Sign of Respect

I spent the weekend with my son's team at the OTTF hockey tournament in Toronto.  I'll use my iPhone to capture his shifts to use for video review later.  I happened to get this clip of one of his teammates showing a great sign of respect towards the opponent's goalie who had just made a great save.

The Draft Year Talk

Ontario Hockey League (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It was parent/player night for the Markham Waxers Minor Midget AAA (97s) team tonight.  We had Steve Gaunce speak to us about the OHL draft and what parents can do to support their sons throughout the season.

His one hour discussion focussed on myths and facts about the draft process.  It's nice to see that scouts can pick out quality players and parents.  Yes, parents.  Chirpy parents in the stands can have a negative impact on their sons' chances of being drafted.

It's nice to understand the process through the season and the amount of time scouts put in.  I just learned  tonight that our team needs to provide a scout room with food.  I've heard that some teams provide a full buffet and others provide donuts.

As a parent/coach, I'm excited about this year for all of the players and the team.

Now back to the Flyers and Devils in OT.

Newmarket Saints LAX

Enjoying the home opener of our local Junior B team. Only one bench clearing fight so far.

Proud Hockey Dad Moment

My son just signed with the Markham Waxers Minor Midget AAA hockey team for the 2012-13 season.  The team is looking really good as tryouts continue all this week.

Price of gas and hockey fees

Our fuel efficient car cost $75 to fill today. 7.2 fills is equivalent to the cost of rep hockey registration fee.

What does the future hold? Less driving or less hockey registrations?

Novice Hockey Days

It was not that long ago, it seems, that I sat in the stands nervously watching one of my sons tryout for Novice rep hockey.

I'd watch every move and wish I could whisper in his ear about how to do the drills better. He managed to get a spot on the A team without my help.

Now, we're one week away from Minor Midget AAA tryouts. Time flies! I think I'm more relaxed this year but this is another big step towards higher competition and another year of long term athletic development for him.

In the meantime, I have been able to work on some new hockey services that you will see soon on The Hockey Season app and website.

Good luck at your tryouts too.

Markham Waxers Bantam AAA (97s)

Markham Waxers (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We lost the ETA finals on March 30, 2012 but won in many other ways that this sport of hockey allows us to do.

By the end of the season, the Markham Waxers comprised of 15 Bantam AAA players (of which only 4 had prior AAA experience), 2 Bantam AA players and 1 Minor Bantam AAA player.  The entire team including the staff was built brand new from the ground up by new head coach Dave Galajda (there were no players from the previous year).

The team from last year only won 3 games and was ranked 62nd in Ontario.  Our goals were to compete in every game, keep goals against below 100 and make it to the playoffs.  We ended up in 4th place in our division.  A playoff spot!  85 goals against in regular season play, 21 wins and 12 ties in regular season, exhibition, tournaments and playoffs.

We fell 3 games to 0 in the first round of the OMHAs to the Barrie Colts and won two 'best of 3' series in the ETA playoffs.  In game 3 vs. Oshawa Generals, we went into the 3rd period down 2-0 only to come back and win the series in OT.  We took the semi-finals in game 3 vs. Clarington.

Game 3 seems to be a trend for the team.  We won the first game of the finals vs. South Central Coyotes 2-0, lost game two 3-1 but lost game three 3-1.  The series was a 35th ranked team vs. an 11th ranked team.  The best part was that the Waxers competed as a team.  A team that on hockey community paper in April 2011 was not expected to even get out of the basement.

As one of the Assistant Coaches, I was able to see players from Markham, Newmarket, Aurora, Uxbridge Sunderland and Toronto find their team potential.  The numbers tell one story but watching the boys compete in one of Ontario's strongest loops is a great experience to be a part of.  This team had class and respect for their opponents too (with the exception of a few mis-timed 'cele's').  No chirping at refs from the bench and no chirping at other coaches either.

A personal thanks to Coach Dave for following us home from the exhibition game in Midland to get us to sign with the team.  As hockey parents, it took us 12 hours to evaluate the opportunity or stay in AA.  Looking back at what I have seen, I would tell other parents to spend 30 minutes to think about it and sign.  Play at the highest level that you can compete.

Now its two weeks off and then tryouts for Minor Midget.