It’s Hockey Season!
By Wyatt Earp | July 21, 2010
Well, street hockey season, anyway. Kyle’s season started last night, and although a few kids on his team wanted to play goalie, Kyle got the nod. His coaches – two high school-aged girls – thought he played the best during practice and gave him the chance. It helped that he played goalie for his team the last two years, too.
(And before you ask, the girls do know what they’re doing. They both played, and they work well with the kids.)
The other team had it all over Kyle’s team in the size department. Three of them towered over Kyle, who is the tallest kid on his squad. What Kyle’s team lacked in size, however, they made up for in hustle. One of the defensemen – a girl with a ponytail halfway down her back – was the second coming of Ray Bourque. She stripped kids of the ball, beat them to the corners, and led a few rushes up court. Unfortunately, Kyle’s team didn’t get a lot of chances to score, whereas their opponents kept peppering the boy with shots.
The coaches wanted to wear the other team down with defense. They succeeded. They kept the defensemen back and rushed the wingers. The other team had only one breakaway, but Kyle stopped him short. After three grueling periods, the game was tied 0-0.
I started packing up when the referee told us that instead of an overtime, they would go right to a shootout. My first thought was, “Sweet! Kyle in a shootout is like death and taxes!“ Both teams put up three players for the shootout, and Kyle walked back to his net.
Round 1: Shane from Kyle’s team ran in on goal, shot low, and scored.
Round 1: A player from the other team came in on Kyle, shot low left, and Kyle saved it.
Kyle’s Team: 1, Opponent: 0
Round 2: Daniel from Kyle’s team jogged in and lifted the ball past the goalie for the score.
Round 2: A player from the other team came in and shot low. Kyle stopped it between his legs, but it slowly rolled through and into the net.
Kyle’s Team: 2, Opponent: 1
Round 3: Jared from Kyle’s team went in quickly, slapped one to the low right past the goalie and scored. Since it was a best of three, Kyle’s team won the game!
After the game, a sweat-soaked Kyle came up and said, “Three dollars, Dad.” Our soccer/hockey deal is that he gets a dollar for every goal and assist, a dollar for a win (if he’s goalie), and three dollars for a shutout. At this rate, I won’t be able to afford lunch at work anymore. The good thing is the his coaches noticed his good play. Two other kids on his team asked them if they could play goalie instead of Kyle, and the girls looked at them and said, “We’ll see.” The one girl, Jen, looked at me and subtly shook her head, as if to say, “They have no chance.”
Captain America’s son is in this league, too. They will be playing each other either on Thursday or next Tuesday.
Topics: The Boys | 5 Comments »
July 21st, 2010 at 1:51 pm
That’s not the hockey rink on Comly (between Academy and the Blvd) is it?
I used to play at that rink with my friends growing up – always had a good time, as lots of kids would always come out to play pick-up games.
July 21st, 2010 at 1:58 pm
Andrew – No, it’s not. I occasionally played there, too. This one is at Roosevelt & Red Lion.
July 21st, 2010 at 8:32 pm
God bless them playing in this heat. Way to go Kyle (and his coaches)!
July 21st, 2010 at 9:28 pm
RT – It was hot as Hell. Tomorrow won’t be much better, but he’ll gladly play in net if they ask him to.
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:11 pm
Maybe he can grow up and give the Flyers a real goalie, which they haven’t had since Hextall’s rookie season.