Pee Wees 4 Flames 2

Our first exhibition game was against the Flames B team.  The Flames play in a different league so we will not see them in the regular season.  For some of the kids on the team (and for me), this was the first game where there was real checking.  Checking is controversial.  Actually, it’s not really checking that’s the problem; it’s the getting checked part that’s tough.  Alex checks Matthew all the time (mostly off the ice). He’s not used to getting checked.

Our first goal was by Nick on a penalty shot.  Penalty shots in these kids’ leagues are pretty rare.  It’s one of the few situations in hockey where there is a lot of pressure on both the shooter and the goalie.  All the action stops and the shooter and goalie are in the spotlight.

We pretty much dominated the game.  We must have had at least twice as many shots on goal.  One of Alex’s good friends on the team, Harry, also scored a goal.  Okay, I know we scored two more goals and I’m pretty sure one of them was by Ian, but I missed a lot of the action.  Even though Matthew plays hockey and understands most of the rules, it’s tough for his six-year old mind to keep his attention on his big brother on the ice.  He, along some other younger siblings of Pee Wee players, run around the rink and under the stands looking for lost pucks, change, tape, nuts, screws and anything else that isn’t bolted onto something.

The other notable aspect of the game was the number of penalties we received.  While some of the penalties were not deserved, there were two times we down two men.  It will be interesting to see whether that trend continues.  While Alex was the first person to get a penalty on his team last year, he avoided getting called for anything this time. Another trend to watch.