in our continuing adventures as hockey parents, we spend many of our weekends at hockey games. this time it was the “mighty mite hockey jamboree” at Winter Rec-Fest in la crosse, wisconsin.

in the tournament, “mite” players from around the region get together and play each other in quick games, 20 minutes each, 3 games in a round, 2 rounds total ( got that? so they play 6 teams, total. ).

it’s a great way for the young players to build up confidence and play a variety of teams with varying skill levels.

odin did a great job playing defenseman and even managed to score a goal!

here, he’s skating away from the net in the blue and white jersey after scoring his second goal in a game, ever ( defense doesn’t get as many opportunities to score a goal as offense )!

odin, sitting on the sidelines. they swap out players every two minutes. for this game, they split up the team into two separate teams playing “four on four”, allowing for two players to sit out every two minutes. if you think about it, it’s that’s a lot of skating over six twenty minute periods!

while he loves playing defenseman, he’s also been enjoying being the goalie. at this level of play they don’t need all the gear and the, er, goal, is to just get them used to trying to keep pucks out of the net. odin stopped quite a few goals and let just a couple get past him. given his love of defense, i wouldn’t be surprised if he wants to be a goalie after he gets a little more confident in the position, though it’s hard to say if it’ll be his favorite position since the defenseman gets to skate around a lot more which is pretty fun too 🙂

even when you handily beat a team, it’s important to give them an honest “great game” and a “high five”. ’cause, as odin already knows, it’s no fun to hear “you suck!”

odin, right in the thick of the action! i have to admit that it’s big fun to hear other parents yell out his name when makes a great defense play ( he’s number ‘5’ ).

odin is all smiles ( through his mouth guard ) getting ready to get back on the ice after a break beating all three teams they played in the first round.

at the end of the tournament, everyone gets a medal.

after all his games are done ( they beat five out of the six teams! ), of course, there’s no way odin will leave the tournament before catching the other half of his team play a period or two their last games from the top of the stands.

yeah. but what about screaming at the kids on the opposing teams 🙂