Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Thanks for the feedback Scott.
In a way I want to push him because hes a gamer and fearless, but he is a young 5. He is a late October birth. He will be 5 when the season starts. Playing against kids atleast 7 as you know. He still has a year of minimite eligibility. He started while still 3. We held him out of Kindergarten this year as he was still 4 when school started and studies show boys do better if you hold them out vs putting them in early. So he will be a kindergartener playing against 2nd and 3rd graders.

Physically I have learned not to worry because he has become very tough on the ice and will take some punishment to get that goal. Holstrom would be proud of how he screens the goalies. But he is a young heart, the kid still watches focking Barney sometimes with his sisters. The other day he shoulder checked a kid. When I asked him why he said the kid said something mean. He didnt understand him, but knew it was meant to be mean.

I will let him play house mite as has played those boys the last two years. Everyone knows him. But the travel boys are that next level as you know. He will already be allowed to redshirt for atleast one of the clubs, getting all the benefit of practice with the better boys, I just wont let him do the 5-6 weekend tournaments. I am just wonderimg if the gain of 5-6 tournaments is worth my concearns. Hes not small, he is the size of most 6 year olds, but has not made that big growth jump yet. I think this year he will mentally develop a lot as we are seeing it start. He also appears to be growing so he may get there. I just wonder as he will be allowed to practice and scrim with atleast one club how much benefit he will get from the tournaments. There is just such a mental difference between a kindergartner and a second grader. Thats part of the comedy of it. In practice drills that are complex he will screw them up and look his age, then when they scrim or play a game he just understands the game and looks legit. Its partly because at 5.5 its hard for them to care about practice.

Perfect example on monday we tried a private skate lesson with a very good instructor. After 20 minutes he started to cry because he just couldnt grasp what the guy wanted him to do. The instructor said skill wise hes almost a 7 year old travel mite and should be there by end of summer. Mentally hes what he is a 5 year old about to start kindergarten.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

I always enjoy reading what is going on with Micah.... I think you could not be handling it better, Mike.

Great feedback, Scott. I also love the updates on Cameron's team...


I'm excited to hear how that goes!


What are we doing today, yep hockey....:r

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Micah has a cross ice tournament this weekend. Had to leave before the first game. Wearing his Jersey from last year. The front is covered in signatures.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...y/IMAG0033.jpg

I hear you E.J. we have been at a rink most days this week. This morning he was so jacked up for the tourney we asked if he wanted to go play roller hockey. Yup! So yeah he's a junky.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Where's the "8"?

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Didn't get 8 last year, but 1+7= ehhhhhhh

In helmet nightmare right now. He is using a youth helmet, but want to move him up to a high end helmet maybe even messier project. His cage shield combo which he loves is a Jr. With the speed he plays out and how hard he goes to the net he gets bumped around a lot. The XSmall fit head okay, but not Jr cage and adult cages are loose.

Fak!

Damn coach who put the team together is not texting me game updates. Jackass!

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Mini-Hockey Camp the past 2 days... The Little Man had a good time & that is what counts....

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...JB21/Camp1.jpg
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...JB21/Camp6.jpg
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...JB21/Camp2.jpg
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...JB21/Camp4.jpg
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...JB21/Camp5.jpg

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Picked up Abby an 8K from the Monkey on closeout for cheap.... Under $100 w/ cage...which was like 1/2 of what her brothers bucket/shield(Bauer 9900 w/ Bauer fishbowl) cost. She doesn't even want a fishbowl like her brother, which is more cost effective.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Messier helmet = POS IMHO.

After Mitch's umpteenth concuss I bought him one of those. Would have made me feel better to just flush the money down the toilet

Just one mans opinion. :D

Did I say It's a POS?

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Wait are you saying they are crap? :r

After his tourney ends tomorrow we have 6 hours till his Hawks Sunday skate. They are having it late because of tourney. I am thinking about taking him to a large shop 20 min away and have a helmet fitting day. They have most the helmets. He has a RBK 8k but it doesn't fit his Jr combo. May have to make the switch to cage. He just hates bars in front of his eyes.
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...y/IMAG0026.jpg


Yeah Al I know you hate Plexiglas, but during the college tournament I saw plenty of kids wearing full plexi.

On Thursday against a 9 year old learning goalie. He beat him a few times. Huge size difference. :r
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...y/IMAG0020.jpg

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

All BS aside, that Messier POS was thin plastic and the friggin padding just fell out!

All I'm sayin is you get more style points with a cage. :D

Mitch always liked the white cages when we could find um. Said he could see the puck better. Jr. always wore black. I say, whatever makes um happy. Hockey players are a strange bunch they are! :D

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

As my wife often yells at me "you turned that kid into a diva about his gear. Everything has to fit just right!" As I always respond when you aren't thinking about something fitting wrong you can focus on skating and playing. He may switch eventually, who knows. I know switching to a 50/50 increased airflow which he liked. That flow is long and his head gets hot.

Saw Drew Remenda sharks color guy this morning at the roller rink, bald as a babies bottom. He saw Micah and his hair and got the hugest smile on his face.

As to the tournament. They played 3 thirty minute games and destroyed everyone. Had two shutouts. Micah and his buddy went off apparently. Micah got 9 goals his buddy whos 7 got the same or one more. Conflicting reports have come in. The teams remaining they should take easily. So looks like they will take the tourney. Will get some pics tomorrow. From what I hear it was a steady dose of buddy taking his distance shots and Micah crashing the net banging things in and screening the goalie. Had a few breakaways also. :r

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...IMAG0040-1.jpg
The boys destroyed their age division. They won all games and beat one team 2x. The kid who played goal looked good. It got so bad in all games today we were making them pass 2x before taking a shot on net.

Micah coming in on the right and shooting.
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...IMAG0040-1.jpg

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Fine Job! Congrats to Micah and his team!

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Almost makes me want more kids.



Almost.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Yeah where am I right now?

The rink for Hawks Sunday skate.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Summer League Varsity schedule just came out(Little Man will play on both the Varsity and JV squads this year).... 4 of the 12 games(every Monday night game but one) are at our home ice(5 minutes from home) 15 minutes following the Little One's Summer Sessions....

Just enough time to change, while the Zamboni makes its rounds & out to watch a game....never having to leave the arena....

Funny how little things will make you smile in the morning......... In a nutshell, that makes those nights SOOOOOOOOO MUCH EASIER FOR DAD.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Today I had to ban the boy from the garage.
He was trying to shot pucks. Trying to explain to a 5 year old you are worried about burnout is difficult . The Cougars mite skate starts tomorrow and I had to explain it was bad for him to play everyday.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

As long as he's the one choosing to shoot I don't think you have to worry about burn out.


The burn out I have seen over the years is when the parents push to hard.

:2

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

:r:r:r..... I told the Little One enough, but that is because I get sick of hearing it....

I agree with Al, as long as they(kids) are seeking it out/pushing to play more/damaging your sheetrock and denting your garage door.....have at it....

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

I know but he was on the ice for about 5 hours yesterday between the tournament and Hawks skate. I just felt a day would be good. I actually worry about self burnout with him a little. He would play roller or ice everyday if he had the chance.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Ordered new gloves and a jersey/socks combo for the Little One. She is SOOOO much different than her Brother. He would go forever and just say "they're fine" when I ask about any piece of equipment, she tells me before I ask. "I need new gloves, these are too small."

She also informed me that she was sick of wearing her brothers old jerseys and needed her own... Anyway, she will get her way.

Today was a very "hockey parent" morning.... Up at 4:50 to take the Little Man to drop in, I was sitting drinking coffee at 5:30, well into the morning and thought to myself...yep, this is the expectation... Back to pick him up at 7:15, took him to a breakfast of champions at McDonalds and then dropped him off at school. Ran his gear home, pulled it to air out and shot off to work....

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Yikes. 430!!!! fock I usually go to bed at 1230 1245. I am hoping to avoid the 430 am.

Yeah Totalhockey had that 20% off today. Combined with no shipping and no tax and me and Micah got us some new helmets on the way. I went with an easton S9. I was tired of my old CCM that was pure birth control. Out here lots of guys like to wear birth control helmets. Old ass Jofas, and other crap.

I almost bought the CCU crazy lights for the boy. My wife convinced me that I was focking with a proven skate which was just stupid given his feet problems.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

I probably should have ordered a stick yesterday.... I know I am going to have to buy one SOON, so losing out on that 20% was just plain stupid.

I know you don't go with icewarehouse because of taxes, but I have been VERY, VERY impressed with them(this being my first order). Shipped same day and because they are close, standard shipping takes 2 days. Order a $10 t-shirt(one time) and you become a member of their club and all orders(including that one) are 10% off....

I hate to undercut my local hockey shop, but how do I turn down a 17% difference(10% plus 7% tax) on gear & all it costs me is a 2 day wait?

I think you are right to stay with the Graf's, at least for now.... If you REALLY wanted to, you can always try to find a closeout CL's at the end of the year and give it a try on the cheap. If it didn't work, you could dump them at a skate swap for close to what you paid.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Yeah the discount yesterday was impossible for me to turn down. When you way in 20% no tax almost 10% + no local shop markup of 10-15 per helmet. I think I spent 150ish and local I would have been over 200.

Adding in the fact the helmet selection for kids sucks here it just made sense. Against Als suggestion I am giving the messier project helmet a try. Mainly because it comes in extra small. So many kids are using small helmets which dont fit right. We tried a few different helmets local and both were not right. The only one that did was one of his buddies in the pic above. The kid who went to the net has a bauer helmet with a rachet system in the back. Forgot the model number but couldnt find anything close locally and definitely not in his size. A couple of kids at that tourney had the M11 helmets. Talking to some dads they said it fit extremely well because of customization. Went with the caged version and with the discount it was the same as a highend bauer. If we dont like it we will return it.

Actually should have gotten another stick, but to much in ice fees.

You see the brand new Graf G75? Not a fan looks like a bauer supreme one.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

It is an eyesore..... Maybe just the photo...:sh Assume they will go with an entire line of them based off different boots....


http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...21/GrafG75.jpg

Looks like everyone has to have an $800 skate now....:rolleyes:

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Yeah that shiz is ugly. The blue ribbon really fugs it up even more.

Mike spent friday night/ sat morning puking like a demon. Stomach virus. One of the girls has it now.
Worked friday night till after 11. Didnt get to bed till 1230. Micah started puking at 430. Never really slept from then till 630 when I left for work. Worked a special event from 7-3 for hockey money. and patrol from 3-11. 16 hours on 4 hours. Then back up this morning at 7 for Hawks Sunday Skate. Even after everything he wanted to go. I feel like crap. He is already asking about Cougars on Tues and Stars on Thurs.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

YUCK....the stomach flu is BAD NEWS. There are few worse ways to spend a weekend. It is doubly bad for me, I don't deal with other peoples, including my own children, vomit. Sometimes even watching someone puke will send me over the edge & I'll lose the contents of my stomach. Smelling it will almost guarantee it and if I actually have to clean some up....I just take a bucket with me.

Fortunately, Michelle is a nurse and she can deal with about anything without blinking an eye....

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Yeah I have grown immune after having everything you can imagine all over me at one point or another. But working swings and raising the kids has been a great privilege. When first son was born I used to have wear a respirator to change him. I just laugh now.

As to next year, it has become apparent both lower clubs want him to play next year. No redshirt they want him to play up. So now my wife and I have to make the decision. What we will likely do is allow him to play up and play only in the cross ice tournaments as the pace is much slower then full ice. If they ask us to participate in full ice tourneys I will just say hes unavailable that weekend. So he will likely play for the Cougars because its the closest and cheapest and the Sharks house league mite with his buddies that are moving up. The Cougar practices are well run and I think he will get a lot from them. This will also allow him to play the Sundayu10 games for free as they allow all travel kids to participate in then at no additional cost. Looks like about 2500 in fees for next season between both. 1k for house and 1500 for cougars mite travel. We would do blackstars but its 30 min drive no traffic and return drive on weeknight practices in traffic is an hour to 1.5 hours

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

OUCH....

That said, I am excited for Micah....:tu

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Lol from what I remember the Hawks are almost 3k for the season.
Part of the reason we will pick the Cougars less travel obligations, less cost, closer home rink and doing it he has access to unlimited pub skate at the house rink, Sunday house U10, friday house practices, and the Cougar practice all included. Bang for buck its the best deal and given all we want him to do is skate and have fun it seems the best option.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Crappy cell phone pic, but here is the Little One heading out on the ice with her new gear. We still need to get numbers and the "M" for her jersey, but she was pretty proud all the same...
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...21/NewGear.jpg

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Summer Season starts tonight.... I am REALLY happy to have the High Schoolers back on the ice....seems like it has been soooo long, but really only 3 months. Anyway, I'm pretty excited and the Little Man is geeked...

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

UGH....snapped a stick tonight.... Luck has it, he is having one delivered tomorrow, but it also means that I need to order another... It is the one expense that sneaks up on me....

Crushed tonight. 1-6....:td

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Ouch 1-6 no bueno.

Caught a break today with the Cougar mite skate fees. $200 he gets tuesday mite skate, friday U10 practice, sunday U10 games after Hawks MASS ends through summer, and he can skate in another regular hockey class before the tuesday mite skate if he wants. They definitely want him so I am sure thats why.

Tball tomorrow night.

Thursday blackstars skate.

This weekend is the norcal cup rollerhockey championships
He got recruited to play on a U7 team. May have to miss tball game saturday.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Ouch 1-6 no bueno.

Caught a break today with the Cougar mite skate fees. $200 he gets tuesday mite skate, friday U10 practice, sunday U10 games after Hawks MASS ends through summer, and he can skate in another regular hockey class before the tuesday mite skate if he wants. They definitely want him so I am sure thats why.

Tball tomorrow night.

Thursday blackstars skate.

This weekend is the norcal cup rollerhockey championships
He got recruited to play on a U7 team. May have to miss tball game saturday.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Wish I knew why my phone keeps double posting.

SPOS!

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Yea, it was not a banner night for the Spartans.... Hopefully Thursday night goes better.

Good news on the fees!

I look forward to hearing about the weekend rollerhockey....keep me updated & good luck to Micah!

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Much better night with the Varsity tonight.... 7-3 win. Played forward, which is different, but had a few nice chances. Here are a few photos...
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...merHockey1.jpg
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...merHockey2.jpg
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...merHockey3.jpg
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...merHockey5.jpg

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Recently found an OUTSTANDING online shop http://www.icewarehouse.com/ Have ordered twice, both times orders were processed same day and shipped. To me, that means standard shipping is two days.

No processing fees and shipping is free over $100. Also, if you join the IW Club or whatever it is(one time purchase of a $10 t-shirt), all orders are 10% off....

Long story short, I have been doing this for 8ish years and it is the best online shop I have dealt with.....

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

I use their inline section all the time.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Well he did the roller tourney today. There were four teams. They should have taken second, but the team that finished second had a ringer. They lost 7-3 or something and the kid scored all their goals. They did okay for a house formed team that never practiced together. But against the Quakes travel team who won out it was very obvious it was house kids.

Micah scored a fair number of goals, but at times just tried to stay back and play D. They got a medal so he had fun and was proud. He also got recruited by the coach of the house team who is forming a U8 team in the fall. The coach is a really great guy.

Micah is second from left and his buddy Alex who hes been playing ice with for two years and did the ice tourney with is behind him. Second row fourth in. They hung out all day and had a lot of fun.
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...IMAG0083-1.jpg

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Forgot to mention. He got the messier project helmet and liked it a lot. Got the one with the cage and when he saw it he said he wanted to wear a cage like everyone else now. He wore it all day yesterday. At the end of the day he implied he may still want to wear his 50/50 sometimes.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Hockey last night for the girl, hockey tonight for the boy(crossing my fingers that the JV squad has a better outing)....

Private powerskating lesson tomorrow for the boy. I send them both out, because it is "free skate". Ab's goes to the other side of the rink and tries to mimic what they are doing....

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

You know I have been noticing it more and more on the ice and now when we went in to get new shoulder pads, we went another direction. It seems like kids are out there looking like they are wearing football shoulder pads.

We have been waiting for the 11K’s to hit the shelves here and they came yesterday. We drove down to pick some up and first think I noticed was the weight, they are HEAVY. The Little Man put them on and first thing he said, “I feel like a tank.” I kept pushing the shoulder cap down, we tried on a different size, bla…bla..bla…

Grabbed the CCM U+ Pro’s and put them on, ahhhhh….that is what a shoulder pad is supposed to look like. MUCH, MUCH lighter…. Has to be half the weight, maybe more? I am sure there is some sacrifice in protection, but????

Anyway, as it has become now….it was not my decision anyway and after going back and forth a few times, the CCM’s went to the counter…along with a new bag(last one was literally falling apart).

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Very cool about Abby trying to copy. Thats great she has that passion. Its funny how they suprise you. As the off season has progressed and Micah is now practicing with the three clubs I have noticed he prefers the better tougher practices and wants to go to those the most. As I mentioned in the text he almost pulled off the spinorama during shootout practice tuesday. The coaches went nuts. Then on the way home he keeps talking about how he needs to practice in the garage more to get the move right.

As to the shoulder pads they are out of control. Its proven people use them as a weapon.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Kind of a spin on that we were talking about the checking age being raised by USA Hockey.
Scott said its a done deal. Having atleast one boy this will affect and possibly two I am okay with it.

I went out and got the boy a new helmet. We went with the Messier project helmet. Al isnt a fan of it and felt it was flimsy. I will say the rear lower section of the helmet has more play then I expected. It seems designed that way. The upper section seems well made. The helmet is also very heavy even with just a cage and it suprised me. It weighed noticeably more then his youth itech with a 50/50 cage. Its also a pretty big helmet size wise. We decided he really needed an upgraded helmet as he is playing with kids often a foot taller. Now I am wondering though if it was the wrong helmet. Last thing we want is him getting his bell rung this early. You can hit the helmet much harder then the Itech and he says it doesnt hurt.

Hoping Scott and Al chime in on the checking age issue as to pros and cons. As a whole I think its a good thing. I dont see much benefit in rushing checking.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Hell, its been so many years I don't even know what age they start checking anymore.

I do remember I wished it was younger.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Micah likes the contact and hitting a little already. I just dont see the point. The age was 11 and they appear to be moving it to 13. I cant see younger then 11 benefiting from checking.

I may not stick with the M11. Will likely have him checkout the Bauer 9900 before the season starts to see what he prefers.

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

I watched a segment on ESPN's "Between the Lines" re: this. Seems like the players that they talked to, can't remember who they were, both said they were not in favor or the later checking age, saying kids need to learn how to do it and the sooner the better.... Think they were also concerned with not learning to keep your head up, making sure you weren't going to get hit...

Later you start worrying about that, the harder it is to teach or something.... I can't remember, other than them both being against raising the age.

Both sides made a rational argument.

Found the piece....

http://search.espn.go.com/outside-th...ockey/videos/6

Re: Being a Hockey Parent
 

Here is the discussion with Messier, Barnaby and King....

http://www.ovguide.com/video/are-con...117d36eef89c9f



....and speaking of Messier, take a look at him and then this mug...
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...21/Messier.jpg