since odin has started playing hockey again we’ve been working on honing his hockey skills in anticipation of him trying out to see what team he would play on. according to usa hockey rules children under the age of nine can play in what is known as the “mite” level on either the “mite A” or “mite B” team. mite A players generally have better developed skills that mite B players.

i think this is the first time odin has ever had “try outs” for a team and i was surprised to find myself slightly anxious at the prospect of having people grade his skills while he went through exercises like skating backwards in a “figure 8” around pylons.

we’re all about having fun, regardless of whether or not he makes the “A team” or “B team” and, truth be told, after a 3 year hiatus he should be on the B team so he can develop with kids at the same skill level.

and yet, there i was with fists balled as he went around the ice, nervous that he was going to fall, secretly hoping he would ace all the tests and surprise everyone by making the “A team”, while having flashbacks to my own pee wee basketball and little league baseball tryouts when i was his age.

it really makes me happy that odin couldn’t care less about what team he plays for. he just wants to have fun on the ice and skate as fast as he can.

we should know in about a week which team he’s on.

i swear odin must have been practicing hockey in his sleep while on his self-imposed three year hiatus from the game. we went to a saturday morning clinic so he could get some extra ice time between practices and it’s amazing to watch him quickly get accustomed to skating with a stick and pushing the puck.

he’s remarkably adept at judging where the puck is heading and putting himself in the right position to pick it up.

if he sticks with it, it’s going to be amazing to watch his skills improve even more through the season.

just over two and half years ago, when i snapped this picture of odin with eyes closed holding a medal at the close of the hockey season i never suspected that we’d go on hiatus for three years. in fact, i predicted that we’d do it again the following year.

but odin had other plans and insisted he didn’t want to play when it came time to sign up again the following fall. it was a curious decision since he seemed to enjoy his two prior years of playing in the local “learn to skate” program ( you can walk down memory lane here ), but it was his decision to make and we’ve found other fun pursuits to take its place, not least of which being cross country skiing which a lot of his friends enjoy.

and this year odin suprised us again and out of the blue said he wanted to play hockey which was all the more surprising because none of his buddies are playing.

“are you sure?” we asked many, many times. “i’m sure.” he said many, many times.

i have to admit i was betting he would back out after the first practice and want the familiar fun of cross country skiing with familiar faces ( we can’t do both because practice times overalap ), but it looks like i’m going to lose that informal bet with myself.

he jumped right in like he never left the game and listened intently to the coaches giving pre-practice instructions.

and he got back on ice and ran “drills” while mostly paying attention 🙂

he even had fun trying to get the puck away from other players which, i think, was one of things he didn’t enjoy so much three years ago. at that time he liked skating in circles and pushing the puck on his own, but didn’t care to have other kids getting “in his space” coming after the puck.

i guess when you’re seven it’s a whole new ball game, so to speak.

it’ll be interesting to see how the season progresses.

tonight, at least, he had a great time recounting the entire practice before falling fast asleep.