Being a Hockey Parent

[Ahbroody]

$hit that reminds me. In the mail tomorrow.

[Ahbroody]

Boy got recruited to play for this unofficial roller team formed from
Basically its all 6 year olds that are supposed to play mite 7-8 year old players. I said maybe. They want to go play in some tourney like 1.5 hrs away next week. Not so sure.

He's currently trying to do a between the legs Michigan on roller. hoping he will be able to pull it on ice by mid summer. He is obsessed with trick shots. I showed him this video and he says he wants to learn all this. I think roller is awesome for learning puck skills.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rOQl...e_gdata_player

[E.J.]

Took a beating on the ice today with the Select Team.... The team looked a mix of tired and disinterested. Jackson spent 3 separate occasions in the box(cross check, elbowing, high stick)...the last giving them a hat trick worth of kids in the box(pictured)....

All that said, it was ice time and the parents seem to be a nice bunch....so it wasn't a total loss.

[E.J.]

New mouth guard courtesy of Mike(ahbroody)... He says he really likes it and most important, he has it in his mouth....

[Ahbroody]

There is something missing from the pictures. Hes missing his chew toy hanging out the front.

[Eleven]

Originally Posted by Ahbroody

There is something missing from the pictures. Hes missing his chew toy hanging out the front.

Hah!

I am on the board for my son's league, and this weekend the rink was packed with games from house, select travel and my son's team hosted 2 AAA teams for a round-robin weekend.

Saturday night I got an email from the board, there was some incident with a select travel game. Apparently a bunch of kids from one team didn't have mouth guards and they got warned. A parent went to the pro shop and bought enough for all the players but the coach refused to make them wear them.

Then it got out of hand. In the end, the coach got enough penalties that he cannot coach again until there is a hearing.

I don't know 100 percent of the details, because there was even more issues with another game. In this one, the Refs were berating the parents working the clock, even using derogatory language towards the players.

Oh the wonderful world of Youth Hockey!

[E.J.]

Originally Posted by Eleven

Hah!

I am on the board for my son's league, and this weekend the rink was packed with games from house, select travel and my son's team hosted 2 AAA teams for a round-robin weekend.

Saturday night I got an email from the board, there was some incident with a select travel game. Apparently a bunch of kids from one team didn't have mouth guards and they got warned. A parent went to the pro shop and bought enough for all the players but the coach refused to make them wear them.

Then it got out of hand. In the end, the coach got enough penalties that he cannot coach again until there is a hearing.

I don't know 100 percent of the details, because there was even more issues with another game. In this one, the Refs were berating the parents working the clock, even using derogatory language towards the players.

Oh the wonderful world of Youth Hockey!

WOW..... Yea, who wants to have a kid wear something that is proven to protect.....

That said, at this point....and I have said it before in this thread....nothing from parents and coaches in youth sports surprises me anymore.... Disappoints, yes....surprises....nope....

[E.J.]

Originally Posted by Ahbroody

There is something missing from the pictures. Hes missing his chew toy hanging out the front.

Originally Posted by E.J.

New mouth guard courtesy of Mike(ahbroody)... He says he really likes it and most important, he has it in his mouth....

[E.J.]

Couple of the Little One this weekend... Man it was a physical game, the coach even said something apologetic to me after....(the team they played did need to be reigned in a bit). I think sometimes he feels like he needs to protect her... But truth be told, I think she is the most physical kid on their team.

[E.J.]

How did the boy & the Steam do this weekend, Scott?

[Eleven]

Originally Posted by E.J.

How did the boy & the Steam do this weekend, Scott?

Pretty much what we expected. We hosted the #10 team, Indy Ice and a team closer to our ranking, #65 Pittsburgh Selects (coached by Mario Lemieux's brother). Our boys are ranked #58 in the USA.

We beat Pittsburgh the 2 times we played them and lost to Indy both times we played them. Pittsburgh did beat Indy once, so they got a great moral boost.

We lost 4 very good players to Indy 2 years ago, 3 defensemen and a goalie, so they are our most hated rivals. Sadly, we haven't beat them in 3 years, so we cheered Pittsburgh in their victory today.

[E.J.]

Happy Holidays....

[J0eybb]

Awesome Christmas Pic.

[Eleven]

That Christmas pic is great!

I forgot to mention earlier, when we were leaving the rink after the games this weekend, one of our dads came up to me and asked if I'd be interested in buying a stick he just got for his kid. He ordered it online and forgot to check if it came with stickum. His kid hated it and only used it this weekend.

So I was able to pick up an Easton Stealth RS intermediate for $75.00, its less than a week old and was only used in 4 games. The dad was so pissed, he thought his kid was being spoiled about not wanting to play with it without the stickum, but he didn't want to just give the stick away.

My kid won't stop growing, and luckily there are a handful of boys on the team bigger than him, so I'm working the 'Hand-me-down' angle as often as I can. Got him X60 skates last month, then this stick, and we also got him an Easton Synergy girdle from one of the families for him to try.

There are a few boys on the team who swear by girdles as opposed to regular hockey pants. The ones we just got are only 1 size larger than my kid is wearing now (which is too small) so I don't think he will be in them too long, they look snug but I'm told they are meant to be. I like the idea of all that extra protection being form-fitted, so we'll see how he likes it. Anyone have experience with the girdle and shells?

[E.J.]

Originally Posted by Eleven

So I was able to pick up an Easton Stealth RS intermediate for $75.00, its less than a week old and was only used in 4 games. The dad was so pissed, he thought his kid was being spoiled about not wanting to play with it without the stickum, but he didn't want to just give the stick away.

SCORE!!!!!!!!

[Ahbroody]

Nice that's the price on the youth version.
I checked out the youth version and Easton returned to making the youth sticks with the kevlar wrapped blade on the Stealth RS youth same as the big version. At 70-75 its the best made/longest lasting stick for 8U. The EQ50 was a pile of $hit in the youth version, blade chipped and broke easily. Micah has been using the S19 I grabbed for $40 for about 4 months and its holding up well. Thats skating 4-5 days a week. Hoping between this one and the other we will make it till late summer and the clearance sales.

[Eleven]

Originally Posted by Ahbroody

Nice that's the price on the youth version.
I checked out the youth version and Easton returned to making the youth sticks with the kevlar wrapped blade on the Stealth RS youth same as the big version. At 70-75 its the best made/longest lasting stick for 8U. The EQ50 was a pile of $hit in the youth version, blade chipped and broke easily. Micah has been using the S19 I grabbed for $40 for about 4 months and its holding up well. Thats skating 4-5 days a week. Hoping between this one and the other we will make it till late summer and the clearance sales.

That reminds me, we bought Cam an intermediate APX in November. My wife made some comment in passing about 'don't break it too fast, it cost $240'. The kid said 'I'll be careful with it.' Then I said Hell no, don't change *anything* you do, cause you'll change EVERYTHING trying to be careful with the stick!

I know sticks break and wear down pretty fast, compared to other equipment, and with prices like that (the RS and APX are virtually the same price) you sure don't want your kid breaking it on day 31, but you also don't want him thinking about breaking the stick every single shift.

As far as my kid, I told him to stop thinking about it right now, go play your game like always and if the stick does break on day 31, we'll deal with it then.

I know the APX and the Stealth RS are supposed to be strong top of the line sticks, but I watched one of the smallest kids on our team (barely 100 pounds soaking wet) break 2 APX's in the last 2 months (they may have been Juniors, I will have to ask). I feel pretty bad for his parents, they were only like 2 weeks outside the 30 day no-questions window on the first one.

The one thing we found out early on was that you truly get what you pay for. We don't go buying the newest-latest just for the sake of having it (although we do have parents on the team that do that). We just try to be smart about spending our money, especially now that it seems he is growing faster and faster.

Hand-me-downs are saving us hundreds right now, and I hope to continue that trend as long as possible!

[E.J.]

Originally Posted by Eleven

I know the APX and the Stealth RS are supposed to be strong top of the line sticks, but I watched one of the smallest kids on our team (barely 100 pounds soaking wet) break 2 APX's in the last 2 months (they may have been Juniors, I will have to ask). I feel pretty bad for his parents, they were only like 2 weeks outside the 30 day no-questions window on the first one.

A kid on my sons team broke his APX(adult) about 40 days in.... I hope my son's does not see the same fate. Interesting, as he replaced it with a RS. He has had an X60, TotalOne, APX and now a RS in the past 18ish months... I am interested to see what he thinks...


Just dropped the kids off for a little pond hockey, I may run back and take a few photos....

[Eleven]

Originally Posted by E.J.

I am interested to see what he thinks...

So am I! My kid practiced with his RS last night and liked it, we'll see which one he favors this weekend in St. Louis...

[Ahbroody]

Wow that was quick.