It is game day! You have gotten through all of
the measurable testing. The coaches and
scouts have seen you perform in that arena.
Now comes the most important part of the weekend. Can you play?
Can you play at speed? Can you
play with guys that you have not practiced with? Can you be an impact player shift after
shift? It does not always look like
scoring goals and obliterating someone across the middle of the ice. You must be able to move your feet
defensively. Make crisp outlet passes on
the breakout. Contain or beat a player 1
on 1. Coaches look at a complex array of
attributes to select players for a team.
That’s the beautiful part about teams.
No two players are the same, but the sum of all their parts can make a
championship team. Let’s see how Jackson’s
first couple of games went…
GAME
1:
Okay
here we go. No messing around. It’s game day. There will be 3 games. Two today and then a final on Sunday
morning. It’s a good start. Sleep in till 7:30 and then a good Marriott breakfast. Some
eggs (Particularly good ones. Not to dry, not to runny – in the Goldie Locks zone.
Just right…)
Game
Day. Nothing special so far. Arrive at
the rink. Got a great parking spot and
the rink is starting to buzz. It’s 8:30.
Jackson
is dressed and focused. No more joking
around with him about the size of those kids.
This day 2 and he is ready to mix it up and play.
It’s
9:30. They are buzzing around a normal
warm up. They are playing TEAM White. In reviewing the roster, a lot of AAA by the
names of these kids. From So Cal, MN,
Colorado, Dallas, San Diego, Phoenix, Alaska.
Yikes, they have Logan Harris on that team. Believe it or not Jackson’s
teammate on a Mite team not so long ago.
Except Logan is now 6’3 at 15. I
am sure he remembers Jackson and is fond of him. I hope he remembers that Jackson is a nice
happy kid when they get in the corners.
On
our side TEAM GREY, same cities and states as WHITE. Just one stands out “ELEVATE Academy” Defense
– Jackson Oleson
It’s
9:45 and puck drops. It’s not Jack’s
shift. He is on the bench. GOOD. He can get a look at what this is like. Man, this is fast. Bats out of hell. They have something to show off for. A full line up of scouts line the top row of
the stands.
It
is 9:47 and Jack’s out. He’s little and
right off the bat TEAM WHITE come rushing down on him. His D partner is a big boy and has some skate
in him. He is in a good position, but
Jack’s got to make this play and with a cool simple poke check the job is done.
Jack’s
back out. This is fast. Jack looks fast. It’s a dump in and he is first man on. Nice little fake right then spins back and
skates around the net and hits his winger for a standard break out. NICE!
The Grizzly season made this possible.
Total confidence with the puck no hesitation at all.
1-0 WHITE … Dang …
Jackson on the bench for this one. I
think he would have made this play.
Another
nice shift. But nothing notable.
Mid
1st now. They are running 20
minute clocks. This is going to be a lot
of hockey!
Ohhhhh
crap. A coyote kid just got Scot Stevens’d
in the neutral zone. Don’t know the reference,
check the link. Just nasty. If that had
been Jack, then … pieces of Jack. There
is a clear etiquette here. They don’t
seem to be zeroing in to annihilate Jack. But this is more than he has seen. Another good shift.
Jack’s
having trouble clearing the crease. Hard
to move mountains, as they say. Puck’s
on his stick and just executed a perfect cycle.
He slipped the puck behind him on the boards to the center and knew he
would pay a price … took a big hit, but the center is moving up the ice with
tremendous speed. He’s picked by their
D. No way can Jack move it down that
fast. Much different from the skills
session. These kids are getting it done
while fighting off lions and tigers.
Score
is 1-1 now. Nice goal by one of our
boys.
Jack
has a guy flying down the boards 1 on 1.
Jack rides him off into the corner.
I was sure he was beat but he stayed in it and got enough of this kid to
push him off, then nice little tag by Jackson to take his kid out of the
play.
Jacks
on the PK now. Playing it straight. No frills.
They have us pinned in as Jack wraps it around the boards with no
clear. More pressure now. Dang that TEAM WHITE kid is fast. I wish there was time to see who he was and
what team. Didn’t recognize the
colors. The Stars, Kings, and Coyotes
kids are obvious. Colorado maybe? Anyway.
Pucks cleared Jackson heading to bench.
Did his job.
Oooohhh. Harris had Jackson line up but didn’t
finish. Thanks Logan.
There
are a lot of 1 on 1 and 2 on 1’s in this game really testing the D. Jackson just took the body leading to a scrum
in the corner. He’s thrashing, slash
left then spin slash right. He came away
with the puck and now moving it up the ice.
Nice long pass through the neutral zone and we have numbers going the
other way. Just dang. Just an awesome play. Wow.
My
phone is about to die so my play calling voice recordings of the game are going
to stop. Rest from memory.
I
don’t really have a good memory, sorry for the black out. So game is over with a 3-2 win GREY!! Jackson
was plus 2 with no goals against. There
were so many more awesome plays I just can’t remember them all to describe
here.
There
is a player parent meeting and I plan to stay consistent and find a way to duck
out. I just hate parent meetings. Jack can attend, I am heading to the car for
a quick nap and follow up on emails. It
is so warm here. Perfect nap time.
We don't currently have video of Jackson's team playing, but follow the link for video of a couple other teams to see the game play. Good, fast hockey!
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