This blog has been in its reverse hibernation for long enough.
The cold spell in October shocked us all back into thoughts of hockey, even if November feels like baseball weather. The high temps notwithstanding, it's hockey time. The teams are chosen and the new blog for some of the former 2008-09 Richfield Squirt As is over here at Wordpress. This blog will track the Minneapolis-Park Pee Wee B2 Black team.
But there's more. The former Spartans don't all play on the same team this year. Differential development of hockey skills, increased competition from players who weren't on last year's team and the shifting affiliations of youth hockey association politics have swizzled them up quite a bit. You can keep track of the players on the Minneapolis-Park Pee Wee B1 team here, at Mike Lieb's new blog.
See you at the rink!
Showing posts with label Rules and administration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rules and administration. Show all posts
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Tournament Volunteers
It takes a lot of work to put on a tournament, probably quite a bit more than I understand. But I do know that parents have a lot of fun volunteering.
On Friday night, I managed the penalty box while Jon (Jackson's dad) ran the scoreboard and Cubby (Andrew S.'s dad) kept score. The sum total of my contribution for the evening was opening the door to the penalty box once. I don't remember the infraction, but it was a 2 minute penalty. After less than the two minutes were up the kid let himself out, because he knew, as I did not, that he could leave once the opposing team scored on a power play. I should have snapped a few photos that night (sorry Jon and Cubby) but I had the kind of job that took a lot of concentration. If I hadn't opened that door just right, there's no telling what kind of second-guessing could have ensued. Games have hinged on less. (Hinged...get it? Ha, ha, uhhh.)
The next night lots of parents were ready to do their duty for the Richfield tournament. I arrived early for my session in the booth. The previous game was still ongoing. The teams kept up the pace right until the end, but they were still tied after three periods. They played a sudden-death overtime period four-on-four, but there was still no breaking the tie. Then they had a shoot out. The first skater scored, and so did the second. The third skater missed, and so did the fourth. The fifth skater missed, but the sixth scored. There was jubilation on one side, dejection on the other. Ryan (Andy P.'s dad) can correct me if I got the sequence wrong.
Here he is watching the action in that game as he runs the scoreboard.
Dave (Max B.'s dad) did the announcing during the game.
Standing next to him is Derrick, the EMT at the game. He's been handling injured players on the ice and under-prepared parents in the booth for at least eight years. As a basketball player, he didn't have time for hockey. But he grew up on a lake, so he knows the rules of the game. More importantly, somewhere along the way he learned how to operate the scoreboard. Derrick managed one of the penalty boxes while Carl, the acting tournament director, handled the other. Many thanks to them both.
Derrick's expertise on the scoreboard came as a relief to CJ (Marco and Jacob's dad) and to me. CJ looks a little tense in this photo because he hasn't yet gotten the low-down from Derrick. The control panel looks like one of those purpose-built computer terminals, with custom designed keys that only an expert understands. With Derrick's tutoring, CJ could run the scoreboard and simultaneously tell me how to fill out the score sheet. There were no complaints from either the Irondale or the Buffalo teams, so we must have done OK.
On Friday night, I managed the penalty box while Jon (Jackson's dad) ran the scoreboard and Cubby (Andrew S.'s dad) kept score. The sum total of my contribution for the evening was opening the door to the penalty box once. I don't remember the infraction, but it was a 2 minute penalty. After less than the two minutes were up the kid let himself out, because he knew, as I did not, that he could leave once the opposing team scored on a power play. I should have snapped a few photos that night (sorry Jon and Cubby) but I had the kind of job that took a lot of concentration. If I hadn't opened that door just right, there's no telling what kind of second-guessing could have ensued. Games have hinged on less. (Hinged...get it? Ha, ha, uhhh.)
The next night lots of parents were ready to do their duty for the Richfield tournament. I arrived early for my session in the booth. The previous game was still ongoing. The teams kept up the pace right until the end, but they were still tied after three periods. They played a sudden-death overtime period four-on-four, but there was still no breaking the tie. Then they had a shoot out. The first skater scored, and so did the second. The third skater missed, and so did the fourth. The fifth skater missed, but the sixth scored. There was jubilation on one side, dejection on the other. Ryan (Andy P.'s dad) can correct me if I got the sequence wrong.
Here he is watching the action in that game as he runs the scoreboard.
Dave (Max B.'s dad) did the announcing during the game.Standing next to him is Derrick, the EMT at the game. He's been handling injured players on the ice and under-prepared parents in the booth for at least eight years. As a basketball player, he didn't have time for hockey. But he grew up on a lake, so he knows the rules of the game. More importantly, somewhere along the way he learned how to operate the scoreboard. Derrick managed one of the penalty boxes while Carl, the acting tournament director, handled the other. Many thanks to them both.
Derrick's expertise on the scoreboard came as a relief to CJ (Marco and Jacob's dad) and to me. CJ looks a little tense in this photo because he hasn't yet gotten the low-down from Derrick. The control panel looks like one of those purpose-built computer terminals, with custom designed keys that only an expert understands. With Derrick's tutoring, CJ could run the scoreboard and simultaneously tell me how to fill out the score sheet. There were no complaints from either the Irondale or the Buffalo teams, so we must have done OK.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Posts coming soon, and a comment
I'm hung up at work for the next few days, so we won't have any posts until very late tonight or early tomorrow, at the earliest. (Might even be after that.) Rest assured, there are many good photos of last night's win in the scrimmage against New Prague coming, so stick around.
It's been an interesting several days for the team. Our offense has been just terrific, and they've run up the score. We've been winning, and that's a great testament to the hard work of the players and the coaches.
At the same time, the number of penalties called against the team has increased. We noted in an earlier post Willy's ejection from the game last weekend after he received three penalties. That's the rule, and no one should object when it's enforced. Furthermore, as I understand it, Jacob received a 10-minute misconduct penalty last night for not properly wearing his mouthguard. That's a serious problem for the team, and a potential hazard for Jacob. But before we judge Jacob harshly, I invite you to start scanning through the photos of the past several weeks. In photo after photo, players on our team can be seen with their mouthguards hanging half out of their mouths. It's not everyone, but it's widespread as the photographic evidence shows. As I understand it, any one of those players could have been charged with the penalty Jacob received. I make this comment just so that any player who is chewing his mouth guard can make some changes to his habits if he wants. It's safer, and it will avoid some penalties.
I look forward to the game on Thursday. Parade North is an outstandingly well-lit arena, so I'm expecting lots of good photos.
It's been an interesting several days for the team. Our offense has been just terrific, and they've run up the score. We've been winning, and that's a great testament to the hard work of the players and the coaches.
At the same time, the number of penalties called against the team has increased. We noted in an earlier post Willy's ejection from the game last weekend after he received three penalties. That's the rule, and no one should object when it's enforced. Furthermore, as I understand it, Jacob received a 10-minute misconduct penalty last night for not properly wearing his mouthguard. That's a serious problem for the team, and a potential hazard for Jacob. But before we judge Jacob harshly, I invite you to start scanning through the photos of the past several weeks. In photo after photo, players on our team can be seen with their mouthguards hanging half out of their mouths. It's not everyone, but it's widespread as the photographic evidence shows. As I understand it, any one of those players could have been charged with the penalty Jacob received. I make this comment just so that any player who is chewing his mouth guard can make some changes to his habits if he wants. It's safer, and it will avoid some penalties.
I look forward to the game on Thursday. Parade North is an outstandingly well-lit arena, so I'm expecting lots of good photos.
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