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Got accepted into my school and course of choice. Even got offered a (partial) scholarship, but that goes a long way towards helping me finance this Master's. Going to be starting a whole new chapter of my life come January!

I have finally started figuring out the mechanics in how to do it. I'm not fast by any means but a hell of a lot better than a few months ago. The learn to skate teachers seemed clueless when trying to teach some things to people not wearing figure skates. I learned more about backwards skating in one learn to play class than four months of learn to skate.

Oilers wearing what should be their primary.

Retro flames is ALWAYS a good choice!

FT coaching my middle guy this season The rink had a mite jamboree this weekend to kick off the season. Its kind of a cash grab, but they do bring in photographers with great gear and shoot throughout the day. They grabbed this one of me and my boy. https://www.instagram.com/p/BoDbrYFDRB9/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

No established player is going to fight in the preseason these days. Fighting is going the way of the dodo and a guy like Ekblad is just trying to get his game legs and not get hurt before the season starts. He isn't going to risk his hands or anything else in a meaningless preseason game. His demeanor was obvious and Domi decided to be a punk.

I agree with Mcguire's opinion on things. Ekblad doesn't have a rep and Domi was having a bad game and decided to take out his frustrations on someone who did nothing but play hockey https://www.tsn.ca/video/mcguire-has-his-say-on-domi-s-sucker-punch-and-subsequent-suspension~1495810

Now make those the permanent homes!

I'm glad for you that they finally did the right thing. I just hope that replacing this one stick at about $50 wholesale cost to them does not cause Bauer to go Chapter 11 again.

That was my next question; he's playing Junior A at this point. Perhaps at this point since his feet are not growing, go with custom skates with a reinforced eyerow and ask for the brass eyelets all the way up. The ones that come from the custom program don't include the stamped eyelets. Not sure how CCM handles it, but with Bauer, you could choose where you wanted the reinforcement. I never recommended the entire eyerow done because it makes it harder to wrap, but if he's busting between the top 5, just get that done.

Final chapter. I emailed the board. Made it strictly about my sons lack of expeirence and not having fun. I did speak the other coach prior, but made it only about my son. Apparently the other team needed players and he likes my son having coached him last year. Got an email today that even though this is not typical protocol they granted our request, considering other circumstance, and this may not happen in the future. My son is happy his new coach reached out immediately to welcome us and talked to him. We didnt have to go through a team manager. He starts practice tomorrow. THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT.

Already paid up and logisticaly this is the only club we can do. Great news is he had a blast at roller today. I havent seen him have so much fun and skated so hard. What a laid back supportive atmosphere.

Let me begin by saying that, as a professional, paid, youth hockey coach, hearing stuff like this breaks my heart. THEY'RE. FREAKING. EIGHT. YEARS. OLD. No matter how seriously the coaches (and parents...honestly, the parents are generally every bit as bad as the coaches at this age) take it, this is NOT the NHL. And, what's more, nothing - NOTHING - that happens in any kid's 10U Minor season will either increase or decrease his chances of playing in college/getting drafted/playing in the NHL. Well...almost nothing. The one exception to this rule is, if the experience is SO negative for the player that s/he quits forever, I can GUARANTEE you that s/he'll never progress to a high level of hockey... Anyway. Instead of focusing on skill development, it sounds like your kid's coach is going to waste the entire year trying to teach 'systems' to a group of kids that do not, I REPEAT - DO NOT - have the mental capacity to understand what it is they are learning. Studies have proven again and again that treating kids like they're miniature adults doesn't work. A child's brain does not process information in the same way the adult brain does. It just freaking DOESN'T. The kids may be able to learn the mechanics of the systems...but they won't learn the 'why'; and they certainly won't learn the strategies behind them. They won't be able to repeat what they learn and, in the end, they won't become better hockey players. Put differently, solely in the name of winning, this coach seems dead set on trying to create a group of little robots that have no creativity, no individual playmaking skills, and no hockey sense. And, for your kid anyway, no fun either. (Thing is, though...I GUARANTEE that your kid isn't the only one not having fun...) So. Enough about why this coach sucks...because let's face it, no matter how many utterly meaningless 10U state/national/global/universal championships he's won, if he's teaching systems at 10U and all he does is yell and curse, he does, in fact, suck. The question you have to wrestle with is, what do you do now? I'd agree with the others that you probably need to get your kid off that team. It sounds like your house leagues are a bit of a joke (don't worry - ours are, too...) and it sounds like you have at least a cordial relationship with the B team's coach. I'd leverage that and see if you can't make a change. If not and the rosters are set, a year off from competitive hockey at 8 years old isn't going to hurt his long term development - just keep getting him on the ice in a positive environment where he leaves smiling and, most importantly, wants to come back the next time. One caveat though - in any discussion you have with ANY person that's part of your club, I'd make sure that you keep the discussion about YOUR KID - NOT the coach. You don't want to get into a situation where you're saying things like, "that coach is a jerk" or "all that coach does is yell and curse" or "my son hates that coach". All of that may be TRUE, but getting labeled as the dad/kid/family that can't get along with coaches is NOT a good place to be this early - particularly if you're going to stick with this club long term. If you talk to anyone about this (current coach, club president, B team coach, other parents, ANYONE other than your immediate family), just say that it's become apparent that your son wasn't ready for that level yet and that you want to back off before he begins to hate hockey. If people give you a hard time about it, simply say, "I understand, but this is what's right for my son at this point. The last thing I want is to push this now and wind up with a 12 year old that hates coming to the rink!" Never forget - this is a marathon, not a sprint. A million things have to 'go right' for any one kid to 'make it' with hockey...and, ultimately, the vast majority of those things are COMPLETELY out of our control as parents. As such, I believe it is our duty to make sure that we parents do the best we can with the things we CAN control...and this situation is one you can control. Get your kid back to a place where he has fun at the rink. Do it quickly. And do it without apologizing to anyone. Good luck. And please report back. I definitely want to hear how your son is doing.

Howdy, Yeah, ditto to others here. If it were me in your position I might try talking to the coach first, but if you've seen him being an asshole on the ice with the kids yourself (vs. hearing just one side of it from your kid), I'd probably not bother. Pull your kid out of the team and let the people that run the program know exactly why. Sorry to hear that's happening. Mark

It's been made private because people kept reporting it. At one point it was invite-only but now its totally private. That said...

Genius suggestion. T-shirts and mugs don't mean much to me. Having earlier ice slots would be more than enough incentive to show up to games and play.