Hockey and the Boys
Perry Hiltz September 2 2010 08:01:27 AM
WOW, Considering that the time has flown, the boys have been working so hard with learning the game of hockey.To fill you in, Danny started with an instructional program here in Mount Clemens two years ago. This taught him the basics of skating, stick and puck control. James decided in late January of 2009 to join Danny on the ice.
This program end in March. Both boys then joined a spring league of hockey. Neither one did a great job out there as this was their very first foray into the game. Danny from the on set said he wanted to be a goalie. Knowing the cost of the equipment and the associated skills, we decided to have Danny skate out during the spring league as a forward. He didn't get involved in the play much and James, well he scored one goal, in the last second of the last game of the season. His very first goal!
The summer of '09 had the boys doing drop in hockey at the local rink several times a week. We bought some used goalie equipment for Danny and started working on saving goals. James of course loved to shoot on his big brother and each of them teased the other when one scored, or the other robbed him of a goal. That brought them to the fall of 2009. We enrolled both boys into their first full season of ice hockey. James could skate albeit not very well, and Danny could stop a few pucks.
The progressed through the year, getting progressively better each week. James became the fastest skater on his team, Danny got to be the number on goalie. Both boys went on to play throughout the year in spite of some coaching problems on James' team, he finished the year and went on to 2010 Spring Hockey again with a different team. This change made him flourish. He was able to get equal ice time and skate hard as much as he wanted. Danny played in a Silver High School league where they lit him up. Poor kid, only thirteen years old and playing against kids seventeen and down.
All of this though, has made each of them stronger. James, who wasn't played equally on his first house team, learned to play more you have to be the best and has driven himself to do so. Danny has no fear of shots against him.
That brought to the summer. We enrolled Danny into the Future Pro Goalie school. This is run by a former NHL goalie who was also the Goalie Coach for the Toronto Maple Leafs for four years. Danny worked through this camp over two weekends, He learned, worked, and excelled. He brought his game up quite a bit. Next there was another clinic but for skaters, who needed goalies. We enrolled Danny in this as well. He was able to work with all local (right near Mount Clemens) hockey players from the East Coast Hockey League, college level, and a former professional NHL player over the course of a week. They even brought out a professional goalie by the name of Jimmy Spratt. Jimmy just singed a contract with the Calgary Flames to play in the NHL for them. Check them out at http://www.eastsideelitehockey.com
The week after was James' turn. He was enrolled in the Turcotte Stick Handling school. This class is designed to teach kids on how to handle the puck in a variety of different situations. James too, learned, worked hard, and excelled in this camp. Fortunately Danny got to participate in this class as well, so this was his third camp. The funny thing was, that while we paid a lot for James to be in the camp the goalies were only $30.00, and they gave a $30,00 discount for siblings so he got lots of pucks and ice time for free!!!
Two weeks later the guys form East Side Elite called and said they were hosting another clinic for High School kids. They only had one goalie and would Danny like to skate with them. He wanted to! SO that was Camp number 4 for Danny. Danny was also invited to skate with a few other events in July.
During this time frame was also try outs for Travel Hockey Teams. Danny tried out for four different Travel teams. Well he made one. With one year of experience in organized hockey he made a travel team with four kids from his house team of last year.
James is playing in a house league for one more season. He has gotten to be a force on the ice. I am going to enjoy watching him out there this year.
Keep coming back for more on how the boys are doing with hockey this year.
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