The hockey season officially ended for us today. Actually, 3 on 3 starts in just over a week, but the 'real' 5 on 5 hockey is now done. Phew! We survived another season.
Let's start with Quinn. At the end of last year Quinn could skate OK. That being said, we called him 'peg-leg' because he only used his right leg to push off and kept his left leg perfectly still. It was a fairly effective way to get around the ice, but a very slow, and time-consuming way also.
Fast forward to this year. Thanks to his hockey coaches and the nights practising on the backyard rink, Quinn is now a master skater, stopper, and turner (is that even a word?!?!). He seemed to like hockey, but didn't really show any great love for it when he went to practises. He did all the drills and participated in the mini-games, but never really got involved or showed any real desire.
Then he played his last game today. This was a full-ice, 5 on 5 game with refs and everything. He started at left defence and literally 10 seconds after the puck was dropped, he skated to it, had a break away and scored. I looked at Chris in shock because we've never.... EVER seen this from Quinn before. Then for the rest of the game Quinn freakin' DOMINATED!! I know I'm shouting, and I'm totally bragging... but seriously - this was absolutely an amazing thing to watch. Omi and Gramps, Tim and Karen, and Chris and I just watched in amazement as Quinn transformed before our very eyes into a hockey player! By the end of the game Quinn hat three goals, a few assists and some amazing defensive stops.
Miraculously I even managed to get a video of one of Quinn's goals: (please ignore me shrieking in the background - I was almost in tears because I was so proud of how hard Quinn was trying)
At the end of the video you can hear Auntie Kare yell: "Quinnie the hat's for you buddy!" because Adam threw his hat on the ice to celebrate Quinn's hat trick.
Now onto Aidan. Aidan's always been a good skater. The kid just has those really athletic genes and seems to be able to pick things up very quickly. Like Quinn, he was always fairly 'meh' about hockey. After three years of instructional he moved up to house league, and my secret wish was that he would hate it so that he wouldn't want to play hockey any more (I know, I know. I'm a horrible mother),
Unfortunately, my wish completely backfired and the kid bloody well LOVES hockey now. He figured out that hockey is fun... and when you score goals it's even more fun! He turned into a little scoring machine at the end of the season, notching a double hat trick in a tournament, and scoring two goals in his team's final game.
I wasn't able to capture a video of him scoring, but this video totally captures how Aidan played this season. He would be on offense, driving up the ice and shooting, and the hustle back to make the defensive stop.
Here are some photos of the little monkeys. The one's of Quinn are my own, and the one's of Aidan are by Bema Photography during the tournament he played in last week.
All in all, I'd say it was a very successful hockey season. That being said.... I'm ready for warmed weather and for soccer to start!!
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