Let the Puck Drop

The kids officially started their hockey season last weekend, and it was a boatload of fun, as usual. A&N missed the first two weeks of hockey, which included a few games. Last season this would have been unthinkable under Mr. Hockey because when you play under him, it’s hockey or nothing. I can appreciate some of that enthusiasm, but at times it seemed like too much stress and anxiety about being there and doing the right thing. He’s a great coach, but would almost be better off coaching college players because he’s a bit hard on the kids, not to mention the coaches. He lives for the game and expects everyone to follow suit, and for the most part people do, but it’s a lot to ask of a 9 year-old.

Most parents can appreciate the positives of last season, but I’m sure they also welcome a more relaxed approach. I know I do, from a coaching and parenting perspective. Case in point, missing games. As I mentioned, last year this never would have happened for fear of incurring said person’s wrath, but this season, there was no such stress, and it worked out beautifully. Sure, we missed a game or two, but we were able to slide right back in with ease, and now the kids are back up to speed, or at least close enough. I say this because we did a lot of traveling this past month and it would have been easy to justify not going to California, which would have eliminated the need to miss those games.

Anyway, it was fun to be back on the ice. The kids hadn’t been to practice and I think getting their hockey legs back took a bit of time, but there’s nothing like being thrown into a game to do that. A had to jump in with both feet because she came back to play in a tournament, which meant 4 games. She did fine, even scoring a goal, and she was thrilled to be with her buddies, but you could tell it was a challenging adjustment. N was excited to be with his friends as well, and it was a chance for both of them to spend time with friends and hang out. In fact, A got to hang with HC at her house, then hang with KB at her house, while N got to go to the pancake breakfast with his buddies. All of these were not planned and came up at the spur of the moment, which is fine by me. It throws off the day’s plan a bit, but such is the life of a hockey parent.

It should be interesting what next weekend holds in store for us. Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to Al Rankin for the pic.