they instituted this rule. In the end we couod just use my parents address so its not really a big thing.

Is the boundry thing common in other areas. They have it here for baseball, but its never been an issue in hockey. My thing is it could end up being a headache in the end and he could get stuck playing on a team he doesnt want to be on. He has repeatedly said he wants to play for the Hawks all summer so I figure why needlessly create a possible situation.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Good night....I'm tired.

Little One scored the only goal on either side during her scrimmage.

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i397/EJB21/Abs.jpg

Varsity pulled the win, 4-3. Little Man only pulled 5 shifts, but was a +1 and worked his tail off.

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...JB21/SVvE5.jpg

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Have another kid out for a minimum of 2 weeks with a concussion.....

We still have the one out, who has in reality played one game in the past 4 months. Then got word today that a kid that got dinged last night, went to the ER after and he's out 2 weeks, then reevaluate.....

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Nice pics.

See the concussion thing is the other reason we are waffling on what to do with him this year. That and everyones confusion over the new boundry rule. We want him in the practices we dont want him in the games. Today he did drills with the Cougars that as house coaches we wont even attempt next year as it will be disaster for house mites.

My wife said maybe we are just unavailable some weekends for him to play. :r. He has Stars on thursday. I will talk to that coach again about redshirting.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

So another game and another loss in the Olympic Oval D3 Summer League..... We played against the Air Pirates, which is a team of US Army Army Reserve National Guard guys... These 14-16 year old kids REALLY are struggling with the adult teams this year. Last year, playing in D4, their skating could make up for the maturity difference....D3, not so much....:td

I think they may have beat this team playing at full strength, but as Summer goes, we were missing some kids for vacation and one floater(plays JV and Varsity) kid that has a concussion. Played with 3 D - 5 up front... The Little Man had jello legs at the end, playing 2 shifts on/one off all game....

These pics were taken through the glass, in what could be described as DIFFICULT lighting....so the results are what they are...

Little Man throwing a puck at the net...

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i397/EJB21/SJV6.jpg

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...JB21/SJV21.jpg

Down 3-0 in the middle of the 3rd, the boys stormed back, this was the celebration of the goal that left them down 1, with about 3 minutes and change to go. Unfortunatly, they got no closer than that....

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...JB21/SJV27.jpg
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...JB21/SJV28.jpg

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Great stick and puck session with both kids today.... My God I am getting old...

Fortunately Michelle doesn't skate, it assures that I will never be the worst skater in the family....

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Worked till midnight bed around 1am. Up at 6am to give wife some help with the baby. Pushed out the door with the boy and his two sisters to go to roller hockey at the wifes request to give her a few hours rest.
Feeling awesome for 5 hrs sleep. Sure I will hit the wall at work tonight.

On Wednesday he played in a Hawks scrim practice one squirt goalie one shooter tudor switching every 15 min. They had two shifts mites second shift was squirts and peewees. He played in the mite group. He walked into the locker room ahead of me came walking back out after seeing some peewees and said "no way Im playing against those kids." Then he saw a few kids he knew and settled down. He scored one from his stomach against the shooter tudor but that was more because everyone watched the shot to see if it would go. He did beat the one squirt goalie once by banging in a rebound.
Stars scrimmage early this afternoon against trivalley.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Mike,

Is Micah doing all day camp? There is a 8:30-4:00 M-Th/8:30-Noon F camp local that a guy I know is running. I can get a smoking deal, Jackson is in, but I am considering having Abby do it. I know she'd say yes, but I wonder about her attention span for that long.... I really question getting into day 3-4....not so much the on ice stuff(twice daily), but all the off ice stuff.....




Yesterday was a good day, both kids playing back to back.... Ab's was AWESOME, was passing the puck REALLY well and scored a few times. Working with her at S&P twice over the holiday really seemed to give her a little bump.

On the flip side, the Little Man is seeing his varsity minutes drop to nothing. 3 shifts last night.... Wasn't on the ice long enough to even give a report on how he played... I know he is frustrated, but he is going to be a Soph on a team that is stacked deep. Still missing 2 of our top players, but when everyone else is there....minutes are nonexistent for the LM. The coach even said as much, apparently singled him out in the locker room after the game, paraphrased "I know your pissed & you'd be playing for any other team in the State, but we're loaded and your time will come."

He'll get enough minutes in the JV game tonight to put a smile on his fact.... Now let's hope they can sneak a win against the old men....:tu

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

The camp is from 9am to 12 its 3 hrs and only 12-15 minutes is off ice break time at the midway point.
The camp is really well run and he is skating almost constantly in one way or another. I dont think at his age I would attempt an all day camp. When hes 8 maybe.

He is the youngest camper by a year, but kicking some a$$. Today he won an Event for his team. They were doing the gauntlet drill where all 7 coaches use the sticks to shot cones at the kids as they skate through the nuetral zone. He out lasted everyone 25+ kids age 10 and under. Jumping and dodging cones like a champ. He got mobbed after he won and the smile on his face made the whole camp worth it. I think when it was just him and the other kid left the coaches went after the older kid harder. Still. very impressive. The second time they did the drill he made it to the final four.

He was getting lazy with his stride, but this camp and his competitive nature to win are fixing his stride because of his desire to win different races.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Few from yesterday....nothing great, but a few pics all the same....

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...JB21/Goal1.jpg
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...JB21/Goal3.jpg
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...JB21/Goal4.jpg
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...JB21/JB2-1.jpg
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i397/EJB21/JB3.jpg


JV got their asses handed to them tonight.... Close game that was blown open in the third... Lost by 3, but it didn't seem that close.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Day 5 of hockey camp.
So far we have also done practices/scrims on tuesday (cougars) and thursday (hawks) nights.
Last night he played about 1.5 hrs on the ice between the scrim and the improvised Gretzky hour after the scrim and only left the ice when the Zamboni came out.:r. That was on top of over 3 hours at camp. When we got home he looked at me and said thanks dad I had a lot of fun today.

Hes learning to work with a coach he doesnt like. The coach who made him cry in the private skate lesson months ago is one of the main coaches. He is spending a lot of time working with Micah. Ive had to explain to Micah that while he may not like a coach and they may be mean he has to listen and repsect the coach because they are trying to help. He said hello to the coach he hates this morning.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

...and the skate weights are in..... Skate weighed were apparently an 8D unless otherwise specified... All information is from the totalhockey.com website. If my math skills are working(I am no engineer), in parentheses is the total % weight difference from the lightest skate, the Bauer Total One.

.5 lbs doesn't sound like a big deal, but 25% difference in the weight does....

Bauer APX - 1.62 lbs (6%)
Bauer X7 - 1.80 (15%)
Bauer Total One - 1.53
Bauer One 100 - 1.88 (size 9) (19%)
Bauer X:50 - 1.84 (17%)
CCM Crazy Lights - 1.88 (19%)
CCM U12 - 1.84 (17%)
Easton EQ50 - 1.96 (size 9) (22%)
Easton S17 - 1.74 (12%)
Graf G5 - 1.98 (23%)
Graf G5 XI - 1.96 (22%)
Graf G75 - 1.90 (19%)
Graf G35x - 2.08 (26%)
Reebok 11K - 1.98 (23%)
Reebok 10K - 1.90 (size 7) (19%)


How is that for a slow Saturday afternoon....:sh

Did have a nice drop in session for the Little One this morning.... Her brother starts camp on Monday....

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

We banned micah from hockey today. He has been on the ice roughly 20 hours since sunday. He kept trying to get into the garage to shot pucks so we went out and bought some seedlings for our garden and he helped me plant. He wants to play tomorrow morning in Cupertino. Got hockey camp all next week with optional skates with the Cougars on tuesday, Hawks wednesday, and Stars thursday. Tryouts for the clubs are all the last weekend of the month.

Talked to a lot of travel parents at the camp and as Al and I have talked most are on Als side. Many said travel mites is largely not worth it if I can get him to redshirt and many felt even if not just have him do small group lessons. This throws a wrench in the plan. The Stars coach seems my best bet for a red shirt and Micah really likes him. If not will just do house mites with the optional weekly extra skills skate. He will now a lot of the boys in that.

Update on the protech dent mouthguards. Micah and I both really like them and its great for speaking and drinking.
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...y/IMAG0228.jpg

Because I know this will get a rise out of a couple of you and may result in Al actually posting to call me a nut bag. Behold. Fairly certain one of the only if not the only custom youth 11 Graf conversions in the US. In talking to the guy who wedges his skates we were discussing the radius on the Grafs and how the holders just seem undersized. Enter a pair of cheap Bauers.
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...y/IMAG0226.jpg
The guy swapped them for free basically and now.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...y/IMAG0237.jpg
Hes been skating on them for 2 weeks and loves them. Yes they are wedged. To give an idea of how big the Graf boot is I really could have fit a Bauer/tuuk size 12 holder on. While the Graf boot is awesome the youth holders are extremely undersized. He is a lot more comfortable skating backwards and has not lost any speed.

I fully expect Als wrath. Maybe Scotts.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Those mouth-guards look crazy.... Are they as thin as they look? You just bite on them???


As I said before, I think the Tuuk conversion was awesome and I am confident you hold the Western United states record, if not the US record for smallest Graf/Tuuk conversion....:r

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Just watched their(protech dent mouthguards) video clip on the website...

I didn't look further, but do they mention reduced concussion severity or the like?

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Yup they are that thin. You heat them up bite down run your fingers around the front and side to shape then place your tongue against the back and suck in. Doesnt fall out. Purpose is only for concussions as wearing a cage. Science behind it says it does the job.

I may be the record holder. :r Im good with that.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Hows the blade on your daughters total one holding up.
What I have found is that the cheap youth sticks have cheap blades that get chewed up fast exposing the fiberglass. The Easton yth S19 has a true basket weave blade as does the warrior widow, but the cheap sticks dont. He digs in the corners and in front of the net so much he trashes the blades on the cheap sticks pretty quick.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Needed a new tape job, so I figured I'd let you decide. Almost 5 months, conservative estimate, 30 ice sessions. I cleaned everything off that stick, what you see is stick.

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...HTotalOne1.jpg
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...HTotalOne2.jpg
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...HTotalOne3.jpg
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...HTotalOne4.jpg
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...HTotalOne5.jpg

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Forgot to mention yesterday, that I may end up coaching the Little One. Ran into an old friend at the ice center. We started chatting and he ask if I wanted to coach with him. His youngest son will be a second year mite. He has been an assistant for years with his older son and said he'd "throw his hat" into the ring and take the head job, if I sign on.

Anyway, he said he'd have to get it cleared, as he will continue to be an assistant for his older son. But if it is a go, sounds like I'm going to do my first hockey coaching..... I'd already sort of had thoughts of offering up my help to whoever was her coach, but it will be nice to have that guy be a friend I have known for 25 years.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Speaking of sticks.... LM wanted a TotalOne and needed a new stick anyway, so I ordered the TO & figured the X60 could become his back-up. "SNAP" goes the X60 the day before the TO gets here....

Now I need to get another back up.... I wait...and wait, well....because I just dropped $230 on a damn hockey stick.... During this time, the LM's slap shot has gone to chit. It is the different kick point on the TO and he cannot figure it out.... "Dad, I need the X60 back."

Dad orders an X60, comes in the mail earlier this week. LM has now figured out the TO and his slap shot has never been better..... Life of a Hockey Parent....:rolleyes:

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Hah!

Whatever works, works! I only brought up that whack sharpening job previously because of the one parent on our team who's kid insisted on having skates sharpened virtually after every time on the ice.

I just see dollar signs flying out the window!

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Yeah he made it 20 hours on the ice between sharpenings between the camp and the practice/ scrims.
It seems that it had something to do with the way the guy sharpens. Before we put the tuuks on he had wedged the original holders and he wanted to grind down the toe. I had to tell him not to do that.
The new sharpener were using seems to be a little more together. I went in to pick up his skates on duty in uniform the other day and he didnt charge me.

Yesterday at camp the coach he hates. Told him his backwards skating and transitions were looking good. He still doesnt like the guy. :r. For his age though I think hes doing well just by learning to work with a coach he doesnt like. This week theres also Cougars practice tuesday night, Stars wednesday night, and a Hawks scrim Thursday. Tryouts are at the end of the month. Need to talk to the coach of the Stars about a redshirt so he will go to that. He loves the Hawks scrim so sure he will do that, tonight have to see if he wants to go.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Mike,
If he doesn't have Eagle gloves already you need to get him those. The leather they use in the palms is supper soft and as you know feel is everything. Don't forget custom made sticks. Using a stock stick and cutting it down causes an incorrect lie. This should up his goal count considerably. Besides, having a kid use a cut down stock stick is just barbaric! Also, tailor all his jerseys, to large and the wind resistance will slow him down, to tight and he won't have the freedom of movement needed for his slap shot. :D

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Luls. I knew I could get you to post with that picture.

He already has X3 Eagle Gloves but they dont fit yet. Next year they should. :r. I got them on a clearence sale from hockeymonkey for 18.99 just like almost all of his gear is sale or clearance except skates and helmet. Those are the two areas that I think matter most. I guess Im also hypersensitive to the skate issue as I have always had skate issues and he has my feet. Must be doing something right he is pulling backhand spinoramas while still 5 and scored on one during a shootout drill last week at camp. :wo.

As for camp hes doing very well and is stickhandling well in traffic along with being trusted to play D during the scrims every so often. He had 3 breakaways today, but isnt lifting his shots so he isnt scoring on these goalies on his breakaways. Must be the clearance sticks fault, better go buy him an S19 or other stick like the other kids.
Hes definitely having a lot of fun and is going to be sad when its over.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

E.J. this is the stick he has been using its the lousiville xlite at totalhockey. Its cheap and with there occasional 15% of sales can be had for $25.50. It doesnt last that long though and you can see exposed fiberglass in the toe and heel which makes me concerned.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...y/IMAG0286.jpg
This is probably less ice time then your daughters, but that said hes very aggressive with his stick and always weasels his way into the faceoff circle. In his scrim today he took 3/4s of his lines faceoffs pretty much whenever they didnt have him playing D. :r there is actually a chunk missing in the heel. The toe on the otherside is uglier, but that is the side with the divet missing in the back.

Edit
Oooo and TH is having a 15% off sale till the end of the day.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

At the rink.... LM has been in camp 8 hours a day, had a game last night and a alumni scrimmage tonight... He looked like chit in the truck coming overr here...Says dryland at camp is killing him... Interested to see how he skates...

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Fun night.... First time I had seen some of the old seniors since last year.... They're good kids, I miss having them around.

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i397/EJB21/ALS1.jpg
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...21/ALS10-1.jpg

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

My kids coach thinks dry land is just as important as being on ice. In fact, when the season is over, they switch to 2 dry land sessions a week. He uses a hybrid of the USA hockey ADM model and the Swedish version. The only time they aren't training together as a team is in July (when the coach goes back home to Sweden for the month), but this year my son and a few other boys are still getting together 2 days a week in July to work out.

The conditioning it provides is invaluable, we lost track of how many coaches and parents last year complimented our boys on their ability to maintain such a high level of play for 3 periods with only 11 skaters.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Off ice is huge. When my boys aren't on the ice they are in the gym.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

I have stayed out of this thread because my daughter never played but in high school and college (Dartmouth), I found that the dry land training prepared me for the stress of on ice training and made me stronger. I was a goalie so that might affect my findings as related to forwards and defensemen. Sorry for intruding in your thread.:tu

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

You and your incite are always welcome Paul.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Thank you to my brother Al.:tu

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

X 2

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

X3

Today at camp they were stopping the scrim at certain phases and explaining or in Micahs case trying to explain where the best place to be would be as a winger. A buddy and me were joking it must be like the classroom scene from Peanuts for Micah. Wha wha wha wha. He did a lot better at understanding defensive positioning because at his age as he just has to remember to be on the left or right and be the last guy back and try to keep thr other players infront.

Very proud of his progress over the past two weeks in skating and game play.

Scary about dry land clubs are starting it at the mite level these days. Just figured that wouldnt start till squirts. Would think motivating mites would be difficult

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

It's hard motivating my 12 year old! But every time he takes his shirt off and people look at him and comment on such abs on a 12 year old, he gets it. Not to mention the real benefits it brings on the ice.

I see the Mites and Squirts doing their own versions of dry land, but it's not quite as intense as what the older boys do, I suppose if they are eased into it, it cannot be a bad thing.

One thing our coach was careful about was strength training, you do have to be mindful about how much you do at young ages. Our boys do it now, but it is all own-body resistance style, no weights. All the boys on the team are 13 now except my son and the coach's son. My son is November, and the coach's kid is a January '99, playing up by 3 days.

He is even getting good at 'The Pose' to show off the abs without looking like he shows them off. We catch him looking at them as he walks sometimes :)

http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/4898/061dt.jpg

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

That pic makes me laugh, Scott, the LM is always trying to show off his abs...:r

Just finished up a camp this week, snuck away from work to watch the game they held at the end.... LM played well, found the back of the net twice, but should have walked away with 4... Took some pics, not sure how they turned out... They had half the lights on and the blinds closed....it was a dungeon.

LM had a good time and he was invited to come be a "shooter" at the goalie camp next week....

(pics to follow when I get home from work)

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Micah finished up his camp as well today.
He was invited to play in the camp allstar game tomorrow. They basically pick the top 1/3 of campers and let them play a game and video tape it. He was excited to be asked. I have to work so I wont be there. One of his buddies also got picked so his dad is taking.

They had their final scrimmage today and it ended in a tie. They did shootouts to decide. After 7 rounds he got to go. It was do or die, and he died. That said he pulled a spinorama and the coaches, players, and parents went nuts. He stuffed it into the goalies left pad but I was happy he had the guts to do it in front of everyone. He got a lot of love afterwards from his teamates even though he didnt convert and they lost. The coaches also had a lot of nice things to say about him and his abilities.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Few of the end of camp game photos... Like I said above, it was DARK, so they are pretty noisey...

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i397/EJB21/HC1.jpg

His first goal, easy pickings...

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i397/EJB21/HC2.jpg

His second goal was a great slap shot from the point that went 4 hole in the blink of an eye.... Kid in the pic could have probably blocked it, but you can see him pulling his foot away as the puck is going by....

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i397/EJB21/HC3.jpg

Not much celebration, just waiting for teammates....

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i397/EJB21/HC4.jpg

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Slap shot pick is beauty.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

So I find out that all the HC jobs + #1 assistants are filled, so my friend and I are SOL unless they add a 4th team to our rink(very possible, but I will not cross my fingers). Even then, we may not be able to coach together. I have left my name in for available coaches….but hearing this news today sucks….