Tag Archives: squirt

first day of the waupaca “super squirt” tournament.

first day of the waupaca "super squirt" tournament. I.

odin’s team lost their first game against a milwaukee area team, but won the second against a team I can’t remember the name of! it was one of the best games i’ve seen them play in part because they game back from being down 6-4 to winning 7-10.

tomorrow they’ll play against appleton for 3rd place trophy!

first day of the waupaca "super squirt" tournament. II.

I’m broadening my role beyond youth hockey sports journalist to game videographer so they can review in practice.

day 3480: the first day odin played offense and scored a goal.

day 3480: the first day odin played offense and scored a goal.

as many of you know, odin has been playing hockey for years. and for all those years, he has played defenseman and quite enjoyed it. but for whatever reason during a tournament in la crosse odin’s coach asked if he wanted to play right wing which is an offense position. he gladly accepted.

all the game play is different for a winger and i thought he’d spend a lot of time making mistakes and being a little discombobulated with the change. but he proved me wrong ( not uncommon ) and did a great job picking up passes from defense and moving the puck down the ice and passing to other teammates, disrupting the opponents and working the boards.

and he was at the right place at the right time in front of the net and scooped in his first goal ever against a tough goalie.

even sitting up in the stands, i could see the look of surprise on his face. quite a moment. i don’t know if it was coincidence or not but his goal seemed to rally the team and they scored several more before losing in a close game.

i doubt he’ll soon forget his goal on his first playing offense against the formidable la crosse team.

i should add that his team came in last place in the tournament. they played four games and lost all four. they weren’t going to play in the tournament because it was against teams that aren’t in their conference. they were all teams from bigger markets with larger pools of players to select from who play on ice all year round. but one team dropped out and the organizers needed another team to play on short notice so we went. they lost handily to the best team from sheboygan, wisconsin but played well against sun prairie and la crosse. the viroqua underdogs were evenly matched with both teams having similar shots on goal and could have one those games if they could figure out how to get more shots past their ace goalies.

they’ve lost most games they’ve played this year. but that obscures the fact that they are a solid team who is playing with a ton of heart and have lost many games by just a goal or two or in overtime.

when the pieces come together they’ll be formidable.

day 3413: odin’s on The A Team!

day 3413: odin's on The A Team!

well i knew he had the skills to make the squirt A team and apparently he convinced the coaches during tryouts, because he made the cut!

he said he didn’t care which team he ended up on, but his eyes lit up when i told him he’d be playing on the A team.

he’s playing with a group of really good skaters. it will be neat to watch them develop as a team over the season. i’m sure he’s going to learn a lot about the game and have a ton of fun along the way.

day 3411: hockey tryouts!

day 3411: hockey tryouts! I.

a year ago odin was an 8 year old trying out to play with 9 and 10 year old “squirts” and he made the squirt B team. this year, now that he’s 9 and has a season of playing with the older squirts under his belt, the question is whether or not he has the skills to make the squirt A team.

the day of tryouts has finally arrived! i think he definitely has the skills to make the A team, but there’s a big difference between 9 and 10 year old skating skills, so who knows. on the one hand i think he’d do well as one of the better B team players and would thrive as a leader on the ice. on the other hand, he pushes himself when he’s around better skaters and he could learn a lot by being on the A team ( he’s in the red socks ).

day 3411: hockey tryouts! II.

he has a pretty good perspective on the whole thing and claims to be relatively unconcerned with which team he ends up on. it’s neat to watch him have the inherent motivation to just do his best and be happy with whatever happens.