Saturday morning - Henry

So we now have Henry playing hockey. He is part of the Tim Horton's Timbits league, playing every Saturday with a practice on Sunday. Henry's group of teams are all aged 4 to 6.

Hardly any of the kids can actually see over the boards (when they are sitting on the bench. By the way, they are not all boys. Henry's team has a girl playing on it.

Henry is as big as most of the kids, even those a couple of years older.

The kids all swarm after the puck, but some can skate and turn better than others. So, any given rush down the ice may have players from either (or both) teams still going the wrong way.

The teams change every 3 minutes - even if there is a break-away on the go. And there are lots of goals. Henry's team won 11 - 3 (I think).

The action around the goal is often thrilling and frustrating at the same time. Everything depends on whether the kids can stay on their feet, whether the puck came to the right side (most cannot use their backhand), whether the puck hit the stick.

Did I mention the standing up part? Henry is #10. He skates well and will get lots better. You can see next year in the tank-like motion of this year.





At the end of the game, everyone lines up and shakes hands (actually, swats gloves) and says "Good game" and stuff like that. Then off to the locker room and snacks. The Zamboni comes out and wets the ice (no shaving, these guys do not tear up the surface - yet), and the next mob moves onto the field of play.

Jason was at the rink when I arrived, along with brother John and, of course, Jack with the missing front tooth. We all had a great time. I think Jack was showing off his hockey card - the one with Jack and his stats on it.