hockey.

#61 is my boy.

it is here and it is in full swing. both the boy and i have strapped the skates on this year. matthew is already having much more fun than last year. he is excited about going to practice, he LOVED his first game, and he wants to get himself dressed. he is skating so much better. it really was like a switch was flipped - he no longer runs while he skates - he finally started gliding. he's not exactly steady on his feet, but this season is already going better than i expected. he has a long way to go as far as learning the game, but he looks cute setting up for a face off!





some of the kids on matthew's team are really, really good. i cannot believe they are 5 and 6 year olds - there is such a range of abilities. some of those kids can spend hours on the ice, while matthew has always had enough around the 1 hour mark.




he was pretty funny during his first game. i didn't really give him much advice other than listen to the coaches and have fun. he set up properly for face offs and always went after the puck and tried to keep up with the play. but like i said, some of the players out there are just really good (on both teams) and inevitably break free of the beehive of boys forming around the puck and take off down the ice.

at one point in the last period matthew got tired of chasing the play around the ice, so he just stood near the other team's net, waiting for a pass. a total unabashed cherry picker. this was apparently ok by his coaches since there is no offside in IP hockey. his strategy eventually paid off, sorta, because he did get a goal. i'd love to describe it to you, but i didn't see it. there was some kind of scrum in front of the goal at the other end of the ice, and before we knew what happened he was credited with an unassisted goal.

i made sure to get a copy of the game sheet.




they defeated rose valley 13-9.