Dog in Motion

As a hockey player offseason includes roller blading when ice is unavailable. In this post I'd like to reveal to you my dog, Nigel who is a big part of my life. He turns one on April 6th. This weekend when I went roller blading I brought along "Big Nige" and he ran along side me. I experimented taking pictures of him in full flight. He's fast.

A Sad, Sad Day

My hockey season ended today. Of course I knew this day was coming but like most unfortunate things, it still stings when it gets here.

It's cliche to say that teams are families. But playing travel hockey, taking bus trips, staying in hotels, and seeing each other four times a week, a hockey team truly becomes a tight group. A family. The end of the season means the dispanding of a great group of friends and families. Today we played our last game as a team, and there is nothing worse than the feeling of never getting that chance again.

The next couple weeks will no doubt be tough. Trying to accept the end of a great season and some how look ahead towards the future but it will not be easy.

To recap a great season - our team, the Northern Virginia Ice Dogs, finished with a 36-15-4 record, one win from a state championship, second in our league, and ranked nationally in the top 50. The team that stood in our way was the team ranked nationally #1 (rankings found in the right column). Last weekend we upset them with a 4-3 victory, becoming just the 4th team at our age group and level to beat them.

What a great year. There is no way I could've asked for a better group of guys to play with. This season will be remembered for a long time to come, no doubt.

The Oddities of the World

Last Friday was March 1st. In Maryland, March 1st marks the first day of spring sports. But to Maryland, March 1st in no way marks the beginning of spring. As high schools around the state eagerly hit the fields to start the new season, temperatures in the the 30s and 40s came too.

Now, I can understand some cold days at the beginning of March but on the 2nd, there were periods of snow flurries, or a sprinkling of snow. Three months of real winter brought nothing but a few two-hour delays and an early release. Then, somehow snow finds high schoolers on the fields during the 2nd day of spring sports.

Now, the biggest snow storm of the year is moving into town in the middle of the first week of March. Just when all hope was lost for a snowy winter, and everyone was ready to move on to shorts weather and outdoor sports.

I guess better late then never.