First Scrimmage

Our opponents in this first scrimmage of the season were a fast-skating team who moved the puck down the ice quickly, especially in the early parts of the game. Their many shots kept our goalies busy. The informal game provided lots of opportunities for coaching. We had our shots, too, and came out ahead by the end of the game. Hope every has had a terrific turkey day. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Minnesota Wild Practice, Part 2

Let's say, you go to the Xcel Energy Center.  You sit way up in the nose bleed seats and settle in for the game.  Putting vertigo aside, you look way down the valley sides and there on the valley floor there's some movement.  If it weren't for the huge TV you might have to squint to see that it's a hockey game.  You can hear the goals, but you can't see them.

But at a practice it's different.  The rink seems small.  You can watch every move, and hear some of what's said.  The players don't talk a lot as they go through their drills. They're too professional for that.  As they concentrate on the work at hand it's clear they're enjoying themselves.  Here's some more inspiration:

After practice the players had to sign some autographs.  Some of the autograph seekers appeared to work for dealers, since they had lots of 8x10 glossies and other stuff to sign.  Sorry I didn't get any paparazzi-style shots of the autograph hounds as they ran down their quarry.

Minnesota Wild Practice, Part 1

While our team was practicing on the south rink, the Wild had an open practice on the north rink.  There's lots more light on the north rink, so I took most of my shots there.  Here's some inspiration:

Cold Practice

Minnehaha Academy's ice rink must be the coldest in the state.  Everyone swears it feels colder inside than out.  That could be due to high humidity and no heat, except for the heaters pointed at the stands.  The staff might turn those on, but only if you ask.

Even so, the rink has warm memories for me.   Our kids learned to skate in the Saturday morning program here.  My son started when he was 3 years old.  To make sure he was enthusiastic, we all participated in the program together.

In 2006, when the school announced a $12 million remodeling project for its buildings, there were plans to update the rink, as well.  Despite completing construction for the main project, ground (ice?) has not been broken on the rink.  A sign by the concession stand indicates less than 40% of the $1 million price tag has been raised.   Given the new economic environment, we probably shouldn't expect changes anytime soon.

Good practice this morning, with the coaches getting the team to work together in a variety of drills.

Teams Are Chosen

Teams have been chosen, and some of us were surprised that the A team will wear Richfield colors. I'm happy with the co-op arrangement, and look forward to meeting the other skaters and parents.

If you read the archived posts, you will see that my son played for Washburn last season, as he had for the four or five seasons before that. I have so many photos of him wearing the Washburn uniform, it's often hard to tell what year each photo was taken. Now with the Richfield uniform, we won't have that problem for this year. Maybe it will be hard to tell later, if he has a few years of wearing the Richfield colors.

For now, I'm looking forward to the difference, and to the new season.

The New Season

Evaluations wound up today, so it won't be long before we learn this year's team assignments for each skater.  

Some of our skaters scrimmaged with New Prague Squirt As today.  The visitors skated well for early season play.