Squirt International and the Hornet's nest...

Hockey is a game filled with cycles.  Sometimes the disappointments stack up to a staggering amount.  And because of these low points?  The highs are truly worth celebrating!

What an intense, emotion filled, exciting and fun hockey weekend we all had.  We had no expectation of how we might do this weekend.  We were one in a field of 64 teams from across the country.  We knew we were in one of the toughest brackets and would face stiff competition.  So we tried to instill as much confidence in our kids as possible.

But we started off the day early Friday morning with the news that one of our players, had a fever of 102 and would not be able to play.  We only have 14 players on our team to begin with, so we would be playing short right off the start.  Fortunately, our kids had some jump in their stride and didn't miss a beat even with messed up line rotations.  We beat St. Paul, 5-2.  Our next game was at 2 at the Scheels arena against another Minnesota team, Mankato. Amazing facility and fun to see our kids play in such an exceptional venue.


 




The team didn't pose near the problem the "big" ice did for our kids.  They played a close gut wrenching game and managed to come away with a 2-1 win.  Whew.  We were just happy to get out of that game. 
It was later that night that we discovered our two wins had put us in the Championship bracket! 




Nolan almost scoring against Mankato...

The puck is under the goalie stick on the goal line...

Great save by our goalie to keep us in the game... one of many he would make!  See the puck tucked inside his leg pad by his skate?  

Our next game was an early 7 am game against... (insert ominous sounding music here) Eden Prairie- the defending Squirt International Champions!!  Oh boy, how would we do?  I was so excited and nervous I couldn't shoot a single picture.  

We got an early lead, but they quickly answered to tie the game.  Then before we knew it, they had scored 2 more goals and suddenly we were down 3-1.  My gut was in a knot!  The goals had been weak and one of our players was hurt during one of them.  Now we are skating two players short.

And here is where I crossed over into being a total Hockey Mom... I went and yelled, screamed, jumped up and down and tried to boost the kids.  I wasn't alone.  We told them they could do it, we told them to keep working and not get down on themselves... and they scored, and the crowd exploded.  When we scored the third time, tying the game up at 3, we pounded the glass and yelled some more.  

We were headed into overtime!  I can't even in my mind tell you when.  But as I stood watching, we peppered the goalie with shots.  He saved it once, then gave up a rebound.  Another shot, another rebound and then I look to see Nolan in the corner reach with his stick and ...

HE SCORES!!  

Nolan received a special medal and NeckLace for scoring the winning goal.

 

Parker won the other medal for his hustle in the game...

And then we got down to the serious business of trading pins! 

But we didn't stay long... we had another game to play... and it wasn't going to be an easy one, we had earned a one way ticket straight into the heart of the Hornet's nest, otherwise known as Edina.  Edina has quite the reputation.  Edina happens to have a 30-0 record having not lost a game all season.  In fact their scores were all 10-0, 18-0, 13-0, etc.  Nobody could come close.

So we brought all the team spirit and pride we could muster.  The texts and fb messages went out to our hockey loving friends.  We filled the rink with black, orange and white.  We donned hockey jerseys and prepared for battle... and 

we got killed- just like everyone said we would.  They were amazing.  We are still asking ourselves, "What was that we all witnessed?"  They won easily, 12-0... but nobody could feel all that bad.  

We were still 3 and 1 and in the top 8 of 64 teams!  To our knowledge its one of the highest finishes of a Moorhead team in the recent past.  

Sunday morning we played Eagan for our final game.  While we looked a little tired and took a lot of penalties, we won the game 5-1 and finished our year with great pride.  We ended up in the top five tied with several other teams- but we'll take it. 

Way to go Moorhead Squirt A's!!! 

Nolan receiving his medal at the end of the game.

The last official shot of jersey #25.  

One more week and then Nolan will officially be a Peewee.  Checking school- here we come!

Our coaches who worked tirelessly with our boys, encouraging them, instructing them, and helping instill character in them.  Well done! We can't thank you enough for all you do...

The pin collection...

The pins of the teams we beat, and the only one we lost to...

So proud to see our name amongst all the top teams!  

We of course went to the championship game at the Scheels Arena. 

Ironically, the other team facing Edina for the championship was Minnetonka... the team we beat earlier in the season.  Oh what could have been... smiles...

Edina won, 7-0.  Its the 6th time they have won the championship.  But thats okay.  We're only Squirts.  Edina, we'll see you at the State tournament when we are in high school- we're coming for you! 

Spark plugs

It seems that I blinked and its Wednesday already. We've had some days off from school. We filled our time with:

letting the boys learn how to make pancakes for lunch and destroying the kitchen all at once

buying (with our Christmas gift cards) and building two new lego projects

playing lots of knee hockey

squabbling over lots of knee hockey

watching movies- Secretariat- we all loved

planning end of hockey season celebrations- yes really- the end-for now

Nolan's team plays in the Fargo Flyer Squirt International Tournament this Friday through Sunday to cap off their travel season.  128 A and B level Squirt teams from across the United States attend this event each year.  One of the highlights is the pins that are traded by the teams.  Nolan was so excited to get his pin book and pins.  The pins our team is going to trade are the 2011 Hockey Day Minnesota pins.  All the teams vie to have "the pin" that  everyone wants to collect.  We're hoping it may be our pin.

 



But this pin symbolizes a lot more than just the event of Hockey Day for me...
For awhile now, the rest of my words haven been stuck.  They're paralyzed, frozen in some cranny of a brain sustained only by hockey, ice, snow, winter, grey, and cold.  Thats why I didn't expect to reach into a box of hockey memorabilia and pull out an emotional spark plug.  I was simply asked to sift through a box of hockey history and memories, and piece the stories together for a book.  But my own memory kept getting in my way.  My own stories.  The ones I still have stuck in my head.
Like the last real conversation I had with my Dad, the day Hockey Day Minnesota was announced, last June.
I was excited when I called him.  Thrilled really.  Dad would love this!  He'd go, he'd watch and cheer from the stands.  Or he could watch on television from the comfort of his home.  My excitement escaped into my words pressuring them to trip over one another on their way out of my mouth.  But as I paused for a breath, I heard it.  The shallow and weak breathing from my Dad.  The faltering voice.  The thinly disguised enthusiasm.  My voice trailed off as I tried to reign it back in.  What had I been thinking?  He wouldn't be able to go.  He wouldn't even see it on television.  I was asking him to be excited for a day we both knew he would never see.  And there is was, hanging in the space of our words stretched across the telephone wire, the unstated acknowledgement that he really was leaving us soon. 
 It changed that day, the way we talked to each other.  The things we said.  The things we didn't say anymore...  

 

Hockey Day Minnesota 2011

By all accounts, Hockey Day Minnesota 2011, hosted by our hockey community of Moorhead Minnesota, was a HUGE success.  The sun shone brightly and made it warm for the fans enjoying a full day of outdoor hockey.  But the warmth created a challenge for the players trying to play on ice that was a sloppy, mushy mess. 

  This is the official game program that my hubby and his uber talented graphic designer, Jena, created for the day.  Between her eye for design, and Rick's photos, I have to brag on them and say they created a beautiful commemorative piece.


My job was to sift through the boxes, and boxes of history and memorabilia to piece together a comprehensive story of the history of hockey in Moorhead.  It took numerous hours, lots of editing and piecing time lines together, and the use of my good friend google when I got stuck.  


We arrived at the rink early Saturday morning.

Colton's team was the first to take the ice at 8:00 am.  It was chilly and we had to break out the hand warmers, but the air was electric with excitement for the events of the day.

Rick took these photos of Colton and his team in dark blue.

Colton with the puck...

and he scores...

Fox Sports North, or FSN broadcast the two high school games played.  Dick Bremer and Kevin Gorg were the announcers.

At first I thought this was a replica of the rink- but duh, no, its a cake!  

Governor of Minnesota, Mark Dayton, with the ceremonial puck drop for the face-off. 

Science lesson for you- did you know that ice painted blue melts faster than red or plain ice?  It wreaked much havoc around the goalie crease, and the blue line.  Co2 was brought out to try and "freeze" it but by this time not much could be done.  

Our high school team, the Spuds, ranked number 15 were playing, Hill Murray, the number 1 ranked team in the state of Minnesota currently.  We were very pleased with how evenly the teams played, even though we lost 3-2.  

 We were so honored as a community to have been chosen to host this annual event in only its 5th year.    After taking in the whole experience you realize that your one piece in the puzzle, was just a fraction of the huge collaborative effort it took to make the day a great success.  It took thousands of volunteer hours, and hundreds of volunteers to make this day such a success, and we all felt really lucky to be a part of it.  

... they're in each other all along...

"The minute I heard my first love story I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. Lovers don't finally meet somewhere. They're in each other all along." 

 Jalal ad-Din Rumi

Happy Valentines Day!!  I have so much to share about our weekend and Hockey Day Minnesota... stay tuned... 

between...

He was sitting at the computer the other day engrossed in a game.  I almost didn't notice.  But then, appearing out from underneath his chair, was a splash of pink.  I had taken my fuzzy pink socks off by the computer late the night before, and he had put them on while he was sitting there.  The tough kid, hockey player, was wearing pink fuzzy socks.

I saw the moment and wanted to capture it.  How many more times will my 10 year old even dare to wear my pink socks?  But he is savvy now, and on to my motives.  He has been blog fodder one too many times apparently.  He tucked his feet underneath him when he saw the camera, and when I still wouldn't go away, he took off the socks and threw them down.  "Mom, I don't want to see pink socks on your blog."

He is growing up.

I guess that is why they are called "tweens."  Not quite a teenager, (thankfully), but not really "little boy" anymore either.  He came home from hockey practice with lots of instructions from his coach about his tournament this weekend.  He quickly set about getting dress shirts, khakis and shoes all ready to go.  Its  the first time he has had to dress up for hockey like the older boys, and the importance of the tourney is not lost on him.  He then gathered shampoo, body wash and deodorant (thankfully, this one is not optional these days.)

He remembered t-shirts, sweats and his favorite boxers.  He must be preparing for an epic floor hockey tourney as he packed 6 shortened sticks.  Sniff, sniff... so mature.  I didn't have to remind him of a thing.  He didn't need my help, or ask for it.

But I smiled when I saw the rest of what was under his clothes.   Hidden underneath the sticks and his clothes, was a pile of his favorite stuffed animals.  Whew.  He is at least a fraction of a little boy still.  I'll take what I can get.

Where will you be February 12th?

The countdown is officially on to Hockey Day Minnesota, 2011.  Last summer it was announced that Hockey Day Minnesota would be broadcast from Moorhead!  Our hockey community has been in the planning stages to host this large and prestigious event for many months now.

Fox Sports North, or FSN, will broadcast two live high school games from our town, on Saturday, February 12th.  In addition, they will broadcast a Minnesota Gophers game, a hockey mom game, and a Minnesota Wild game to name a few in the line up. If you love hockey, tune into FSN for all the day long coverage of events, being broadcast from HERE.

Rick and I have been compiling the history of hockey in Moorhead, and the state of Minnesota, for the official game program that Rick was asked to produce.  We've been up to our eyeballs in stats and news clippings, and interviews and letters.  Hundreds of volunteer hours by our community have gone into the planning of the event.  An outdoor rink was specially constructed outside our arena this last fall.

This Saturday, our Squirt inhouse teams were thrilled to find out they were going to play their games outside on the new rink.

Nolan's inhouse team having their "chalk talk" before the game.

Nolan skating with the puck...

Rick got a quick pic of all 4 teams in Tier I who were playing that morning.  Tier II has an equal number of kids- and these are just our Squirt teams.

Nolan shooting...

and he scores...

Another shot taken...

On the bench...

Nolan chewing on his mouth guard... nice.

Nolan squinting, as his mom squints through the glass just a ways behind him.  I guess he comes by the squint honestly.

We are trying to keep track of Nolan's goals for record keeping purposes, um and because our memory is so poor.  So while his travel team lost a disappointing game, 4-3 Friday night, Nolan had 2 goals in that game.  He had a hat trick in his inhouse game.  And he had 1 goal, and 1 assist in the game against Bemidji, in which we won 3-2.  More importantly, his team played like a team again and looked like they got a bit of their mojo back.  They will need it as they head into this weekend.

We have a busy hockey week and an even busier hockey weekend!  Nolan will head to Minneapolis with Grandpa and Grandma while Rick and I stay here for Hockey Day Minnesota on Saturday.   Exciting, exhausting, exhilarating...  

Incongruous

Did you know that if you play a hockey team from East Grand Forks, Minnesota, that you should look for the rink in Grand Forks, North Dakota?  Neither did we.  After two trips back and forth across the bridge separating the two states, and the two towns, we finally figured it out.  

After a day of cloud and wind and rain 
Sometimes the setting sun breaks out again, 
And touching all the darksome woods with light, 
Smiles on the fields until they laugh and sing, 
Then like a ruby from the horizon's ring, 
Drops down into the night. 

Author: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
                                   

                                                      

As much as I loved these photos, they don't accurately reflect our day.  It was actually blustery, cold and poor travel conditions out in the open highway.  Colton was a stinker and didn't want to go with us out of town.  Poor grandma agreed to take him and had her hands full with a tired and sobbing boy.

Nolan's hockey team which previously beat this East Grand Forks team 8-1, barely hung on for a 4-2 win.  It was a cringe inducing, gut wrenching game that left us all wondering, "where the heck did our hockey team go?"  Does a team just forget how to play?  After a less than stellar day on Sunday as well in which we eeked out a tie, we've heard this weeks practice will be a little different.  No pucks, and lots of skating.  Nolan said he was going to find the garbage can and place it near the bench just in case.  The "Miracle on Ice" skate till they puke or drop scenes from the movie are a visual reminder of the lengths that a coach will go to to unite their team... of course we talk a tough game, but yes, we know they are only 10, wink, wink. 

But I wasn't left feeling badly about our day.  When you can find bits of a blue sky, even for a brief while, and a blaze of orange and red light up the evening ride home, you can't help but know on a deeper level, that the good is still left for us to find if we remember to look for it.