Boys, Girls, and Diet Coke

What a great, action pack filled weekend of hockey! Pee Wees and women both had ice, and of course right by my side was my Diet Coke ;) The player's think I need one to stay sane on the bench... who knows! Pee Wees have had a lot of ice time, with tomorrow making it 5 days in a row. The women, however, haven't been on the ice in a week until tonight.

Game vs Cheeseheads
Saturday afternoon, around 2:00 PM, the team packed up their bags and began the trip to New Richmond, WI, to play what we would come to find out was their Pee Wee A team. After the long drive, you could tell the boys were tired but luckily ready to play some puck. They all were ready on time, full gear (no skates, of course), and made their way outside for the pre-game warm-up. We decided to go into what we thought was the open field, but it turns out it was someones property and we got kicked out (I blame Willy... just cause I can haha). We headed to the baseball field to complete it, and I must say, I kicked butt racing them around the field.

Back in the locker room, we pushed that this was a scrimmage and that they should focus on the team goals and most importantly, having fun. When we got on the ice, we did pretty good skating with them in the first period. After that, New Richmond definitely stepped it up and you could tell they were a Pee Wee A team. They got in a few quick goals in the last two periods, and the final score was 5-2. Even though the scoreboard doesn't show it, the boys played pretty well. They really did their best to skate with them, but in my opinion, needed to open the ice up more and and not worry as much about getting those "NHL-style" goals.

Following the game, Marco, Jacob, Drew, Coach Cramer and I all drove in the same car. At the three boy's request, we cranked up the music and let them forget about the game. Making our way to Buffalo Wild Wings, where the team was meeting, for some good food after a long game. These boys get along so well! I have never seen a team like that before. Hopefully they can keep it up!

Icebreakers
The women played very well! They did a great job of sticking with the team goals and playing very hard. We did lose the game, 2-0, but I cannot tell you how many times we had a chance for a goal. I think that they girls are very happy with their play, as they should be, and will be ready next game to get a "W" on the board. With a little more practice and working on zone-coverage, I am very confident they will be extremely successful.

...this week
Monday youth practice, Tuesday nothin, Wednesday Pee Wee game (Katie has her coaching class). See you then!