Of Ice and Tails

Hello again.

What a weekend we had last weekend.
Not entirely a great weekend but a pretty good ending for the most part.

It started out with a lot of promise and we were all pretty stoked up about it.
The boys had a regular league hockey game in Fredericton on Friday night.
Then the next day we were heading out for the weekend to stay in Saint John and play in a tournament in Hampton, New Bruswick.

We had been looking forward to going back there since last year. Last year the boys' team missed the gold and won silver but this year it looked good for us to bring it home.
B mentioned to me one day last week how good he felt about their chances.

As luck would have it, especially with our Scammells, something happened to screw things up.
At the very beginning of Friday night's game B slipped and landed on the ice directly onto his tailbone.

I didn't see exactly what happened but I knew that he was hurting when he didn't get up right away.
He was able to get up and skate off of the ice. He even tried to go out for another shift but there was no way that was going to happen.
So he left the game to get showered and changed while the game continued.

It would have been almost acceptable if he was in pain that night and woke up the next day feeling somewhat better. At least enough to play in the tournament.
That was not to be.

We applied ice to his tailbone area and gave him ibruprofen to help ease the pain but the poor guy has pretty well been in agony ever since it happened.

For the first few days at home he was up with me to do his paper route but I was the one taking the papers to the door.
He tried like heck to tough it out a bit and do a paper or two but it was easier that he just handed them to me and I dropped them off.
It was better for the last few days and he delivered the papers but it's clear that the pain is still pretty bad.

Cheryl took him to the doctor to get a proper examination.
The doctor doesn't think that anything is broken but a big nasty bruising is almost as bad.
I'm afraid that ice and ibruprofen is all we can do to help him.

One thing that ticks me off about this is that the boys have a practice for the NB Junior Selects baseball team on Saturday and I'm not sure if B will be up for it.

I won't go into it all in this post but we decided that the boys would try out for the provincial team this year. The practices have gone through the winter and the team selection takes place in the spring.

The way I see it, even if they don't make the team they are keeping their baseball skills sharper than most players by continuing through the winter.
In addition, the coaches there teach the guys some great stuff and awesome drills.

We'll see how it goes. At least T will be able to participate and B can watch if he can't participate.

Anyway, back to last weekend.
The first tournament game on Saturday was against Sussex.
It went well and they won that game. It was a dirtier game than we're used to but nobody was injured.

The second game wasn't so great. They weren't able to pull it off.
Coincidentally, remember my last post http://tim4nm.blogspot.com/2012/02/relax-its-just-game/
?
Remember the kid who swatted B with the stick and cross checked him from behind? Guess what team game 2 was against? Yep, they were the home team too.
I told people to watch number 3 to observe his antics.
He didn't disappoint. He was worse than the last time we played them.
Fortunately the officiating was very good and penalties were given where they were needed.

I'm afraid that Game 2 didn't go so well though and our guys lost.
That's okay though. Our guys played a clean game and gave it their best.

We had several hours before Game 3 which gave us time to go back to the hotel to pack up and check out. Most of us did check out but a few decided to stay an extra night since the kids are on March break anyway.
At this point it seemed unlikely to me that our lads would be playing in the finals on Monday. I had to return home to work anyway and would not be able to stay.

Again, B had to sit Game 3 out. His pain wasn't really improving and I didn't want him out there like that. We all agreed that his health was more important.

Game 3 was a bust. They just couldn't seem to catch a break out there. This team was another home team but the opposite of their sister team.
These guys played a clean game of skill which was nice to see.
Their goalie was a wall. The one goal we did get seemed to be a fluke.

Nice try though on our part.
The team had fun and was able to get away and hang around together but it was time to go home.
One victory and two losses wouldn't cut it to make the semi-finals.

Wrong.
In one of those weird twists of tournament fate and points, it worked out that our lads were heading into the semi-finals on Monday while the team that just pounded them was out! That seems weird to me but we weren't going to fight the system.

I wish I could have stayed but it wasn't possible.
Cheryl and the lads booked a room for another night and I headed home.

Now, the team that they had to play in the semi-final was another team from our league in Fredericton. We have beaten them and they had beaten us through the season.
They had won all 3 of their games to get to the semi-finals.
We had only won 1 and lost 2.

Add the fact that B was sitting the game out and wouldn't be scoring against them as he often does.
Another of our top scorers had to leave the tournament Sunday and couldn't be there at all on Monday.

I'd say the odds were stacked against our lads.

But, the hockey logic fairy wasn't around for the semi-final game and whackiness ensued.
Our guys beat the other team handily and was going to the final game later that afternoon.

Another bizarre thing was that the final game was against that Sussex team that we beat in the first game. They had also managed to make it to the finals with a less than stellar tournament record.

B was determined that he was going to play in the final game. I was dreading the thought of someone smacking into him or him losing his balance and falling making his pain worse than ever.

He took it easy though and played defense. He was suffering after the game but at least he was able to go and be part of the team for the big game.

Our guys gave it a good shot but couldn't quite pull it off.
They lost the game 3-2 and took the silver medal.

Pretty darn good considering the day before we were convinced that the tournament was over for us.

I don't have to say how proud I am of them.

Another interesting thing to point out is that for every game Cheryl was behind the bench coaching the team.
She is the team manager and has taken the courses required to be a coach but she had never coached the boys' hockey before.

The team has 3 coaches. Two of them are university age guys. At first I thought that they had taken the coaching positions as part of a school course requirement but I was told that one mentioned that they wanted the experience for their resumes.

If that is the case I think the FYHA should have suggested that they start out with a team of younger players and work up to coaching our boys' level.
At this point in our boys' hockey they should have coaches that are fairly experienced and know a bit more about what they are doing.

In previous years our coaching staff decided that the Captain and Assistant Captain positions would rotate among all of the team members throughout the season. I liked this system a lot, especially since this is Recreational level play.
Every kid on the team had a chance to feel important and be a leader for at least a short period.
It didn't matter if they were the top scorer or fastest skater.

These coaches took their favourite kids and gave them the C and A's and that's it for the season.

It doesn't matter that B has scored a ton of goals and assisted almost everyone else in scoring or that T has showed repeatedly that he is arguably the best defenseman in the league.

In one of my videos from a game, B makes an amazing drop pass faking out the defenseman and giving the puck to a teammate to score a snap goal.
Following the goal, B skates over as the goal scorer is going by to give him a congratulatory fist bump. The other kid skates right past B, the guy who made his goal possible, and heads for the rest of the team.
I'm thinking that the other guy probably didn't see B and missed his fist bump.
It's still an upsetting video to watch though and I feel so sad for B.

I had learned many years when I played hockey that an unwritten rule is that if you score an assisted goal the FIRST member of your team that you seek out to celebrate with is the player who assisted you.
I have stressed that to my guys and they live by it without exception.

I sent a note to one of the young coaches suggesting that he may want to have a little chat with the team and mention this as a suggestion to them.
He blew me off and said that it wasn't necessary.
Fair enough. It's his team to coach as he wants.

One of the young coaches was away for the weekend. The other decided on the day of the tournament that he couldn't afford the cost of the hotel and was not going to attend. I can understand that.

It would have been nice though if he had told us sooner rather than as we were on the highway to the tournament.
No matter. Cheryl stepped up. Her and Coach Raymond took care of business and got the job done.
Nice ending for her first coaching outing wasn't it?

If I sound a tad harsh about the other coaches I apologize but will explain.

The team has a Facebook team page with those two coaches and practically the whole team as members. I had asked to be part of it and was accepted.
It worked out very well. Cheryl constantly sends out emails to the parents about upcoming games and practices and general league goings-on.
Most of the kids on the team never see those emails but are always on Facebook.

When Cheryl sent her emails I was a recipient so I would copy the message and paste it onto the Team group wall.
Numerous times one of the kids would post a question or concern, I would get a copy by email, and get an answer for them.

On the night before the game I was feeling rather sad that I was going to miss the game so I posted this message on the team wall in the hopes that they would see it before their games the next day.

"Good luck in the semi final tomorrow boys. I wish I could be there with you. I'm really proud of you all no matter what happens.
Special congrats to Cheryl who stepped up and went behind the bench to coach like a champ. We know that her and Raymond won't let you down.
Go get em guys. :)"

That seems like a very nice message doesn't it? I wished them luck and toasted Cheryl and Raymond for their great work.

Withing ten minutes or so of posting B had seen it and had "liked" my post.

The young coach who was away for the weekend and was the Facebook page moderator also added a note to my post wishing the boys luck.

Then a few minutes later I recieved an email that the moderator had changed the group from "public" to "private".
I was curious as to what that was about and went onto Facebook to have a look at the group and see what was going on.

It turns out that the "private" thing means that I'm not part of it anymore.
The boys are still in the group and I found out that my inspirational post was removed.
I sent a couple of messages to the coach/moderator to find out what is going on but have not yet had the courtesy of a reply.

Several times I reread what I had posted to make sure that it was worded properly in case something in it was misinterpreted. It looks fine to me.

Truth be told, I really don't care.
On the day it happened I was bewildered and wanted to sort it out.
Now that I've thought about it I don't care. I haven't seen him yet since then but even when I do I won't bother saying anything.

It's a shame that the players who took advantage of my informational postings won't be able to anymore. They'll have to rely on the email messages and their teammates now.
I was doing it as a courtesy and didn't mind at all.

The season is less than a month away from being over and petty things like a Facebook group aren't worth caring about.

I will say that if next year the boys are picked to play on a team with coaches like this season I will politely ask that they be switched to another team.
Even if they end up winning the final gold medal as they did last season I don't think my guys have enjoyed this year as much as before.

We still have a great time watching and the boys totally love playing but the team doesn't seem to have bonded together too much.

As manager, Cheryl has done her best to plan team activities such as the bottle drive and the parent/player game.

She spent hours planning for the tournament this past weekend. She arranged for the team to stay in the same hotel at a discount. Cheryl worked with the East Side Marios restaurant near the hotel and planned an excellent team meal at a great price.

The rest should be covered by coaching staff.
A good coach should talk to the players about unwritten rules, manners and matters of etiquette.
An exceptional coach will leave a positive lasting impression on a player that stays with a kid for their whole life.

Not to worry. Hockey season will be coming to a close soon.

There's still a ton on snow on the ground but we're already preparing for baseball season.


Stay well,

Tim

Relax, It's Just a Game

It's been difficult to find time to write this. It's been in my head for a couple of weeks.
I touched on this a couple of years ago in relation to my kids and their attitudes of the sports that they play. My concerns of that time have totally vanished. The boys really enjoy their sports.
More recently I have posted about coaches who take it a little too seriously. More of that is in here.

If games are lost our guys don't sulk or dwell on it. We just enjoy the fact that they're playing and doing their best while having fun.

I admit that there are times when my own frustration level rises but these are usually due to what I feel is poor sportsmanship or less than stellar officiating. I've learned to bite my tongue as much as I can though.

Sometimes I miss when something bad goes down but hear about it from someone else afterwards.
Quite often I dismiss what I saw and figure that I may not have seen it correctly.

One thing that I am thankful and proud of is that my sons and the other members of their hockey team rarely retaliate.
Obviously they aren't always angels but for the amount of garbage I have seen them put up with they're doing darn well.

Check this out though.
Ever since the boys started playing hockey I have done my best to capture every goal and assist on video. I've missed a couple but have done surprisingly well.
I have almost 20 minutes of videos of T and B's goals and assists.

Something else I have learned about my videos is that while I'm catching the goals and assists I ALSO catch what is going on around it.
Several times I have been alarmed/disgusted at things I see.

Here are a couple of recent examples. I have done screen captures from the videos.
These first 2 were from a game back in January at a tournament in Fredericton Junction. Our guys wore the Bruin's black and yellow jerseys.

Both pictures are from the same game.
Fortunately the team they played against isn't a local team and they don't play against them very often.

In the first one that is my son B in the middle.
The player right beside the goalie and B had just been behind the net trying to get the puck. Another player had managed to get it and shot it up the ice.
I was watching and there were no issues with B and the other player. They did some minor scuffling to get to the puck but nobody was being rough or overly physical with the other.
When the puck left they just parted ways.

What we see in this picture is a third kid who was not involved with B or the other taking his stick and hitting B on the side of his leg. It was a pretty good smack too. I drew a blue arrow to show where he hits him.

It didn't hurt B but stung a bit.
You can see tell that everyone else's attention was on the other end of the ice and nobody would have seen this if I had not happened to still be recording.

I am at a loss to figure out why this kid did this. I didn't notice them having any altercations before this but they may have.

Did this kid do it because he was angry that B had scored the first goal against them? Or he feel that B roughed up his teammate when they were digging for the puck?

I don't think there is any excuse for taking a sucker shot to anyone like this. He didn't get called for it.



This next one ires me a bit more since it happened right in plain view of everyone and the other player wasn't called for it.
It's the same team as the one above but a different kid from the other team.

B had been out in front of the net and was in the process of getting over to where the puck was.
He had not had any contact with another player yet and was just going for the puck.

Number 15 on the other team came behind B and crosschecked him as he was reaching the puck.
B didn't fall but was pushed pretty solidly. It could have been very ugly if B had fallen into the boards.

I understand that the officials are only human and can't be and see everywhere at once. They do the best that they can.
But why didn't that linesman right there call this? These are the the officiating moments that irk me. If B had been hurt I would certainly have followed it up.



I openly confess that when I played hockey in my youth I was a hothead. I retaliated too often when someone hit me too hard or swatted me with their stick. I should have been more like my own kids and just skate away.

The biggest difference between when I played recreational level hockey and today's recreational level hockey is that we played a physical contact game from when we were little all the way up.

Physical contact is only allowed in the competitive levels here now, not recreational.

You know something though? As rough as we were with each other in those days we would never intentionally do something to try and actually injure the other guys. Even when we fought we kept our gloves and helmets on and just let off some steam.
The fact was that we knew these other guys. We had probably played on the same team with them in prior seasons. We went to school with them. We hung out with them. In the summer we played other sports together.
I can't imagine how terrible I would have felt if I had actually caused real harm to any of the other guys.

Imagine what people would have thought about me? Imagine walking through the hallway at school and people looking at you as "that guy" who hurt so-and-so.
That's nothing to be proud of. Not in my mind anyway.

The biggest problem that I am seeing in the boys' hockey now are an increasing number of kids who are actually a genuine danger to others.
A bigger problem is that when they have already shown their true colours they are allowed to remain in the league and do it again.

There is one lad who was on our boys team a couple of years ago. He seemed like a fairly decent kid back then. I had nothing against him.

This year he has been suspended for attacking other players.
Once, perhaps his emotions got the best of him. Two or three times, this kid has issues that need to be dealt with by those qualified to do so.
There is no place for them among the others who want to have fun and play the game.
The FYHA isn't a babysitting service or for disciplining our kids.
That's a parent's job.

This is about another boy whose team played against us a couple of weeks ago.
I had not actually noticed his behaviour in the other times we played against them.
I certainly did in this game.

In this game our team was losing for most of the game.
With about three minutes left in the game one of our guys scored and tied the score at 3-3.
I was standing at one of my usual areas behind the other team's goal.
When we got the tying goal I noticed this kid out the side of my eye swing his stick and hit the boards with it. He was visibly crying and obviously angry.
I thought it was a bit much for a player to be this upset at a recreational level but I was happy that we had tied the game and didn't pay him any more attention.

With about one minute left we scored again to go ahead 4-3. It was a great goal too. The kids were passing it well and really deserved it.

Then, with only 7 seconds left in the game my son B raced down the ice and backhanded a beautiful shot into the top corner to seal the game 5-3.

I captured this goal on video. When I watched it later on my computer I happened to notice a brief spot where the kid I mentioned above takes his stick to the goalpost of their net. I wasn't paying any attention to him at the time and missed it.
Here's a screen capture of it. My guy is celebrating and the other kid is swinging his stick.



This isn't the worst of it either.
A good friend of mine who's son was playing in the game after ours was watching our game from just off to the right of my picture.
He was watching this kid pretty closely. I was stunned to find out what I had missed.

After our team tied the game up this kid took off down the ice after our top player and speared him. Our player went down but no penalty was called.
When our team scored goal number four this boy took a run at his OWN GOALIE and speared him! His teammate!
I was told that this boy is continually smashing and swinging his stick around in games when he is angry.

Why isn't he being dealt with? Certainly they must know that there is a problem here.
If he is being dealt with it's not working.

One day someone is going to get seriously hurt by these types of players.

It's pretty clear to me.
Fix the problem before then. Deal with it now.
If it can't be easily remedied then these kids should be kept out until it is.

My last point is about those coaches who take it far too seriously.

About a month ago we played against the team that has the best player in the league.
This boy has been playing at the Triple A competitive level up until now.
Unfortunate circumstances have made it difficult for his family to handle the extra travel and added expense of playing competitive so he is in recreational hockey this year.

He is an incredible player and consistently scores the majority of his team's goals in every game. Quite often unassisted.
He is a nice boy and I definitely don't blame him for going out there and doing what he is capable of.

What bothers me is the attitude of his coach.
It appears to me that this coach expects to win every game and will not accept defeat.

In the last game against them we were losing 5-4. The superstar had scored 3 of their goals unassisted.

With 1.7 seconds left in the game our player made a great move and popped it in to tie the game.
I had never been so happy for a tie game as I was that night. The kids played their hearts out. Even if they didn't get a victory the tie was just as sweet.

The way I saw it was that there were no losers in the game. Everyone could be happy and satisfied with that outcome.

It appears that I was wrong.
I noted that I didn't see the other coach after the game.

One of our parents told me that as soon as we scored the tying goal the other coach looked furious and stormed out the back door by the team's bench.
He didn't speak to anyone or shake any one's hand. He just stormed out.

If he had somewhere to go in a rush at least he could have called over to the our coaches and then left.
Both teams always shake hands either before or after every game.
How many seconds would that have taken him?

I would expect that if someone behaves like this at a hockey game that it must affect other aspects of their lives.
Are they happy in their lives?
I understand the desire to win and competitive drive but shouldn't there be some downtime where you just stand back and enjoy the game?

Where are Bobby Orr and Ken Dryden? Mr. Orr and Mr. Dryden know more about The Game than anyone else ever could. Perhaps a trip to Fredericton for a little talk is in order?

These are a bunch of kids for crying out loud. This isn't competitive level hockey.
It's just a game after all.
Part of the definition is: Game - An activity providing entertainment or amusement.
Look it up.

Stay well,
Tim

Simply, The Best

What a surprise. Another blog about hockey. :)
This one is a little different though.
Our family is in total agreement that this past weekend was the best and most successful sports weekend that we have ever had.

I dare not diminish the baseball championship that they won last fall. That was certainly outstanding and was the first time that any team the boys have been on had gone all the way to get the big prize at the end of the season.

But with all things considered and how it all played out, this past weekend was one that will never be forgotten.

It didn't start out too well though.
Over the past couple of weeks we've been having fabulous warm weather which had done a nice job of melting the huge piles of snow that have been around us for months.
Then last Friday, April Fool's Day, Mother Nature decided to play a joke on us and pounded us with a snowstorm.
The boys' semi-final hockey game was scheduled to go in the late afternoon.
Initially we were convinced that the game was going to be cancelled due to the horrendous road conditions but as the afternoon went on it became clear that the show would go on.

The final Championship game was to be played the next day so if the semi-final was cancelled there was no place to squeeze it in before the final game.

Personally I wasn't too thrilled with this. I didn't see the sense of people risking their lives because the FYHA couldn't find a way to move things around.

I was at our Fredericton office not too far from the arena but Cheryl was going to have to drive all the way from New Maryland through the blizzard with the boys to get to the rink.
T had been sick and didn't go to school that day. It didn't look like he would be able to play anyway.
B was coming out of a cold and was still sniffly and achy.
We decided that this was not going to happen. Our sons were just going to have to miss the game.

T had a long nap that afternoon. When he woke up he announced that he was ready to play if the game was on.
B was ready to go no matter how he felt.

So Cheryl made a couple of calls to parents of some other players who live in our area and have better vehicles for handling the road conditions.
Cheryl and T were picked up by one family and B was picked up by another and I met them at the rink.

I was surprised but everyone on our team made it to the rink on time. The other team was missing a player or two but was ready to go.
The referee and two linesman were there on time and the game went on.

It started out a little slowly but our team eventually got their groove and the barrage of goals against the other team began.

As the game went on I was sending out updates on my Facebook and Twitter of the score.
A friend whose son is on the other team and is on Facebook had decided against trying to get to the arena. When she realized that it was her son's team we were playing she jokingly sent a message asking if our kids could maybe not beat them so badly.

Well, once that train started down that track nothing I could say would slow it down.

Our kids ended up winning 7-0.
B got himself another hat-trick for good measure.

When I think about it now it could have gone either way even though the score doesn't reflect that.
It seemed that the other team's goalie was just having a bad day and missed some things that he usually could have saved.
In our end our goalies were pulling off some awesome saves that they may not have done on another day.
I do admit that our team is quite strong with B and T and several other good players but I don't know if they were 7-0 strong.

Regardless, they did it and had to rest up and get sleep before the big game the next day.

The Championship game was against the Stars who had become our biggest rivals. We just didn't like them. There were a couple of kids on there who weren't always the cleanest players.
We played them in the Hampton tournament a little while back and they beat us in overtime with the help of some very puzzling officiating.

One of the players who is in B's class at school made sure that he bragged aloud to everyone how they beat B's team for the gold medal.

Plus, they beat us in a shootout for the bronze medal in the Christmas tournament.

We did beat them a couple of weeks ago but I was really hoping that we would not have to play them again.
No such luck.

My guys went to bed early Friday night, had a great breakfast on Saturday and ate some raisins for energy as I told them to do.
T still was not feeling 100% but would hold his own.

For some bizarre reason the top scorer on the other team was away and didn't play.
The game should be a breeze then right?
Not likely.

The Stars scored first and were ahead 1-0 for a very long time. They were playing a solid game. It was scary to think what would have happened if their star player was there.
For some reason our best players were having a hard time getting the job done. Plus, the other goalie was pulling out some magic from midair with some of his saves.

Finally we scored a goal and tied it up in the second period. It was 1-1.

Well into the third period I was really thinking that this thing would go into overtime and I wasn't thrilled with the thought.

With 8 minutes left in the third, B did one of his spectacular end-to-end, deke 'em all plays and popped the puck into the top corner past the goalies glove. That was good timing, I'll say.

Now could they hold on for eight more minutes to win this thing?
I should mention that this game was three, fifteen minute stop-time periods which was different than usual. In regular games the play was straight-time non-stop up until the last five minutes of the game when it became stop-time.

A couple of minutes later our fears were realized when the Stars tied it up.
Regulation time ended with a 2-2 score and it was going into overtime. (I'm convinced that overtime was created to make anyone watching or involved with the game go insane with frazzled nerves.)

The overtime period was a wild one to say the least. There were so many opportunties and so many saves to beat them I couldn't count.
But no-one scored and they had to go into a shootout. Rats.

To me a shootout is a terrible way to end any game of any kind. Admittedly each team has several chances and uses different players for each shot but I really don't think it's a fair representation of the team's skills.

Each team had 4 shooters take their turns and each team had 1 goal to show for it.

The Stars player went down for the fifth shot and was blocked out by our goalie.

Then our fifth player got ready to go.
This boy is an awesome player and had done some excellent plays over the season but seemed to have a tendency of shooting the puck directly at the goalie rather than where the goalie wasn't.

If there was ever a time for him to do this differently this was it. I was right down by the other team's net and watched him coming down. I almost didn't want to look but did so anyway.

It's a darn good thing that I did too. The lad pulled some magic out of his hat and zipped a perfect wrist shot into the corner.

Gold Medal! Sweet. It wasn't the prettiest victory but it worked perfectly for me.
Those other losses to these guys didn't matter anymore. This was the game that counted and our kids did it.

What a moment. It's impossible to tell you just how proud we felt. Beyond words.

The team manager had made a very wise decision to have the end-of-season party that same evening at Killarney Lodge up at Killarney Lake just north of Fredericton.

That was such a blast. The coaches and manager had gone and had trophies made for every player AND gave them the gift of a new graphite stick each!
Cheryl did up one of her special Odes to the Peewee Sharks and read it to everyone. She did a spectacular job too.
The Ode is a poem.
My father started composing Odes many years ago when he lived in Toronto and would write one every time a friend was retiring or moving on or whenever a special occasion came along.
He wrote Odes for the weddings of my sister and myself too.
For the last couple of years Cheryl has started doing them and is a natural talent at them.

There was great food and assorted sweets for everyone to load up on.

I was very impressed with the cake. Here is a photo of it.




You would think that this day could not get any more awesome than that wouldn't you?
It's not over yet.

Tha assistant coach had everyone over to his house for the kids to play road hockey in the court.
It was raining a bit but the kids had a blast.
Inside the house the adults were treated to chicken wings, fruit trays, vegetable dips and whatever beverages we desired. (The assistant coach works for a huge international beverage manufacturer and gets a pretty good deal.)

It felt like the evening should be winding down before long when the assistant coach mentioned something about the Varsity Reds.

PARDON?? What did he say?? I must be hearing things!!

You see, the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds men's hockey team proved just last week that they are the best team in the entire country by winning the University Cup in the final CIS tournament in Fredericton.

This is the some of the best hockey I have ever seen. (With the exception of our kids' games of course. ) :)
Our family has attended as many of these games as we could over the last several years and we love it. The boys can name every player on the team. Fredericton's university hockey is without question the best show in town.
The Varsity Reds players define what being a top athlete really is. Their skills are outstanding. Their coach is regarded as one of the best in the sport.
Plus, they are all great guys.

We had met some of them on numerous occasions and they are always friendly and happy to talk to a fan.
Truly a great bunch of lads and absolutely deserving of the national crown.

B and I went to one of the CIS tournament games and T and I were at the final game.

Anyway, back to this.

The assistant coach informed us that most of the UNB team was across the road at that very moment having a party and the University Cup was with them!

It doesn't get much better than that.

Check this out.




Yep, that's my sons holding the University Cup with most of their favourite UNB players in the picture with them.
Unfortunately our top favourite player, Hunter Tremblay, was not there. He was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers a couple of days before and was on his way to Oklahoma to join the farm team. That's a shame for us but excellent for him.
We've loved watching him play and are really going to miss having him in town but we certainly hope he becomes a star in the NHL as he was here.
I know the boys were thrilled with the whole scene but I was on cloud 9 too.


So, that's the story of what was the Scammell's best sports weekend.

So far... :)


Stay well,
Tim