The Novice Black team traveled to the Motor City to experience their first ‘away’ tournament of the season. Our first game against the Sarnia Sting was not until 5:10PM at the Ice Box. Most parents opted to check-in to the hotel first. There was no missing this hotel from the road. The entire exterior was pink. Yes, you read that right – pink! No matter if it was pink, green, purple or orange, this hotel treated our Black team like GOLD …
The team got to the arena and played hard against a very strong Sarnia Sting team. Unfortunately, we were put into a ‘Select’ division, so competition was fierce. The kids still played a great game of hockey. After the game, the focus was quickly shifted from the loss to the evening events. The kids and parents popped down to the huge pool area while the pizza and party room was being prepared. A mountain of Jets Pizza arrived and was delivered to our party room for the kids, parents, coaches, siblings and grandparents to enjoy. The pizza was excellent! It tasted amazing piping hot at dinnertime and cold at the wee hours of the morning. Coach Brad set curfew and the kids were sound asleep in record time. Once the kids were in bed, the parents, coaches and grandparents reunited in the party room. It was a fantastic evening! Luckily, Coach Brad did not set a bedtime curfew on the adults :-) The adults were able to stay up late to enjoy lots of laughs, ice cold beverages, share funny stories, participate in peanut/pretzel throwing and even a Paris Hilton bride showed up.
Saturday’s schedule had our first game at 3:00PM. This allowed for the kids and adults to sleep in and take the morning at a quiet pace. Families trickled down slowly for breakfast in the restaurant. Families then met up at the pool arena. Parents sat at the poolside drinking lots of water and coffee, while the kids had a blast in the pool, hot tub, sauna and arcade. After a long swim, everyone needed to get some lunch. The team went their separate ways to find a spot to re-fuel their little skaters. Everyone met back up (some sooner than others - LOL) at the Dearborn Michigan University Arena. Coach Brad showed up to the game all ready to get the kids pumped up for a fast paced game against Ontario Concrete. The Black team again played hard but couldn’t pull off a win. It was back into the vehicles for the drive back to the hotel. Families had dinner and kids got another swim before bed. Bedtime had to come much earlier for both kids and adults. Our first game on Sunday was at 8AM. Adults enjoyed a quieter evening in the party room.
ICE was the magic word on Sunday! ICE had coated the vehicles, sidewalks and highways. After breakfast and scrapping the vehicles, it was back to the ICE Box Arena to play the St. Clair Shores Flyers. Our Novice Black team took to the ICE with only one thing on their minds … no not Jets pizza, not swimming, not mini sticks or even playing tag in the hallway … they were only thinking ‘Let’s win this thing’. The Novice Black fans had so much fun watching the game and even more laughs at the enthusiasm of the Flyers bench staff. The kids fought hard again Sunday morning and this time were rewarded with a win. The team ended up in one of the consolidation finals. This final game was scheduled at 2:50PM Sunday afternoon. It was back to the hotel for ‘quiet time’ before the afternoon game. The kids just chilled out with iPods, iPads and TV, while parents resumed the ‘chat’ position in the hallway. It was back to the ICE Box for our last game of the tournament. Kids were pumped up after all that relaxing! The team hit the ICE with determination to win a medal. The cheers, horns, and cowbells were extra loud this afternoon. Parents had fun laughing at and with each other in the stands. The kids won the game! The really cool medal was ICE-ING on the cake. A special congratulations, goes to Taylor for getting her first goal of the season during this game!! Go Taylor!! After the medal ceremony, the pictures and dressing room excitement, it was time to get back to Canada.
This is a fantastic group of kids! Each of these kids brought something special to ALL of the games. They started the first practice as players and are heading into the playoffs as a TEAM. Great Job this weekend Novice Black!
From: The Team Reporter