Hat trick in 14 seconds

What can be accomplished in just 14 seconds? Just ask this 10-year-old minor hockey player from Cobourg, Ont., who led his team's comeback with a remarkable (lucky?) effort.

Hockey Night in Canada is calling kids

This looks like fun and if I were involved with a novice or peewee team, I'd sign them up. It would be a great minor hockey career moment to introduce Hockey Night in Canada. Click on the link to find out how.

Officials come down hard on Parry Sound midgets

Officials came down hard on the Parry Sound major midget team following a wild party on Canadian Thanksgiving weekend.
All but two players were suspended for the rest of the season. The two who did not get suspended were not at the party, according to a Canadian Press story posted on the CBC website.
The team's coaches were suspended for three years.
Fair? I think so based on the news reports I've read.
Too bad the OMHA didn't post a statement on its website about this incident and the penalties imposed. Not doing so missed a chance to communicate on an important issue to minor hockey players and parents.
And to point out to players and parents that there are consequences for bad choices.
It's my guess that there's much more of this type of behavior out there. The difference this time is that it got appropriate publicity.
A decade ago, there was a debate in our daily newspaper newsroom about whether or not to pursue a story about the underage drinking exploits of a local high school hockey team - the players would be the same age as the Parry Sound midgets. The high school team's season came to an abrupt end when players were caught drinking at a tournament in Maritime Canada, ending any championship aspirations. The story was never written because of how it would affect the relationship between the newspaper and high school in a small, tight knit community.
Fortunately, the Parry Sound situation got the publicity it deserved.

Channelling Ward Cornell

Movember countdown

We're into the final few days to help Wayne's World of Minor Hockey raise money for Movember and our coach Colin's hairy upper lip campaign for men's health.
When readers of this blog click on the various Google ads, money is raised for this important campaign.
Colin, by the way, has already started to reinstitute his familiar beard to go along with his moustache. A number of teens on the team also took part in the campaign, with great results and a certain amount of humour.
Winners all.
This is not the only charity event Colin has lead. Each season, his teams with the help of parents volunteer to help the London Food Bank.
I know we're not alone in organizing charity work for hockey players. Many teams realize it helps build an important sense of community, caring and giving. It also helps create team spirit.

Some of the parents and players who collected food during the 2008 campaign. 

Head shots in minor hockey

Pencil him in

Not all photo manipulation tricks work well for minor hockey shots, but I like what pencil effect did for this shot from two years ago of my defenceman son clearing the front of the net for his goaltender. Always a good day when the puck is in the shot.

Driving forces behind minor hockey

Hmmm, which car company does more for minor hockey, Ford, GM or Hyundai? In London, it's Ford and the various dealers. Many other brand dealers offer great support, including Probart Mazda and Wharncliffe Chrysler. Down the road in St. Thomas, a local dealer offers a kickback to minor hockey for every sale made through a referral.
Hyundai is giving away SUVs as minor hockey fundraisers in seven Canadian cities. Too bad Hyundai didn't leave one of their Tuscons in London.

Keep a tight grip on trophies

I always expect minor hockey kids to drop and smash a trophy by accident after winning a tournament or championship. Never expected a figure skating star to do it on national TV. Oops. Here's the Battle of the Blades clip, apparently cut for the west coast version of the broadcast. Thanks to Toronto Sun Family blog, which posted this first.

Brantford vs. West and the Making of Slap Shot

Can two teams with a history of odd games actually have a fun minor hockey game? The answer is yes, and no one could be more pleased than me.
The Brantford 99ers and West London Hawks major midgets, both this year's and last year's versions, have had ridiculous encounters in the past. But not so last night at London's Kinsmen arena.
Fast skating, strategic body contact, nice plays, great saves and clever players capitalizing on mistakes - the game had it all.
Add to that, scoreboard drama. Tied at one, West built a 4-1 lead going into the third. Coming out of the dressing room, Brantford gets some enthusiastic cheering from an over-the-top supporter. Before long, it's 4-2. Then 4-3. Dying minutes, goalie pulled, Brantford controls the play in West's end. West ices the puck. Faceoff won by Brantford, frantic play, crunching check into the boards, buzzer sounds . . . West hangs on for a much-needed two points.
Credit goes to the guys behind the bench for both teams. Their leadership help shepherd the kids into playing the game into the way competitive minor hockey should be. Handshakes by coaches at the end of the game was not lost on the kids and parents.
And to think I joked with a linesman before the game to keep his head up with these two teams.
I guess the book (The Making of Slap Shot)  I'm now reading isn't so relevant to this posting after all.

Junk moment on So You Think You Can Dance

Not all athleticism of young people is displayed at the hockey rink. Dancing, especially break dancing, can be quite the thing. Here's a young entrant in the Dutch version of So You Think You Can Dance doing what few hockey players could do. Or want to do.

Hurt happens

What's the cost of minor hockey injuries? An accountant could have a field day assigning costs and tallying the columns.
I can offer an example of a minor injury. Heaven knows the cost of repair and recovery for something major such as a concussion.
Emergency dental appointment: $30; dental repair: $170. Plus the pain and time involved. Plus the missing of games and practices - we're paying $20 a game for this recreation. It isn't the NHL. Or even the OHL.
We all sign on and agree to the risky recreation of minor hockey. Hurt happens. It's when the injuries are the result of malice and willful rule-breaking by another participant that we have a problem.

Parry Sound midgets . . . hic

Do teenage hockey players drink. Yep, sometimes. Watch for it on out-of-town tournaments as the kids get older.
But alcohol-fuelled parties involving girlfriends of underaged hockey players are likely less frequent - or at least less frequently hit the news.
The major midget team - that's an age group with which I can identify - in Parry Sound will have a lot of questions to answer after this Toronto Star article about a hazing party.
It'll be interesting to see what the official report will conclude - and whether the local minor hockey association will have a comment.
Parry Sound, of course, is the hometown of No 4, Bobby Orr.

Tale of two city rinks

St. Catharines knows both worlds - one of the best minor hockey palaces and one of the worst single-pad, small lobby barns in Southwestern Ontario. Seriously, isn't it time to deep-six the oddly named Haig Bowl?
The Sportsplex 4, aka the Seymour-Hannah Sports and Entertainment Centre, there's great parking, good pedestrian flow during busy tournaments and amazing sightlines for fans.
We had a team there a couple of years ago - it was a great experience.
Just try to avoid the Haig Bowl.

Waiting to play at the Sportsplex 4 in St. Catharines, Ont.

Bell ringers

Are concussions just a hockey issue. No, as Allison Korn explains in the Toronto Sun, It also touches Olympians.

How to plan an NHLer

Does your birth month matter when trying to earn a spot on a competitive minor hockey team? Does it matter in the NHL?
The Globe and Mail weighs in on the issue with the author and the various posters of comments coming up with different conclusions based on the data.
In most communities, I'd bet the top tier teams are dominated by kids born in the first three or four months of the year from peewee through to major bantam. It might start to even out more during midget. Of course that could be because spots have been freed up by elite athletes moving to major junior and Jr. B teams.
If you're planning to raise an NHLer (and who isn't?), time the birth for March. Or to put it a way hockey dads can understand, just celebrate the Stanley Cup final with your wife.

Best rink on the circuit

Playing minor hockey in Southwestern Ontario takes us to many grand arenas, none of which I hope ever fall to the wrecker's ball. Sarnia Arena and Brantford Arena are wonderful old time hockey palaces, but my favourite is Allman Arena in Stratford. We were there Sunday and played the local kids to a 3-3 draw.
Just as enjoyable as the game were the french fries from the service club food booth in the lobby. Not to be missed!

West London and Stratford midgets play at historic Allman Arena.

Snow what's new?

You know winter is coming to Southwestern Ontario when arena parking lots are filled with people who've made their cars ugly by switching to snow tires and ditching their wheelcovers.
Remember when radial tires were touted as year-round rollers making snows obsolete? Remember when front-wheel drive cars were supposed to make snows obsolete?
Part of the reason in this area is that there are not enough people like Ed, the meticulous City of London snowplow operator and uber-hockey dad. Snowplowing, sanding and salting does not seem to be as prompt and meticulous as it once was, although Ed and his friends try.
Part of the reason hockey families invest in snow tires and all-wheel drive vehicles, beyond the obvious dedication to hockey, is that fact everyone has close call or nailbiting driving stories to tell.
We took the hint one tournament weekend when we got stuck in our driveway. A slow drive home from Barrie saw us creep through two distinct storms, from freezing rain to blinding snow where it was tough to tell where the edge of the 401 was. Freezing rain leaving Ann Arbor, Mich., left us in peril not in our quest to get home but in arriving safety at an outlet mall.
There's a section of the 401 near Woodstock that's notorious for sudden whiteouts and heavy streamers blow across from Lake Huron. A chartered bus from Newmarket coming to London for a tournament was in caught in a whiteout and crashed a few years ago, sending several team members to hospital instead of the rink. Friends of my nephews from Newmarket were on the bus and it was only good luck that someone wasn't killed or permanently injured.
We all love hockey, but the rules of the road are just like the rule of the rink. Try your best, cope with adversity, meet the challenge ... but ultimately, it's safety first. Be a skilled winter driver, but be brave enough to cancel games or stay at home when weather is bad.
For my part, I bought an all-wheel drive Ford Escape mostly to make sure we'd always make it to hockey games. Before that, I had a sedan with four winter ice radials.

Is your town Hockeyville?

Has anything done more to raise the profile of minor hockey in Canada than Kraft Hockeyville? I think not.
Last year's winner was Dundas, Ont., so look for this year's to come from somewhere far, far away from the Golden Horseshoe.
But maybe not Clifford, where the amalgamated municipality of Minto once threatened to close the arena but backed off when the villagers lit torches (figuratively speaking). Minto did manage to remove heaters from the stands in a bid to save a buck or two.
Come to think of it, maybe Clifford could use the renovation money prize up for grabs in the Hockeyville contest.

London doctor’s study leads him to see a sport in denial

Are hockey teams understating the number of concussions players suffer? True, according to this article in the London Free Press.
No more head games.

Behind the bench . . . reluctantly

Watching the support staff - two trainers and a manager - fill in behind the bench for absent coaches last night made me think of my own forays when I was thrust into a role for which, ahem, my qualifications were thin.
I did have a Speak Out card and was on the roster as manager, and real coaches can't always be there. So behind the bench I go.
One of the first times was at a tournament when the head coach unexpectedly came down with flu-like symptoms after spending the night before out with his buddies. The assistant coach had previously booked off and so . . . me. My only meaningful contribution was successfully convincing an 11-year-old to return to playing defence for us instead of forward. He did, but it was the last time he acquiesced to such a radical suggestion from a mere coach. He's on my son's team this year. Playing forward.
A year later, we were in my hometown Clifford for a one-day tournament. My son wasn't feeling well and had spent most of the tournament at my parents' house. When his team made it to the championship game, he rallied but asked if I could be on the bench in case he needed to make a quick exit. The cool air of the arena served him well and he played major minutes and had a great time. We won the tournament.
The last time my son played with an AE team, we were in a spring tournament in Queensville, Ont., with a partial team trying its best to shake off an implosion that had resulted in a lot of no-shows. I was drafted to help on the bench when the coach had to catch a flight to Europe on business. The three team volunteers left, including me, gave passionate pre-game spiels about pride, effort and how dedication to hockey builds good habits for life before the team's final game together. No Miracle on ice here. We lost. But parents were overjoyed because if we had won and advanced to the final, the game time was a ridiculous 9 pm start and would've meant getting home to London at about 1 a.m. on a school and work night. Priorities!

Channelling Ward Cornell

Rinky-dink

We all love convenient, comfortable, warm minor hockey arenas with big dressing rooms and, hopefully, ventilation.
London has two of the best in the two-pad Kinsmen Arena and Western Fair Sports Centre, albeit the latter is getting a little beat up from heavy use. Our city also has some of the worst, including the low-ceiling Silverwood Park (in 10 years of hockey, we've never played or practised there! Lucky us.), the crazy cold Oak Ridge and  Farquarson Arena, our main practice rink. Farquarson features maybe the smallest change rooms in the city. Try filling them with 18 teenagers and their hockey bags. Ditto for the tiny dressing rooms at the Ilderton Arena - the place made famous by figure skaters Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.

It's a little tight at Memorial in St. Thomas.

Memorial Arena in St. Thomas, where San Jose Sharks Captain Joe Thornton learned to play, features a drop of about a kilometre from the bench to the ice surface. And some of the dressing rooms are long, narrow spaces tucked under the stands.
Not all old arenas are uncomfortable barns. Allman Arena in Stratford, where we're heading tonight, is my favourite destination. Locals there rejected a city proposal to rip out the classic old seatings in favour of more modern ones that would've better accommodated today's big butt patrons. New seats, people said, would ruin the atmosphere. As someone with a skinny butt, I think they were right.
But ugly, substandard arenas are not limited to smaller cities and towns. One of the worst arenas we've played in was Chesswood in Toronto - we expected better in the Big Smoke. It was hard to find, uncomfortable for viewing and its tiny lobby filled up too fast during the comings and goings of a tournament.
Toronto plans a "skyscraper" minor hockey palace on its waterfront, a project propelled in part by the great growth in female hockey.
But Toronto Sun editor Rob Granatstein, a player himself and emerging hockey dad, says in an excellent column (Nov. 20, 2010) that the project might get bogged down in the waterfront muck.
If it happens, the waterfront arena will be spectacular. But maybe a more realistic plan for Toronto would be to rip down ramshackle rinks like Chesswood and help private sector operators replace them with facilities like London's Western Fair Sports Centre.

The play's the thing

It's a two-game road trip this weekend as we're up the 401 to Woodstock late tonight (game time 8:45!) and travel Highway 7 on Sunday to Stratford, home of the famous Shakespeare Festival and the awesome Allman Arena, where the spirit of Howie Morenz may or may not still dwell.
Our low-flying Hawks desperately need a pair of wins having bumped along in a week filled with being outmatched, outplayed, outlucked (I'll invent words as needed) and thwarted by no-show referees.
Amid it all, we're fitting in a university open house as plans for life beyond minor hockey begin to take shape.
A new book has landed on my review desk that's perfect for the shape we're in. But I'm not the one who should be reading Play Better Hockey by Ron Davidson. After all, I have the easy job of sitting in the stands.

Channelling Ward Cornell

Pizza powers players

It's hard to say what kids like best, hockey or pizza.
We've consumed plenty of both over a decade of minor hockey, from team parties and teambuilding events to tournament prizes.

Fundamental fuel for fun hockey.

Pizza in the dressing room was an almost monthly reward for one season's team. I admit mothers would cringe when the kids would eat slices without washing their hands - hockey gloves being the second most foul-smelling piece of equipment - or rest slices on the bench.
Maybe the sweetest tasting pizza came in a small town tournament in Clifford, Ont., where the team won a couple of extra larges from a locally owned place.
Of course, it's always a shock to watch how much teens and pre-teens can consume. Eating a medium by one's self is not unheard of.
Pizza for hockey teams? It's as fundamental as sticks and skates.

Take your pic

I've added a slideshow of my shots from West London games at the bottom of the blog. Skate down and check it out.
I use a Nikon D-80 with a humble 18-135mm lens and put the shots together with music on an end-of-season DVD.

Mouthguard ick

This tale from a hockey mom.
A West London player loses his mouthguard amid the usual midget vigorous play near the opposing goalie.
The goalie sees it and uses his stick to shoot it near a linesman during a stoppage in play.
The linesmen kicks at it one, two, three times to get it closer to a West London player to pick up near the bench.
As the mom says, "Don't you think the linesmen could have picked it up and hand it to the player?"
Kinda beats dragging it across the rink.

Ovechkin struggled with drills at age 8

When Sasha was 8, he struggled to stay on his feet in practice and had trouble doing figure-eight drills. In games, the coach wouldn't put him on the ice until late in the game, and only if it was already a blowout. His peers were way ahead of him.
Then, thanks to his parents and their favoured standing in the Russian sports world, he started to practice up to three times a day, often individually with the best coaches. Skating, Strength. Puck handling.
Today, Alexander Ovechkin is the best, or second best, player in hockey.
Not every late-blooming kid turns out to be an Ovechkin. But the benefits of practice, focus and dedication apply across the board at every skill level, on the ice and in life.
When skating was a barrier to my son fully enjoying hockey in his first year, we enrolled him in power skating lessons with London's Larry Turgeon and the Lambeth Skating Program. It paid dividends. My son soon went from being unable to skate backwards across the ice to being one of the fastest, elite skating players in his league. It wasn't genetics or anything I did or anything his minor hockey coaches did (it's not their job to teach skating). It was my son's focus and getting better and the talent of his instructor.
All parents of young players starting out in hockey should invest in power skating lessons. It's the core skill. It's wiser to spend money on power skating early instead of excessive tournaments - and fancy composite sticks.
BTW, the new Ovechkin biography is now on my reading table.Search Amazon.com for Alexander Ovechkin

Hockey stick hell

Here's my dilemma.
Do I assume my slapshot-challenged player is going to break more sticks this season in an attempt to propel the puck and buy a spare (or spares) when they are on sale?
His favourite Easton Henrik Zetterberg model seems to be on sale for half price this week at Canadian Tire, that iconic Canadian retailer that seems to have captured the lion's share of my minor hockey dollar during the past decade. Well, that and Herm's Sports Exchange.
Adam went years before breaking a stick. Last season I think he broke five, so many that I attempted (and failed) to covert him to a more frugal wooden model. Easton loved us.
Personally, I think composite sticks are more about fashion than enhancing the game for most minor hockey players. Twice so for the youngest kids.
Maybe we need wooden sticks only minor hockey leagues to save parents from themselves.

Minor hockey can be a pain

My son's a castaway - and couldn't be happier.
He's finally cast-free after nine weeks of limited mobility and maximum aggravation.

He broke his scaphoid and totalled his bicycle after being hit by a car at a four-way stop, the worst injury of his athletically active childhood.
Unfortunately, he followed it up with a sprained jaw in a hockey game.
No cast, a fully fit jaw and a spiffy new mouthguard - he's ready for smooth sailing the rest of the hockey season.
We hope.
The older the kids get, the more risk of injuries in hockey.

Stratford's trainer attends to an injured player while concerned teammates look on during a game in London.

So far this season, on our team and the opposing teams, we're seen a knee injury that left a player absent from school and on crutches, a head injury that resulted in blurred vision, a call to paramedics and trip to emerg for a health episode on the bench and a variety of quick trips and treatments on the ice or bench by the trainers.
One hopes a child never gets hurt in athletics, but it happens. Especially in minor hockey, a sport not intended for the meek.

Daron Richardson memorial draws thousands

This was a brave thing for Ottawa Senators assistant coach Luke Richardson and his family - a huge public funeral for their teen daughter, Daron Richardson.
The family did it in part to help draw attention to the issue of teenage mental health.
Daron, a girls hockey player, died in hospital after trying to hang herself.
The memorial, held at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, drew 6,000.

Anyone seen the refs?

It's not always the ref who has to make the call. Sometimes, it's the host team manager.
With all the scheduling and communication that has to go on to organize minor hockey games, it shouldn't be a surprise that sometimes things go wrong. Could be a double booking of ice. Could be a team heading to the wrong arena. Or arriving at the wrong time.
But perhaps most annoying of all are the games, fortunately rare, when referees don't show up.
That's what happened tonight at London's Western Fair Sports Centre when the elite Junior Knights Gold team, the league leaders, tried to line up against our West London Hawks.
It became obvious something was amiss when the three minute warmup dragged on a bit longer than usual.
No one wearing stripes was anywhere to be found. Not on the ice. Not in the room. Not racing down the corridor.
Home team Junior Knights officials were calling every number at their disposal, but to no avail. A half hour after the game was supposed to start, the teams gave up.
What's supposed to happen is the home team manager is to check the referee's room 15 minutes before game time - and if it's empty call an emergency assigner's number.
In reality, few managers remember to do so.
In other arenas, there are referees working other games who might be corralled. But on this night at the four-pad complex, there was a Jr. B game on one pad, a practice on another and a kids sledge hockey practice (really cool) on another.
The annoyance factor, especially on a school night, was high but it could've been worse. At least it didn't involve a team driving an hour or more to play a game. Nor did anyone have to cope with a snowstorm.
But we did hustle to be there and plan our evenings around the game.
More annoyance might yet surface. Ice time in London is in such demand that it may be difficult to get a two hour block of time to accommodate a rescheduled game.
Since every kid's family pays about $20 per game to play, everyone certainly wants to play it instead of having a cancellation or forfeit.

Make that field hockey

Just to clarify a newspaper graphic published in many Canadian newspapers today, the next queen of England Kate Middleton never played hockey in school. She played FIELD hockey. Close, and it's also a great sport. But when Canadians read the word "hockey" we think ice hockey. 

Nashville skyline

This season is shaping up to be the lightest schedule of my son's minor hockey career. A losing league record thus far does not bode well for any lengthy playoff run. Only three tournaments are being entered, not the five or six we've been used to.
The third tournament is in jeopardy as the convener cautions that only two teams have entered so far. It's a sign of the economy and of a drifting interest by teenagers playing at the mid-competitive level.
We won our first tournament in October in St. Thomas. And while the third tournament may or may not happen, tournament number two should more than make up for it in teams of adventure, fun and fresh hockey experiences.
Less than two months from now, players, coaches and parents will be boarding a chartered bus (rented from the University of Western Ontario Mustangs) and heading 11 hours south to Nashville to play in the Music City tournament.
Not all forays into the U.S. work well for Canadian teams. Often there are mismatches. Often Canadian teams find tournaments filled with too many compatriots.
Nashville will be different, thanks to the fact we're outspending other Ontario teams to travel far enough to meet up with American teams from emerging minor hockey programs.
In our pool will be the South Florida Golden Wolves, Huntsville (Alabama, I assume, not Ontario) Chargers and Houston Wild.
We're trusting a private company, Advanced Tournaments of Illinois, to convene a well-matched, well-organized event - one that should be a memorable one for our teen players and their families.

Tragedy for NHLer and his family

The Ottawa Citizen has reposted this excellent 2005 article the Luke Richardson family. Richardson's daughter, Caron, who is featured in this story with her grandfather, died last week at age 14 in hospital after trying to hang herself.
To add to the sadness, a Facebook memorial page was defaced. Read that story here.
Richardson, who played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets and Ottawa Senators, is now an assistant coach with the Senators.
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Hockey head shots compared with child abuse

The debate over deliberate head shots in minor hockey reaches a new level with this letter appearing in the Ottawa Citizen which compares adults allowing head shots in the game with child abuse.
The writer makes a valid point.
There's also a case to be made that some coaches engage in verbal child abuse. Are profanity-laced, screaming critiques in front of peers and other adults really part of the teenage teaching experience? What would the reaction of parents be if the same behaviour came from an adult in another setting such as the classroom or a summer camp or on the street?
Even major junior coaches, who handle the elite teenage hockey players in Canada, are not held to a reasonable standard. I just finished reading longtime Ottawa 67's coach Brian Kilrea's book about his life in hockey and perspective on coaching teenagers. Kilrea's one of the most revered coaches in Canadian junior hockey, but his self-confessed methods of coaching teenagers from showering with them to lacing his playing instructions with f-bombs would be a field day for litigation-minded parents.
Coaches have an obligation to keep the sport safe. Coaches have an obligation to treat their young players with the same level of respect that a classroom teacher would show. Aren't these reasonable standards for minor hockey programs that are supposed to be created for kids?

NHL star discusses concussions

Brainworks points us to this item about Hockey Hall of Fame member Pat Lafontaine. Click and learn.

OK, so that didn't go so well but the milkshakes were good

The last time I saw a kids' team implode into the depths of dismal was when my son was playing major peewee AE.
Thinking we had swagger, we entered the team in an OMHA 'B' tournament in Aylmer, about 45 minutes away.
We should have known it would be an odd weekend from the way it started.
The first round robin game was at 7 am, bright and early for even pre-teens, and it was against a minor peewee AE team from neighbouring Oakridge. Younger kids. Should've been a win. We knew it might not be just based on the tone of the kids when they arrived. We didn't count on getting thoroughly trampled by younger players who came to compete.
So dismal was the effort from a lack of backchecking to any sense of team play that the head coach decided to use Game 2 to make a statement. Everyone who was usually a forward played defence. Everyone who was a defenceman played forward. Fortunately, he didn't relocate the goalies.
That game had a predictable outcome, even though everyone went back to their familiar positions for the third period.
Game 3 of the round robin found the coach absent with a self-inflicted flu and a befuddled group of West London kids smoked by the host team.
Amid it all was an attempt at a team meal where the manager arranged a discount at one restaurant while the grandmother of a player thought she'd make arrangements at another. The kids who showed up at the right team meal laced their meals with multiple orders of milkshakes, with predictable results.
The tournament was early in the season and the team did start clicking and had some success later.
So confident were we that we arranged an exhibition game late in the season against the same Aylmer team with which we were not competitive during the tournament, just to prove how far we had progressed.
Smoked again.

Never disrespect the Boston Bruins

This hockey girl video is a great example of how talented PR people take a bad thing and create something good - and effective bounce-back message with a moral. You can watch it on YouTube by clicking here.

Can a losing teen team be fixed?

Nobody likes losing or being part of a team considered a league doormat. But doormat might soon be the label attached to this year's edition of my son's team if the players don't soon buck up.
A tie Sunday night against the last place team in the league could be the sign of a long winter to come, especially considering Oakridge tied it with 1.1 seconds left to leave the rink with a 5-5 draw. And to think defence, just like the Toronto Maples Leafs, was supposed to be the hallmark of this year's West London Hawks major midgets.
It followed a 6-1 loss in Sarnia in which the teams started the third period tied 1-1. And before that, two losses to both versions of the elite London Jr. Knights AA teams and the impressive North London Nationals.
A sad, losing record is new territory for many of these kids. Several were part of West London teams that won or were runners up for Minor Hockey Alliance of Ontario championships. They've won or were runners-up in a fair share of tournaments over the past few seasons.
But injuries and other commitments frequently mean a short bench. Pitiful attendance at practice is yielding the predictable results. And a spiral of losing means individual efforts are taking over from synchronized team play  (the art that makes hockey a great team sport). When the short, quick pass dies, so does a team. When battles are lost along the boards, so are games. When forwards ignore their defensive assignments, goaltenders and defencemen are left hanging out to dry.
No worries, the coaches can fix it. But only if the kids are interested.

A Sarnia defenceman falls, their goalie drops his stick, but it's still not a big enough advantage for the West London Hawks against the Jr. Sting on the weekend. A 1-1 tie heading into the third period turned into a 6-1 triumph for Sarnia..

Smile, team

It was team photo weekend for West London kids, a logistical challenge to fit in dozens of teams and hundreds of kids amid games, practices and tournaments.
I've posed in a few team photos over the years, and paid for many packages, including one that included a button of my seven-year-old son's smiling hockey face. Every parent seemed to be wearing one of those at one time.
Now, according to the expert photographer I spoke with, personalized hockey cards are king. They are the most ordered product among all age groups.
One might think that the number of package orders dips as kids get older, but that's not necessarily so. The number of orders and size of packages depends on the community and the local economy.
Various companies set up shop at tournaments offering quick turnarounds on digital action shots. But this business faces big competition from amateur shutterbugs who are benefiting from some great new digital cameras. Still, there's nothing like having your young player shot in action or posed just right by a skilled professional at least once during his or her minor hockey career.

Giving lip to Movember

Trainer Tim and Coach Colin compare progress on their 14-day-old Movember moustaches. There's lots of ways to support the Movember campaign for men's health, including clicking on the various ads on this blog. For more Movember madness, click here. Tim and Colin are volunteers with the West London Major Midget 'A' team.

Canadian women win Four Nations Cup

This is from a Facebook friend attending the Four Nations Cup in St. John, NL.


"I had goosebumps after the winning goal was scored and as the national anthem was played while Team Canada gathered for their team picture. I don't care what anyone says about women's hockey being a two-team competition between Canada and USA. It may be now and it may be for a few more years, but how can other teams improve if they don't have better teams to play against? What would be the incentive to improve? I can tell you that the Fins are much better than they were a few years back. And the Swedes are coming along. The Hockey Hall of Fame will have more than two female hockey players inducted in the not-too-distant future. So I say to the critics of national/international female hockey ... GET OVER IT AND MOVE ON!"

They Call Me Killer

Reading this book by TSN's James Duthie and Canadian major junior coaching legend Brian Kilrea.
Not sure that I'd recommend it for hockey moms thinking their sons will play major junior some day - unless you want to know about the size of Jim Ralph's manhood, bathrobes and the coach's daughter.
Hockey dads will find it amusing, but even they will cringe when reading tales about Kilrea's playing days under Eddie Shore and the Springfield, Mass., Indians.
A full review will be published in the London Free Press closer to Christmas.

Blog's a month old

The one-month anniversary of Wayne's World of Minor Hockey is here. I've spread the word - as have my friends - and teased page views through my Twitter account (WayneWriteOn), Linkedin and Facebook.
Unfortunately, I couldn't convince our home association, West London Minor Hockey Association, or even our team's website (Art's super busy making Chevy Equinoxes at Cami) to add my blog to their list of interesting links. But I am listed on the Sun Media alumni blog and that's where I receive the largest block of referrals.
I've had page views from most hockey-playing nations, including Russia and Germany, along with several from non-hockey places such as Singapore and Argentina.
I'd love to have your feedback. Just click on Comment and type.

Waterloo novices pine for Buffalo

Want to help novices from Waterloo, Ont., get to Buffalo for the world juniors? Click here to get the scoop.

Sarnia trip, refs and all

Ah, Sarnia. How many times have we made this trip along Hwy. 402 from London, often in a school night scramble that brought us home far too late.
This season, the Sarnia Junior Sting major midgets are one of the best teams in our league. It's surprising since the city has a Jr. B team to peel away some of the talent.
Other years, our West London Hawks could roll in and expect a win. Not so much this season.
The road trip is one of the longest in the league - 100 km away.
Once the team arrived at the arena ready to play, parents having done their hustle. The Sarnia kids were there, ready to play. But someone forgot to tell the referees, so back to London went the convoy of kids without being able to play.
Tres annoying.
Another time, most of my son's team missed the opening game of a December tournament in Sarnia because of a massive snowstorm. The coach and his son made it, but the manager and his did not. The game went ahead with the other team having a full bench and our team having maybe six players. The result was predictable, but we still wound up advancing in the tournament. More importantly, no one ended up in the ditch - or worse - trying to get to the games.
Another time, for a school night league game, both teams decided to cancel due to a winter storm. Unfortunately, one of our families did not get the message and dad and son took off for Sarnia. And found no one else there. Son might've thought it was an adventure, but dad was not amused.
Our first hockey trip to Sarnia wasn't for a game, but for a Toronto Maple Leafs skills competition for peewees. My son, who by this time had overcome his novice skating woes, was one of three winners from a local skills competition to advance to a regional event in Sarnia. We car pooled and the van driver was uncertain if we'd make the trip after turning on to the 402 that day. We did, but it was slow going until Strathroy where, as the locals say, the weather always changes. By the way, of those three local skills winners, one is retired from hockey, one is playing on an AE team and my son is playing A/AA.
For my American blog readers - who some days outnumber those from Canada - Sarnia is across the river from Port Huron, Mich., and north of Detroit.

Minor hockey star rocks on

False Haven at Bud's on Broadway in Saskatoon.

Minor hockey stars mostly switch it up and move on to something else eventually. The guitarist in the middle once played rep hockey with Brayden Schenn of the Los Angeles Kings.
Now Eric a rising rock star, hitting notes instead of opposing players as a member of False Haven.
Did I mention he's my nephew?

Coach whips player

We all know about coaches whipping kids into shape, but this is something different. A high school basketball coach in the U.S. was caught on video literally whipping a young player. Wonder if this coach knows Graham James. You can watch the video here.

NHL stars taking on local legends in Hanover

Former Toronto Maple Leafs captain Rick Vaive and friends are heading up the line to Hanover to help christen that small Ontario town's spiffy new arena. The P&H Centre, which also includes an aquatic centre as so many new municipal arenas now do, just opened this season.

It follows a season of minor hockey disruption in Hanover where there was no local ice. That's because of the time it took to rip down the old Hanover arena and built the P&H Centre on the same property. Last year, Hanover minor hockey kids picked up ice time at other arenas throughout the area, including the Clifford rink. Yep, my hometown.

You know you are in a small town when the local rag's story about the NHL alumni vs. local legends game lists the local men first and adds the NHLers as an afterthought.

The NHLers should find lots to do in Hanover. There's an OLG Slots mini-casino next door to the arena. Hanover Raceway is closed for the season, but the slots carry on.

And for the local legends who think they've still got game, the Hanover hospital is just down the street. They should be well staffed and ready with ice packs, physiotherapists and, most importantly, psychologists to treat all those bruised egos.

Getting the Nashville look

So we're entering a tournament in Nashville this season and it turns out the last name of our contact person is Mullet. I am not making this up.

Why minor hockey can't succeed in the U.S.

If the U.S. can't love Tim Hortons, then how can they love minor hockey? How is it possible outlets in America are closing? In Canada, Timmies and kids' hockey are joined at the hip. So much so, that in my son's home arena the food booth vendor has put up a sign purporting to sell Tim Hortons coffee. Of course it's not a franchise - he just bought a take-home tin and is brewing away.

Here's what a typical Canadian minor hockey volunteer looks like before a game. Note the spiffy West London Hawks jacket. And the tournament tie.

Canadian high school rejects hockey team

Not sure what country Stouffville is in, but it must not be Canada. How else can you explain the fact that it scrubbed its high school hockey team?
Seriously, Stouffville is north of Toronto and has a lively hockey program. But for some reason, the local high school thought it couldn't muster a suitable senior team this year, much to the ire of this hockey dad quoted on yorkregion.com. Read the full article by clicking here.
In London a decade ago there was outrage when a labour issue - teachers refused to be volunteer coaches - deep-sixed the season.
High school hockey is not as big a deal in Canada as it is in the United States. The elite players - those aiming for a pro career or scholarships - are busy playing major junior in leagues such as the OHL. Still, high school hockey is usually one of the premier sports in the schools. Some offer hockey to cover the entire spectrum from varsity senior girls and boys to house league.
Of course, here in London the St. Thomas Aquinas Flames rule the high school scene. Not that I'm biased.

Next up on reading list: Kerry Fraser Final Call

Next up on my reading list for The London Free Press book page is NHL referee Kerry Fraser's The Final Call. Can't wait to get to his explanation of the blown call in the 1993 playoffs between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Los Angeles Kings. You know, the one that likely prevented the Leafs from making the final.
For hockey history buffs, I have Pucklore, which gets a back cover thumbs up from none other than Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
My favourite from the stack of hockey books so far remains Al Strachan's I am Not Making This Up. His tales of Ken Dryden's frugality, the day when Guy Lafleur rolled Wayne Gretzky's sports car and multiple Brian Burke run-ins are insightful and amusing.
Sure beats the odd He Shoots, He Skewers, in which preambles are outdated and the cartoons more illustrations than funny cartoons.

How to raise money for men's health

A reminder that this blog has pledged its earnings this month to Coach Colin's Movember campaign for men's health. Just click on the ads - nothing to buy, unless you see something you really, like. If it's a new car, best check with your spouse first. Click here for more information about Movember.

A little light on practices

One of the challenges with teenage minor hockey is getting the kids out to practice.
Part-time jobs, homework (especially for university-bound kids in their final year of high school) and CTA (Classic Teenage Attitude) all conspire to keep them away.
With my son's team on a three-game losing streak, including a game Monday night where they were awful for two periods, you would think attendance would be high at this week's practice.
Not so. Six skaters and one goalie were there as the team prepares to play Sarnia on Saturday, one of the best in the league.
Maybe it was the coach's threat of bag skating.
One could point out how it's unfair to teammates, to the volunteer coaches, yadda, yadda, yadda. It would be a pointless conversation if done live. Maybe if it were texted they'd pay attention.
At this point, at this competitive level, one just smiles and hopes they arrive at games willing to play hard.
After all, Mario Lemieux rarely practised, either.

Time for a pro women's league?

Sportnet's Nick Kypreos checks in with an excellent column about women's hockey - from his sister's aspirations to his daughter's realizations.
Can there ever be a women's pro hockey league? It's one of the things Kypreos ponders.
If it ever were to work, it should be compact and in markets where it would be the star attraction.
I could see a league built around Southwestern Ontario, Michigan, Ohio and upper New York State.
Cities such as my hometown London - where the major junior London Knights draw 9,000 fans to home games - might be viable spots for franchises.
Maybe the girls can debate the merits during down time at the Four Nations Cup.

Hitting below the belt and shooting from the lip

Remember, this blog is raising money for Movember and Coach Colin's facial hair campaign for men's health. To help, click on all the various ads on this blog. I'll try to get a new photo of Colin's upper lip on Saturday, by which time there should be some progress.

Early end to games cheats kids

Curfewed hockey is common in house leagues as organizations try to keep costs down. Unexpected delays in games, usually due to injuries, often mean games are over with a few minutes left on the clock. Coaches know it and protect one-goal leads by running out the clock using kids, usually goalies, to "stay down hurt" for a long time, calling timeouts or asking referees questions. All part of the gamesmanship and my son played many years with a coach who was considered a master at it by opposing parents.
But playing competitive hockey is supposed to be different - a step up in all regards and a game to be taken more seriously.
Apparently not here in the heartland of minor hockey where the Minor Hockey Alliance of Ontario and its member associations can't seem to make it happen.
Twice already this fall my son's team has been involved in two curfewed games. In both cases, his team was trailing by one with lots of potential to come back to earn a tie or even a win.
The first time it happened was understandable. In what was already a rough-and-tumble teenage game against one of the London Junior Knights elite teams, the almost unthinkable happened. A player experienced serious medical distress on the bench and was taken to a local hospital by ambulance. Once play resumed, it wasn't long before the goalie needed a moment. And the coach needed a word. Mission accomplished - the oldtimers had arrived for their game and the kids were off the ice.
Last night, it was more difficult to fathom.
The arena schedule was already messed up when our team started to arrive at Carling arena in the city's north end. Our scheduled start of 8:30 pm came and went. It was 9 pm before the teams got on the ice.
More than five minutes was left on the clock in a one-goal game when the Nationals scored into an empty net.
Once again, the oldtimers were champing at the bit and the kids were off the ice.
Is it fair that it should happen when parents pay the megabucks for competitive hockey? Is it more unfortunate when the game is so close? Yes and yes.
The answer to last night's fiasco is obvious. When there are game delays, younger age groups should choke up on the time for their games a little bit so as not to interfere with the elite midget games at the end of the night.

Either that or the oldtimers could have a childhood flashback and cut the kids a little slack.

OHA honours people who helped injured linesman

Referees and linesmen in minor hockey and the amateur leagues often do not get the respect they deserve. Most of them do it for the love of the game, certainly not for the money or interaction with appreciative parents.
Near London there was a near-fatal freak accident that almost left a linesmen dead. Fortunately, he recovered. The Woodstock Sentinel-Review reports on the Ontario Hockey Association honouring those who helped saved linesman Kevin Brown who was cut trying to break up a fight during a Jr. C game.
For hockey fans with an interest in officiating, there's a great new book from NHL veteran Kerry Fraser. An insightful and entertaining look the zebras.

Play hockey - please

Seems strange to see such a plea for minor hockey players in Canada, but get used to it as costs rise, other sports become more popular and so on. This was published in a newspaper from British Columbia.

Highlight reel goal

This goal by 17-year-old Ryan Strome of the Niagara Ice Dogs is amazing. Seen it?
Strome's from Mississauga. Where do you see him playing in five years?

Graham James: Poster boy for worrying parents

Graham James, the Canadian youth hockey coach who is the poster boy for worry among minor hockey families, is in court today.
It's another stage in the process that could see retired NHL star Theo Fleury finally rid himself of demons he's been wrestling with since age 14.
Fleury, who captained the Calgary Flames and played with the Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers, wrote a book called Playing with Fire last year which stands as one of the most powerful of its genre. Might be timely to check it out.
Before Fleury, there was Sheldon Kennedy, who released a book, Why I Didn't Say Anything, about his ordeal four years ago. It's still in print.

Women take place in Hockey Hall of Fame

Here's the great Red Fisher's take on women being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. It's published today in the Montreal Gazette.
I have no daughters, but I've always wondered why cities find it necessary to have entirely different organizations for female minor hockey - the Devilettes in London, for example. Why can't existing minor hockey organizations offer all-female teams and leagues? Why does the pool of talented volunteers have to be spread more thinly and why do families with sons and daughters who like the sport have to be split in different directions?
I realize that many girls start off with their community associations but either drop the sport or join a female-only organization when the boys start gaining a physical advantage.
But wouldn't having all youth hockey, male and female, under one organizational umbrella solve a lot of problems ranging from spats over prime ice time to declining overall numbers?
And wouldn't it help to raise the world stage elite female game beyond its current AAA boys level?

Learning from the sadness

The New York Times writes about brain injuries in youth sports. Football, cheerleading and swimming. One can easily add hockey to the list.
My Twitter friends at Brainworks recommend this Times article for all parents and young athletes

Keep it safe

This is a real life minor hockey head injury story from the Ottawa Citizen
Accidents and injuries happen in hockey - we all know that. But deliberate attempts to hurt and injure? What's that about and where do some kids playing the game get the idea that it's OK?

Women tune up with AAA match

We're all for developing women's hockey and looking forward to more nations - are you reading this Russia? Denmark? France? Germany? - becoming competitive on the world stage, it's interesting to note what level the women's game is at when compared with the world's top men. The best female hockey teams in the world right now are comparable with the best AAA midget teams in Canada. Given the number of countries with serious women's hockey programs and the level at which they are playing, how much longer can it continue to be a medal sport at the Winter Olympics?
Here's a post left on my Facebook page about the upcoming Four Nations Cup in St. John's, NL. (One of my favourite cities in the world, but I digress.)
Canada's National Women's Team is @ the Glacier Ice Arena in Mount Pearl, N.L. right now, warming up for a pre-4 Nations Cup exhibition game against the Midget AAA St. John's Pennecon Privateers. Should be a great game, as the Pennecon Privateers are defending league champions and this is the first official NWT game of the 2010-11 season! If you're in the area, come out to the rink to catch Team Canada in action!
TSN has the tournament covered well on line http://www.tsn.ca/canadian_hockey/feature/?id=10852 and Hockey Canada is great http://www.hockeycanada.ca/

Minor hockey tough to shoot

Shooting good pictures in most minor hockey rinks is nearly impossible. The lighting is usually poor and parents, unlike the professionals found at tournaments, usually end up shooting through the glass, which makes things even darker.
Spiffy new digital photography technology has helped and shooting video rather than stills has always yielded better results. But the ying to that yang is that video is time-consuming and tedious to edit into anything more than kids skating back and forth.
Actually getting a still shot of a goal with the puck not blurred is quite an accomplishment. Amid the awful lighting conditions of the Gretzky Sports Centre in Brantford, Ont., I was able to luck out this this photo. Of course I had plenty of opportunity during this game as my son's team scored nine times.

It's not bad, but not technically perfect by any means. Should be nice for the obligatory end-of-season slide show.

Tournament conveners need to be careful

Driving past the arena in Lucan, Ont., in November brings back bad memories. No, it has nothing to do with the Black Donnellys and Roman Catholic-Protestant relations.
It has to do with a hockey tournament.
It was my son's first tournament of the season in his minor peewee year. He was playing a step up from house league for the first time and I was the team's manager in charge of entering appropriate tournaments.
Tough task at that level, which could be called house league select or AE.
I had a lengthy conversation with the convener about whether or not our team would be a good fit and he assured me it would be, then happily took our hefty entry fee.
The opening game was a disaster, not just on the scoreboard. Organizers matched us with a major peewee team from a higher level league in Hamilton - kids who were bigger, faster and had a year of body checking under their belts.
Our team hardly got out of its own end all game. Worse, the trainer spent almost as much time on the ice as the kids. At one point, the trainer thought one of the players had been seriously injured. Other kids didn't want to take their shifts.
Long story short, we left the tournament before the end of the round robin. We were not the only team to do so that year.
It was the right - albeit expensive - thing to do. Keeping players safe and keeping hockey fun in well-matched games is paramount.
Some worried the coaching staff would be sanctioned, being bad sportsmanship not to stand up and take a beating. But nothing came of it.
When I tried to contact the convener afterwards to explain our withdrawal and concerns, there was no reply.
Just a cashed cheque.

Football and hockey harmony

Hockey or high school football? It's a dilemma faced by many gifted teen athletes and something that can't always be balanced.
Former NFL player and London native Tim Tindale was able to. He played AAA hockey and Jr. B hockey before starring with the UWO Mustangs.
As part of the setup for the Buffalo Bills-Chicago Bears game in Toronto on Nov. 7, here's an excellent piece by CBC Sports about Tindale http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/hockeynightincanada/bio/2010/11/tindale.html

London's minor hockey: Next year

A solution to the minor hockey dustup in London? Maybe the Junior Knights program should run all the A/AA teams. Or none. Or maybe kids who've played at least one season with the JKs should be "asked" to return.
Or not.
Here's a column from Morris Dalla Costa of the London Free Press http://www.lfpress.com/sports/hockey/2010/11/05/15992366.html

Suspend coaches for deeds of players?

Is this idea promoted today in various QMI/Sun Media daily newspapers bang on or ridiculous?
I think the author might be on to something - maybe it's time to hold adults directly responsible for the conduct of kids playing minor hockey.
Can it be any coincidence that entire teams, sometimes entire organizations, gain reputations for their styles of play? Is it because the adult leadership teaches it, encourages and facilitates it?
Perhaps.
Maybe it is time to toss coaches, suspend entire teams or default games for certain sins such as damaging the brains of opposing players.
That's what's being advocated here by Canada's largest newspaper chain: http://www.lfpress.com/comment/editorial/2010/11/05/15981366.html

Benched

I remember the first time my son missed a shift, almost like I remember where I was when JFK was shot.
He was a senior tyke, assigned to a team after much debate because he was new to hockey and, just like his dad, his skating was suspect.
The head coach was a prototype child-first veteran of minor hockey and all was well when he was behind the bench. After all, it's not hard to coach tykes. The buzzer sounds every two minutes and the kids change. Everyone plays the same.
But not on this day at Nichols arena when the head coach was away and his uber-competitive assistant was at play.
The 2IC dutifully rotated the house league seven-year-olds until the dying minutes. With the regular season game hanging in the balance, and our team trailing by one, he tightened the bench in an oh-so-exciting pro move. Left waiting for their turns were my son and another boy. The assistant coach double-shifted his own kid.
Twit.
Ice time and attitudes, quite rightly, change as kids move through the age groups or jump up to competitive hockey. In competitive minor hockey, deploying the skills of kids in different situations is part of the coach's essential toolkit. The point is to win games, always, not to carefully balance playing time.
And sometimes kids bench themselves either during the course of a game. As they get older, understandable distractions start taking hold. Girlfriends (more about their impact in a future post), part-time jobs and yes, even homework, conspire to keep teens out of entire games.
Makes missing a shift in tyke seem like child's play.

I Am Not Making This Up

Now on my book review desk: Al Strachan's I Am Not Making This Up, an excellent bathroom reader of NHL and sports journalist quickie tales by the former Toronto Sun, Montreal Gazette and Globe & Mail scribe. Also, the Brian Kilrea-James Duthie book The Call Me Killer, an assisted autobiography by the legendary Ontario Hockey League coach.
Do kids today read hockey books? I hope so, because very skilled writers keep cranking them out every fall for the Christmas gift market. I bet it's grandparents who buy them as gifts for hockey-playing kids. Do the books actually get read?

I Am Not Making This Up: My Favourite Hockey Stories

Of the handful of hockey books I've seen this fall, the Strachan book is the best bet for teen and adult hockey fans. Strachan's tales - from the cheapness of Ken Dryden to the swagger of Brett Hull - are funny. The book doubles as a sportswriter's history. Love his descriptions of story filing and equipment once used, some of which I pecked at as well. And who knew a former GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs was once a fax boy in the press box of Maple Leaf Gardens?
I'll be reviewing various hockey books for the London Free Press as we draw closer to the Christmas buying frenzy.

They Call Me Killer: Tales from Junior Hockey's Legendary Hall-of-Fame Coach

World juniors masks to be designed by kids

Is your child an artist and a hockey player? Hockey Canada http://www.hockeycanada.ca/index.php/ci_id/148292/ss_id/57000/la_id/1.htm is back with its design-a-goalie-mask contest. Winning designs will be worn by Canadian goaltenders at the world juniors being held in Buffalo (one of America's most underrated cities, but I digress) during the Christmas break.
If I were young enough, I'd design one with a magic marker, just like Gerry Cheevers. It's a design that'd have them in stitches.

Head games and hockey

My Brainworks friends http://www.brainworksrehab.com/ (see earlier post) also point to this story in the Globe & Mail about concussions http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/education-key-in-treating-concussion-epidemic/article1783175/
It's personally timely for my son's team after a game Monday night in Brantford against team ironically, perhaps sarcastically, nicknamed in honour of Wayne Gretzky. It was not a pleasant hockey experience as the game sheet penalty tally will show when Minor Hockey Alliance of Ontario officials review it, as surely they should. At issue will be the conduct of the Brantford kids and their priority of committing fouls instead of playing hockey.
The blame when a minor hockey game goes off the rails lies with the adult leaders. Those who suffer and are at risk of being seriously hurt are the kids on both teams.
Remember, minor hockey is a kids' recreational activity, not a ticket to a career, not an adult-facilitated neighbourhood brawl. It's about fun, fitness and friends at every age level.
Let's keep our heads.

It gives heads-up hockey a new meaning

One of my hockey dad friends from bygone teams and his wife have a company in Southwestern Ontario called Brainworks - you can guess what its professional speciality is.
Two of his sons, who are close in age, played on teams over the years with mine. His older son, when he was maybe 12, was on the wrong end of one of the most vicious boarding incidents I had ever seen up to that point.
In a Tweet on Twitter today, Brainworks points to this article. It should be read by all involved in minor hockey, especially parents who push their kids to get back on the ice too soon. It'll leave you nodding your head http://www.medpagetoday.com/Neurology/HeadTrauma/23083

Sportsmanship, respect and mouthguards

Dubious about mouthguards? I've always been a strong proponent and now, maybe, a veteran minor hockey player from West London is, too.
Mouthguards, which incredibly are not mandatory in all kids' leagues, are important pieces of equipment in lessening the risk of concussions or trauma to the teeth and jaw.
Just ask one player from West London.
Playing the game without a mouthguard (he said he asked his father to buy a new one for the game, but his dad forgot) against the rough and rule-bending  Brantford 99ers, one could almost sense something would go wrong.
And so it did.
A rush to the net ended with a vicious (and unpenalized) elbow to the jaw.
A broken tooth. A sprained jaw. Two trips to the dentist. It might've been avoided with a mouthguard. It definitely would have been avoided if Brantford Minor Hockey Association coaches could teach their players about sportsmanship and respect.
Here's the Minor Hockey Alliance of Ontario link that should be bookmarked in Brantford: http://www.alliancehockey.com/page.asp?id=41