Thrillers even in juvenile

West London defenceman Adam Newton (white jersey)
chases down a North London attacker in London
juvenile semifinal action.

Turns out even local juvenile games can be thrillers when it's boiled down to a one-game semifinal.
My son's West London team, reinforced by three APs to bring the skater count up to 10, worked their way to a comfortable 5-2 lead with minutes to play.
Then my son got four minutes in penalties for a punch or two. Oddly, the other teen got away with his initial jabs and a final jab after the call.
Then there was another penalty.
And another.
The third goal. The fourth. The fifth on a crazy deflection and we're tied.
Moments later, opposing North scores what at first appears to be the 6-5 winner with one referee calling a goal. Turns out the other saw what most of the kids on the ice saw: The North player pushed the puck in the next with his hand. North's on-ice celebration is cancelled.
A four-on-four overtime couldn't start until the convener clarified whether or not it should be three-on-four or two-on-four due to penalties.
Fast forward through overtime when nails were bitten but nothing resolved, and it's time to resolve the game with a skills competition - aka shootout.
Three shooters. West scores on its first two, North does not, yet no one seems to figure out the game is over and West can celebrate - for real. They let the third shooters go, for no apparent reason except the thrill of the skate.
After a dismal season where they won only once without the use of APs, the West team moves on Sunday to the city final, albeit in the B pool.
Wish them luck, I won't be there for what might be my son's last minor hockey game thanks to a crazy little thing called work.

Hockey dad's son packs it in

Hockey dads (and moms) who read Bob McKenzie's book Hockey Dad: True Confessions of a (Crazy) Hockey Parent will find this an interesting final chapter.
His son, Mike, has ended his hockey aspirations and moves on to "real" life. Catch up with Mike's tale on twitter, mikemckenzie11.

Kids we know

It's always fun when the hometown newspaper writes about kids you know.
This past season, The London Free Press has written about the hockey experience of several kids we've shared teams with.
There was an excellent piece about a teen goaltender who suffered a concussion during his major midget season, not by being injured on the ice but by hitting his head in a household mishap. He came back to tend net for his London, Ont., high school hockey team and was the subject of this piece in The London Free Press.
I'm working at The Free Press as a copy editor and suggested to sportswriter Steve Green that he should do a story on two cousins facing off against each other in the local Junior B semifinal playoff series. He did and, as luck would have it, the story came to me in the "rim" to copy edit and write the headline.
Scott Lombardi of the London Nationals and Michael Mandarelli of the St. Marys Lincolns both were classmates of my son's since junior kindergarten at St. George school in London. They played together on school teams a couple of years. Scott was drafted into major junior by the Guelph Storm and is the captain of the London Nationals. Here's Steve Green's story.

Blizzard doesn't stop tournament

They're hockey troopers in Canada's Far North, were snowmobiles were used to make it to a game.
It meant a blizzard couldn't stop a tournament in Rankin Inlet.
Cool, but for southerners let's remember to drive carefully or stay put.

Teen hockey player loses cancer battle

Seventeen-year-old Adam Fedosoff didn't want a "pity party".
A player with Barrie minor hockey who  lost his battle with leukemia, Adam was praised by his coach is a way which must have made his family proud.
The Barrie Examiner has the story.

Coach under review after stick-throwing outburst | Canada | News | Toronto Sun

Last time we saw something this bad was perv coach Graham James stripping to the waist.

Coach under review after stick-throwing outburst | Canada | News | Toronto Sun:

'via Blog this'

Rod Stewart's son plays junior

Singer Rod Stewart was a skilled soccer player. Now his son, born in Britain and raised in Los Angeles, is enjoying high-level junior hockey in the Western Hockey League.
Liam Stewart, after success with the Los Angeles Jr. Kings, moved up to play for the Spokane Chiefs.
After his parents divorced, mom/model Rachel Hunter dated a couple of Los Angeles Kings, including bad boy Sean Avery.
The story is in today's Toronto Star.

Fighting, exit stage left

London Knights GM and coach Mark Hunter, one of the brightest guys in Canadian major junior hockey, has seen the writing on the wall and is OK with it: Fighting is on the way out in teenage hockey, even at the highest levels.
Hunter tells the hometown London Free Press he's been on both sides of the issue, but the bottom line is protecting young athletes and, as we understand more about head injuries, we've confirmed what should have been obvious all along: Blows to the head from fists can cause concussions with life-long ramifications.
Eliminating or reducing fighting would follow the lead of university hockey rules, using significant suspensions.
The comments from Hunter are no small matter, given the family's professional hockey pedigree. Hunter's brother, Dale, is the former coach of the Knights and now coaches the NHL's Washington Capitals. As a player, Dale Hunter committed one of the most brutal on-ice assaults in the history of the game against Pierre Turgeon of the New York Islanders.