Sorry I didn’t get to writeup the first competition day until now. Had a few things come up that required my attention. Anyway, as everyone knows, yesterday was the first day of games for the girls. But before that they had a morning practice. The Day 4 morning practices it were probably the best of the week so far. The girls primarily worked on powerskating. Why they waited until the morning of competition to burn the grils legs is beyond me but from a pure practice sense it was a great morning of practice.
In the afternoon the competition began and the crowd started to build. No longer could you just walk up to one of the few viewing windows and grab a table. It was packed. I guess all the parents came in with the scouts as well. We had a few issues with the rinks being foggy due to overly humid conditions but the games continued.
I won’t go over the scores as they are posted on the USAH site along with scorers. I will say that after watching most of the games there seems to be a larger discrepancy in the talent level at both age groups than I remember. I don’t know why or even if it’s real but I’ll discuss it with some coaches and try to validate or de-bunk that observation.
Back to the games. Overall the competition at the U14′s wasn’t very crisp. The girls were bunching up a lot and did a lot of chasing the puck. Not a lot of open ice plays or great demonstrations of skill (there were some). For the 15′s, it was a bit better, but in a different sense. Of course the girls are more mature but it seems much of the “showcase” element of the event wore off on many of them. Not too many passes and a lot of futile attempts to puck handle through 3 or 4 players instead of passing to open players. Of course when someone does get through, it looks nice but it’s rare. That being said, for the most part the games are closer than the scores may dictate. Let’s see what Sunday’s games bring!
As a side note, I’ve been trying to keep up with game scores on Twitter but yesterday had some technical difficulties. Hopefully today I will be better prepared. Additionally, I haven’t been photographing as much as I like, primarily because of the fog and condensation issues. It just hasn’t been worth it. The weather should be less humid sunday so let’s hope the “fog” issue clears up and I can get some shots.
On-Ice Schedule Practice Schedule
7:30 – 9:00 am 14 Red/14 Green 8:00 – 9:30 am 15 Green/15 Red
9:15 – 10:45 am 14 Black/14 Royal 9:45 – 11:15 am 15 Royal/15 Black
7:30 – 9:00 am 14 Gold/14 White 9:15 – 10:45 am 15 Grey/15 Gold
11:30 – 1:00 pm All 15 Goalies
Game Schedule
3:15 – 5:00 pm 14 Gold vs 14 White 2:00 – 3:45 pm 14 Red vs 14 Green
5:15 – 7:00 pm 15 Green vs 15 Red 4:00 – 5:45 pm 14 Black vs 14 Royal
7:15 – 9:00 pm 15 Royal vs 15 Black 6:00 – 7:45 pm 15 Grey vs 15 Gold
Off- Ice Schedule
Strength and Conditioning
2:30 – 3:30 pm 15 Green, 15 Red, 15 Gold, 15 Grey
4:30 – 5:30 pm 15 Royal, 15 Black
7:30 – 8:45 pm All U14 teams: Nutrition Lecture
Just wanted to say thanks, neither my husband or I could take the time off to stay in NY so really appreciate being able to see through your eyes. Our child is very focused on her game and so we don’t hear anything about the other teams, skills, or games. Kind of a fun overview from you, I feel like we know more then she does. We will be there on Tuesday morning so will only see the cross ice games, with a goalie as a child it is not so bad but I feel sorry for other parents who will miss the “Real” game if all they make it for is pick up day. See you then.
Thanks for the comments!