And just like that, the summer went by in the blink of an eye. September came; school started. Two weeks later, the rink opened. Once again we’re back in the school and hockey groove. It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but one of my last posts in the Spring talked about my love-hate relationship with hockey. It’s still going strong. I hate the fact that we spend so many hours at the rink. I love watching my kids play. I hate making lunch at breakfast, dinner at lunch, serving it up at 3:30, only to finally get home at 8:30 at night and hear, “I'm hungry. What can I have?” I love that my kids are great at something I can’t even do. I hate the smell of everything that comes out of their hockey bags. I love sitting in the warm waiting room with all of the other hockey parents. I hate having to bark at the kids 100 times to put down their hockey sticks and do their homework. I love letting the little ones run around and play freely with the other hockey siblings. I hate when my kids cry because I won’t buy them candy from the snack bar. I love cheering their team on. I hate feeling like I’m never home on nights or weekends. I love holding Theo up, face pressed against the plexi-glass, to watch the zamboni smooth out the ice. I hate trying to get everyone out the door and in the car on time for practice. I love shopping for hockey equipment with the boys. I hate that we get home so late, so often, that I don’t get to read bedtime stories to the kids. I love the camaraderie they have from playing and loving hockey. Need I say more?
Despite my ambiguity about our commitment, one thing is crystal clear. The boys love to play. Elliot has been playing goalie again for his team (he also plays out of goal maybe 50% of the time.) I have some fantastic footage of him playing both in and out of goal. Jack, who had a tough season last year moving up to the next age division, got out on the ice this year, and scored the first goal, in the first game of the season, for his team. What a motivator! Both of their teams won the title in the Mayor's Cup last weekend, for their respective age divisions. Jack's team was undefeated in the tournament. Elliot's team lost their first game to their rival, won all their subsequent games, then came back to beat the same team in a rematch in the finals. Both boys' teams finished their games tied, went into overtime, tied again, then had to go to penalty shots to decide the winner. Talk about exciting! Check them out:
Let's start with Elliot in goal...
Making a glove save.
After making a diving stop.
Some video shot from the finals at the Mayor's Cup last weekend. Elliot catches the puck in his glove, again!
And here is another video of Elliot, from a game two weeks ago, when he was awarded a penalty shot during a game.
And, now it's Jack's turn.
