BenBreeg

Thread is a bit old but I just got Quad 0 on new steel in order to prolong my Supreme 7000's life until I get new skates. I expected one of two things 1) I would fall and have trouble adjusting 2) I wouldn't notice much. Neither. As soon as I stepped on the ice I was solid. I love the longer radius on the back of the blades! And as soon as you take off you are on the shorter radius and good to go. I think my old ones were radiused too short, but I can't remember what they were. When I started to tire out the front of my shins would get fatigued. Also, it always took 20 mins or so before the bottom of my feet would stop hurting, this has gone on for years. I always thought this was boot related but it didn't happen the other day for the first time in 20 years. Maybe my feet were fighting against the contour/pitch of my last profile. Anyway, I wasn't expecting it to be this different and it was, in nothing by a positive way.

I wanted to post some thoughts about being a hockey parent and see what others’ perspectives were. My background is I played through high school then when I came back from college played some men’s league and started coaching high school and ACHA. I eventually stopped playing and focused on coaching and then when I went to grad school and my kids were born wasn’t doing anything hockey-related. My son is 7 now and started Learn to Play this past Feb, did a spring ADM, and over the summer we just do stick time every few weeks. He is doing a camp this week, just an hour a day but the beauty is there are only 4 kids signed up and two coaches. It is worth 5x the money I paid and the main coach is great with the kids. I am also a huge proponent of kids playing multiple sports (and multiple activities in general, not even just sports) and specializing as late as possible. I am basically a nerd and love reading up on the latest research on these topics as well. Even given that I actively try to think this way, the reality is that you have to continually check yourself and be honest about how you are approaching your kids with regards to sports. One of the best things I learned from the U8 USA Hockey module was that the average 8-year-old’s mental maturity is 8 +/- 4.5 years (or something very close)! I see this in baseball especially. I had one kid who was physically advanced, knew tons of situations, asked me why I had player X in the cleanup spot because he wasn’t a cleanup hitter, etc. Then my son wouldn’t be paying attention to the batter and play in the dirt. The crap I hear about from other parents is ridiculous. I just heard about a parent berating his kid as he came off the ice because he didn’t play well. This was 10U. Other kids are leaving orgs because they need to play against better competition with the Pens Elite. There is a summer full-ice U8 league. Etc. It is tempting to push your kid too hard, despite best intentions. I kept asking my son if he wanted to go “practice his stickhandling” in the driveway. Not a real strong response to that, as you could expect. He was usually done in 5 minutes. Then he made up a game where we had to walk around and stay on the lines between the individual concrete slabs, and could only pass after answering a math fact! WTH?!?!?! But I said ok and we played for like 15 minutes because he thought it was fun. Now I just ask him if he wants to play a little hockey, or he asks me. Perspective. Kids are going to progress as individuals. Literally, in the two hours he has been on the ice the last two days he has made these huge strides that he didn't make all spring. And I am learning a lot from watching this guy coach this age group (and stealing his drills/games!). But it takes some discipline even for the best-intentioned and informed parents to not get caught up in this race to create mini-professionals. Both when I am coaching and when I am talking to my son after he does something sports related, I make sure to mention fun first before asking about anything specific as far as the game or practice, and I have stopped even talking about anything he could have improved on. There is plenty of time to work on that stuff later and in a better context. Curious to hear your thoughts.

Weird game last night I thought. Somewhat sloppy/chaotic at times but pretty fun to watch from a pure entertainment standpoint. Of course Wilson has an incident, not sure what Perron was doing jumping on the ice when Ovi was coming by, and Reeves got lucky with the no crosscheck but the goal was pretty timely and getting that kind of production from the 4th line is icing on the icing.

I have pants and a girdle. When i bought thrm they were all i could find that offered tall sizes. That was about 12 years ago maybe. Their pants were definitely common and seen as good stuff when i was in high school...Which was significantly more than 12 years ago :)

I dont know, if that is the case i agree, he should do it. I still think it is goofy. But I am glad the Pens don’t put their heels together, pin their arms to their sides, and waddle down the ice when they score though ;)

Yep

Dunno, just irritates me. Probably the stupid arm flapping thing. Not hatred like I feel toward Wilson, just a healthy dislike :)

I expected Washington to win the game, but not like that. Also think it would be a great story if Flower beats the Caps. I actually like Ovi but can't stand Wilson and Kuznetsov.