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Thoughts and Musings on the hockey community

  Hey there readers and members of the hockey family. It has been a long time since I have posted here. In part because my ramblings here lead to a great journey in the field of hockey writing. It have written before about the fantastic and welcoming hockey community that we belong to and the past year has done a lot to reinforce that opinion. I have been able to realize some of my dreams and begin writing in earnest about hockey and continue to do so for a number of outlets. As is the case when we have too many competing interests this blog was left on the virtual shelf, like an unfinished journal to gather dust. I will make sure to update this blog at least 2 monthly to share my story. With that, lets get the blog proper started, shall we? I was struck by this photo or Soviet Cosmonaut and hockey player Yuri Gagarin. His smile is infections and is one that we see repeated on rinks everywhere. You can see this in any rink at any time. That set me about reflection on appreciatin
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Recent posts

Many strides made, many more to be taken - Elevating the game for everyone

Got back to playing the game again this past Sunday! After 6 weeks off it was fantastic to get back onto the ice with the Sunday Night Xfinity crew. I even got a clean shot off in the run of play. Sure it hit the goalie square in the chest protector, but at least I followed up enough to cause a bounce back. one of my teammates stuffed it home for the goal. It was such a great respite from the busy-ness of being part of a family, working full time, playing parental taxi and to enjoy life for a few minutes.  As many of you know the events prompted me to write an article about how proud that I am to be a part of this amazing community. You all are amazing people. Really. You really come together to aid those need. To that end, it was truly moving to watch the Golden Knights honor those fallen and those left standing as heroes. After working for months to celebrate the teams opening night, they shifted gears on a dime to host a great tribute to the city and the heroes in Las Vegas.
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The Hockey Community - a great tribe in the face of great tragedy

This weekend one of our coaches put on the ice her project of the last 9-10 months. Making history in the process. She put on the ice the first female hockey league in the state. She worked tirelessly and positively to make a difference in the lives of our players, parents and coaches. It was truly a magnificent thing to watch. She and her husband are the primary on ice coaches for the Beginner's program and some of our 10U teams. They inspire us with their positivity, respect and evenhandedness, even when under pressure.  I spent many minutes in conversation with parents, grandparents and guardians cementing that thought. It was truly an amazing thing to see the efforts make such a difference. All of the players came off of the ice with smiles on their faces. The scores were even, every girl got a touch on the puck at some point.  This got the "little grey cells" as Hercule Poirot says, working on this tribe to which as hockey players and fans belong. I count
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Rink Rage: letting go and seeing the game through the eyes of child

S hoot, Shot, SHOOOOOOOTTTTTTT! Good God what’s wrong with that kid! Ah the refrains of an educated and understanding hockey parent! Or, maybe not.  I have been away for a bit. Couldn’t play hockey because I have been sick for the past 6 weeks. The time off got the grey cells working, regarding the state of parenting in youth sports, mostly hockey, but really you can plug in any support specific nuance into this narrative.   I love this game at every level and the experience that this great game provides for kids, adults and fans. As a kid it teaches humility, teamwork, discipline and too many other great qualities to list here. As an adult returning to the game it taught me all of those as well as enabling me to view life through the lens of a kid. Trust me, my goals now are to be semi-proficient for the 50+ league, not to be the next Bossy. Working with beginners and having a daughter playing has been an interesting experience, that has opened my eyes to the seedy underbe
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Hockey and music and finding the game where you least expect it.

I spent the past 2 weeks or so on holiday in Costa Rica. It was without hyperbole a truly life changing trip and one that I would recommend to anyone. The place that we stayed was intermixed with locals and expats, living at very different areas of the financial spectrum and it left me a changed and more enlightened person. But that is a different story for a different day. This is a story of finding hockey in the most unusual of places and my personal link between hockey and music and how it all came full circle. For those of you that have been along for the ride from the beginning you know that I came to hockey at first in a desert environment, well before the NHL expansion to the sunbelt and after the WHA team nearest me, The Golden Seals, died an untimely death. I was brought into the fold of this great game of ours by a friend, Jason. He taught me the ropes and was there for my first bendy attempts at skating and we played a hell of a lot of street and living room hockey. Luck
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Chop wood, carry water - Inside edge, outside edge - the work of learning the game

To those that have been considering learning the sport, those that are learning or relearning the sport, and those that want to understand the process, I must tell you that it is not easy. By now you know a bit about me and know that I am picking up again after a long layoff. To say it has been humbling, would be an understatement. Also it has been a fantastically enjoyable process. In an earlier post I mentioned that I had played a bit of hockey, most of that time spent was as a child. I had great time, enjoyed play and never developed into the best skater. I was and still am in love with the sport. It truly is a magnificent spectacle, when played at the highest levels. Speed, grace, brutality, are all on display in the USA and Canada Women's World Championships, The Stanley Cup playoffs and countless other games at the college, professional, junior and international level showcase amazing talent. I belong in none of the above. I am what is referred to in the hockey world as
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The girl with the flames on her skates and ladies that tap dance

How many of us dreamt of becoming sports heroes? I was going to be the next Wayne Gretzky, no really. For those of us that are of the male persuasion, our icons were and are everywhere. This was true even in the 1970's and 80's, a time when hockey had a much smaller market share in the US. It is only recently that female athletes have  professionals to emulate and idolize. Though the coverage can use a lot of work, it's growing and that is a story and discussion that I will delve into at a later date.   As adults, most of us have given up on our dreams of becoming sports stars and find inspiration in other places or people. As I begin my journey returning to a sport that I love I have found inspiration in so many places that I could not have dreamt of as kid. Two of those that inspired my return to hockey, are these. One is completely unrelated to hockey and one is a rank hockey beginner. I have found inspiration from them and they all exhibit "shoshin" in
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