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5.30.00
TIME IS SPEEDING UP NOW.....
Anaheim, Calif. -- The
tournament games are over and everyone is in a hurry now. Our coach, Joe Morin, is gathering up ice blue Roadrunner jerseys. Players are packing up gear, being particuarly careful about sticks, shafts and blades. In the Disney Ice lobby, parents are buzzing about, shaking hands, saying thanks, 'see you next time,' making summertime plans. Outside, packed Tahoe's, Explorers, Land Cruisers are idling and ready to head home.
Eddie
is 14 now and he's over in a corner, making hockey talk about passes and angles and at the same time thinking about another winter season. Other older teammates are talking about midget and junior level hockey, moving away, pulling on jerseys for faraway teams.
Me, I'm drinking fresh hot coffee and looking at the next group of kids coming in. They are bright-eyed nine year olds, dressed to hit the ice and let it rip. Over-anxious Moms and Dads and grand-parents follow, then head for the wood bleachers.
And that's when it hit me: I'm running out of tournaments.
This is the
first I've seen Eddie play on the ice since the Christmas Tournament in Burnaby, Canada. It's always a thrill to see him go into a faraway corner, dig out the puck, look up and send over a pass to a charging winger or center.
He's played with some of the
best young players in the city, has been in big games, has won MVP awards, has worn the captain's C across his chest.
So this summer I'm going to try and do what every hockey mother and father should do: get to the rink for practices, watch every game I can, write down the notes and do the game stories which will mean more to everyone years and years from now.
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Micah Sanford, arguably the best skater ever from Las Vegas, look likes he's going to play Junior A hockey for the Chilliwack Chiefs which are headquartered just outside Vancouver.....This is a thrill for his father, Larry, because all Chilliwack games are on an internet radio network.....Sanford was a 49-goal scorer for the AAA Vail Avalanche midget team this past winter....Also, no more roller hockey for Micah. He holds all scoring records at the Crystal Palace roller rink on Rancho, but has decided to play only ice from now on.
Vail's AAA
bantam coach Mike Naylor is leaving the program. He is said to be starting his own travel ice team in the greater Denver area....So, Jamie O'Leary will take over the program, effective immediately......Joe Morin, the outstanding Southwest Roadrunners hockey coach, will assist with the midget team in Phoenix this winter....
5.1.00
HOME IS WHERE THE NETS ARE
Las
Vegas -- Quiet Saturday, noonish, and on the good old Crystal Palace wood floor were a few young skaters lined up and ready to blast away for race. On the microphone, Big Bill got the CD player working, did a countdown, said 'go' and off the skaters blasted, arms and legs pumping.
One
of the Dads came over towards me, brushing his way through some birthday balloons which were tied onto metal benches.
"Pretty strong coffee," he said, taking a sip and making a face.
"Good hockey coffee," I said, grinning.
"Oh.....do they play hockey here too?" he asked.
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We took a walk, over to the East wall, where there are the gold and silver plaques and pictures are hammered into the wall. I showed him the hockey shop, where are all the red and black Tour Rebels jerseys were hung with care. Wood sticks, sitting just inside the window pane, were stacked. Lineup cards were taped onto one of the windows.
"That's nice," he said, walking back to the birthday party.
Then I
took a look at the darkened scoreboard, down on the far wall and all of a sudden it hit me -- all the games, the final seconds, the buzzer beaters, the teams which drove down the floor. In all my years of coaching 'house teams,' I never had a team which liked to lose.
Or, as Eddie said the other night from Vail, Colorado, "I even hate to lose a one-on-one, in the street, in front of the house."
Eddie is heading to his home rink. There he will pull on the red and black and join his former teammates for some workouts, some tournaments, to resume play against fiery rivals.
It will never be the same because some of the best ever roller players at Crystal Palace are gone. Eddie Lewis is in New Mexico. Andrew Leggiero is playing in upstate New York. Danny Fitch is taking a breather this summer.
But
Jason Allen is in uniform, as is Travis Hackney. Adam Tamura is out there, firing long passes right onto the blades. There are some newer players, just learning how to put it all together.
Here,
Eddie is a six-time scoring champion. He has scored 200+ goals. Gleaming trophies are lined up in his bedroom.
No one
is certain if Eddie can put enough spark into this 13-14 year team to return it where it was a Western Region power, winning titles in faraway arenas.
But it's going to be, for sure, an unforgettable summer.
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Summertime updates? Sure, we've got that. Click onto
www.geocities.com/blazinice26
Beginning May 6, check out VegasBay.Com
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