Game v Cottage Grove, Part 4

The game was tied again until the end.

Andrew S. with a shot.

Max D. fired off a pass from a kneeling position, then momentum carried him down.

Jacob.

Matthew.

Jackson.

Game v Cottage Grove, Part 3

More photos from the first game of the Richfield tournament.

Gavin.

Jackson stretched out to make the save, but I believe this was a goal for the other team.

Max B.

Jackson did make the save this time, and Willy got the rebound.

Dylan.

Game v Cottage Grove, Part 2

Our goalies defended against plenty of shots.

Andy P. with a save.

Jacob (left) and Marco (right.)

Dylan in a characteristic position.

The team on its way.

Henri.

Game v Cottage Grove, Part 1

Our home ice tournament started on Friday the 13th. Our luck seemed to go with the date, since our first game, against Cottage Grove, ended in an overtime loss.

But the game started well enough.

Very early on, Garrett made a breakaway and quickly scored.

It was our only goal of the game. Great job, Garrett.

Max D. also looked terrific.

Willy stopped to watch me take his photo. The game's on the ice, Willy.

That's better.

Second Scrimmage v Hopkins, Part 6

Despite Dylan's disappointing drive as displayed in the last post, the game skated along to its conclusion. There was lots of good defense.

Andy P. made a few more good saves.

Matthew made sure to follow up on faceoffs.

Max K. passed the puck past center ice, and...that's it for action from the game at the Hopkins Pavilion.

I had an interesting conversation with Bruno, Max D.'s brother, during the closing moments of the overtime period. He made several cogent and philosophical remarks about the passage of time, and all opportunities being so fleeting. (Example: "Uh-oh, two minutes left. They better score soon. Uh-oh!") We were on the same page.

Earlier, during the third period, he crawled under the bench where I stood and insisted that I take his picture. Here it is:



Up next tonight and continuing through the weekend is the Richfield tournament. We anticipate more exciting hockey action, as well as enriching hockey volunteer opportunities for the parents of players on the home team. Good luck to all the Spartans, skaters and coaches alike.

Second Scrimmage v Hopkins, Part 5

This entire post is devoted to a sequence in which Dylan takes a shot on goal. Almost.

He handles the puck down the ice and approaches the opponents' net, closely followed by a defender.

Dylan closes in, but so does the defender. Their netminder seems to commit herself...

...and Dylan sees his chance. Just a flip of the wrist, up into the net.

But what's this? Is the defender going for the puck, or did he give Dylan a push from his blind side as he was preparing the shot?

Hard to argue against it given their relative positions. When Dylan got back on his feet, the referees didn't react. Dylan was clearly displeased, and probably had a long discussion about the vagaries of youth hockey rule enforcement with Ruth during the ride home. I don't endorse one point of view or another. You can judge for yourself.

Second Scrimmage v Hopkins, Part 4

The next sequence show Andy P.'s quick reactions.

You can see the puck to number 6's right on its way to the goal.

Andy stabbed it and it went over the net.

Max B. thought it was necessary to point out that he had scored. Apparently, one of the opposing players disagreed. The ref sided with Max.

Here's Hunter, bring the puck down the ice.

This looks like it's Eric's goal. But it's hard to tell momentum from a still photo. The puck was moving really fast and ended up (with Eric) behind the net.

Second Scrimmage v Hopkins, Part 3

More photos of the action in the game against Hopkins.

Not all their shots were good. This one went behind the goal as the skater lost his footing.

Marco lined up for a faceoff.

Max B. races after the puck.

Andy P. was just as busy as Jackson. The puck is on the blade of his stick.

Here's Marco with a shot.

Second Scrimmage v Hopkins, Part 2

It's not as if we didn't play any offense.

Here's Gavin,

Marco,

and Jacob.

But we seemed to be blocking shots all night. The defense was up to it.

Here they are lined up for a faceoff. Jackson is trying to see over the opposing players, while Jacob, Henri and Garret wait for the puck to drop.

Second Scrimmage v Hopkins, Part 1

We won against Hopkins in our first outing against them. The second scrimmage versus Hopkins occurred on Sunday evening, February 8. It was a long game, with lots of shotmaking, especially for our opponents. Our goaltenders were busy throughout. At the end of the third period, the score was 3-3. There was still a little ice time left, so the coaches decided to play an overtime period. They scored on a power play, and the final score was 4-3.

Jackson was very busy during the first half of the game, and he made many great saves.

Here's a rebound from another save.

Matthew after a shot.

Back to Jackson and his hard work.

Despite all the best efforts, with that many shots they were bound to score sometime.

Second Scrimmage v Minneapolis Park, Part 5

Here's the continuation of the sequence that started in the last post. I can't find the puck in any of the photos, but Max D. slid toward the goal, passed right through the crease and ended up on his back on its far side. By that time, the ref was pointing out what Max already knew: the puck must have slid under or behind the goalie. Nice job, Max.




This last photo in the sequence has nothing but black jerseys in it, so let's end the photos of the game versus the Storm with a last shot of one of our own.

Here's Jacob, having just completed a shot or a pass.

The game against the Minneapolis Park Storm was everything you could want with one exception. The opponents were excellent (number 20), the referees were entertaining and the game was fast-paced and exciting. All that was missing was our win. Until the game some of us didn't really think of the Minneapolis Park club as being particularly strong. Given that, would we be ready for Hopkins the next night?