Playoffs, parties, etc.

Whew!  Today I went to the best hockey game I saw all season.  In the locker room before these two playoff games I told them that while it's fun to win, winning and losing don't matter.  What matters is that you have no regrets, that you play to the best of your ability, so they never have to wonder "what if ..."  I would say we played no-regret hockey today.  The girls left everything they had on the ice and I could not possibly be prouder of them.  I could go on and on, but that's what our party next weekend is for.  For now, it was a wonderful end (and, yes, I know we didn't win) to a wonderful season.  I'm so proud of the effort our daughters made today.  They are winners.

 

End of season party at the Williamson's this coming Saturday, April 5 at 6:00 pm.  All are welcome -- players, parents, and siblings. 

 

Sandy (Coburn) and Ellen will take care of the main course.  Please let me know what you would like to contribute (expect 35-40 people).  We could use the following:

• Paper goods -- 1 (sturdy plates, plasticware, cups, napkins)
• Drinks -- 2 people to bring water and soft drinks
• Green salads -- 2
• Chips/snacks/dips -- 1
• Desserts -- 3

Daughter/family game:  Finally, I wanted to mention that we are on for the Friday, April 11 game at 6:00 at Natick.  We're going to warm up with some relay races and other games and then spend the last half of the time scrimmaging.  This is open to all players, parents, and siblings.  I know Sarah G has a conflict, I'm sorry to say (although I'm sure we've got room for Becca in my car -- let me know Deb).  Please let me know who will be attending so I have a rough idea of numbers.

 

Coach Joe -- will you be between the pipes on the parent side?  

What a game!

Once again our girls showed real determination.  They were not going to lose this game.  Those of us who came to Vermont have seen them play at a higher level but we had a few sick players out there and we did what we needed to do.  I know you're all as proud of your daughters as I am.

 

So, we play at Waltham on Sunday at 12:20 pm.  Please shoot to arrive 11:30-11:40 since the games can start early.

Game Friday and a few other announcments

1. We play Manchester tomorrow at 6:10 pm in Waltham.  Remember traffic on Rt 128 at rush hour can be heavy so allow adequate time.   We'll see if we can spark the same flames we saw in Barre.
   
2. We have ice time on Friday, April 11 at 6:00 pm.  I invite parents and siblings to join us on the ice.  We'll have some games and contests and end with a scrimmage, so you can come on out even if you don't want to play in the scrimmage. 
   
3. Player evaluations (tryouts) for next season begin on Saturday.   Amber, Kayla, Jen, Hayley, and Lexi are on at 1:00 pm, Cara, Patty, Brittany, Sarah, Meghan, and Sara are on at 2:00.  I will be on the ice with both groups.  My general advice is for girls to "go for it."   In general from my perspective, evaluators like to see kids going after the puck, carrying it, taking shots or making nice passes.  You get less credit for good positional play, or hanging back to cover against a break out.

Is anyone familiar with Canadian Hockey Academy which runs a camp at the Bill Chase Arena in August?  I received a mailing for it and the location certainly is convenient.

Saturday's game

For those who weren't there, we lost to Andover 4-2.    We've beaten Andover previously this season, and lost by 1 goal when we played them with only 8 skaters.  We were missing three of our regulars.  We added Jackie and Ali from the other Pee Wee team and everyone played well, but it wouldn't say it was inspired hockey.  I didn't want to let down too much for this game, but let's face it, it didn't matter.  I'm trusting, and hoping, that we will be able to find what we found in Vermont and bring it to the game on Friday.  That's why I'm glad we have a practice this Thursday.  We'll try not to get them too exhausted but we'll work on lighting that fire for our upcoming games.

 

 

Practice Thursday at 4:30

We've gotten an hour of ice to ourselves this week.  Probably a good idea to get everyone together before we begin the league playoffs the next day.  Thursday 4/27 at 4:30 pm.  See you then.

 

Also, the Comets have some ice at other times.  I've requested 6:00 pm on Friday, April 11th as a final end of year daughter/parent/sibling scrimmage.  Please let me know if this works for you and how many family members might be interested in playing.  We may not be able to get the time any way, but I thought I'd ask.

 

Ed

Comets looking for tryout volunteers

From the Comets:

 

Volunteers are needed to hand out, collect and sort pinnies during the tryout weeks.  Attached is a schedule of the tryouts and the times when volunteers are needed.  I have bolded the times when I am definitely unavailable and will need help.  Volunteers need to arrive about 30 minutes earlier than the  scheduled tryout hour.  Pinnies are going to be handed out in the back room of the arena - separate from registration.    Please volunteer if only for thirty minutes to help get the teams on the ice.  

Volunteers can email Nora Connor at noconnor@generalinvestment.com. 

Why we do it

In an email to me Tracey included the following comment which I wanted to share with you:

Thanks for a great weekend.  When she was going to bed
the other night Cara said, "That was the best weekend
of my life!"

It was right up near the top for me too!

Comets photos

If you are going to post any photos, I'd suggest Picassa.  If you're not already familiar with it, it enables people to get prints through many options, rather than just a single vendor.  Plus, people can download the files as well. 

 

I use Picassa regularly and would be happy to put any and all photos up there if you want to just want to give me a CD with what you have.  I know Joe and David took a lot of shots this weekend.  Perhaps others did as well.  I am so glad we were capturing so much of this weekend, and welcome photos from any other times of the season too.

 

Playoff schedule (and more)

The playoff schedule is now posted.

• Friday, March 28 at Waltham at 6:10 pm against Manchester

• If we win, we play: Sunday, March 30 at 12:20 pm at Waltham v. Nighthawks Blue

• If we win, we play for the championship on Sunday, April 6 at 12:50 at Arlington against the winner of Lexington/Bedford and Charlestown/Cambridge.

We have practices this Wednesday (7:30), Thursday (6:30), and Friday (7:00) evenings. I know Cara will miss Friday and our game on Saturday at 1:00 in Andover . If anyone else is missing anything, please let me know. These are our last three practices and our final regular-season game of the year.

Comets closing ceremonies are Sunday, April 6 at 2:30 at Natick High School (of course if we're playing the league championships we'll just have show up a little late for this).

Don't forget about to put the three Player Evaluations for next year on your calendar.

Official photos from the Barre tournament

The website is www.actionphotos.com Follow these instructions:

• Once on on the home page, click Team Downloads on the left hand side.
• For Sport select Ice Hockey and for State select VT. Click the search button.
• Click on the Barre Girls U12 & U14 tournament.

Pictures should be there by Wednesday.