Let me start off by saying I am a huge hockey fan. I have been watching the playoffs semi religiously this year, probably less this year then others, and cannot wait to see who wins the Stanley Cup this year. Though I am a little upset and having a hard time writing this because my favorite team the Washington Capitols were knocked out by the Montreal Canadians last night. (At least I still have the Bruins to root for)
With that all said, this past weekend I had the chance to go to Marlboro, Mass. to see my kid brother and his hockey team from Auburn play in a tournament. I wish I had had a camera there that day, the rink-or should I say rinks- were huge. I could easily call this complex heaven. There was a hockey store that rivaled any I have seen other then Philbrook Sports in Dover, NH. On top of that this 2 floor hockey paradise had a full service restaurant and snack bar. How many rinks do you hear of with that. Oh yeah, did I mention there were 5 ice rinks. Not 1, not 1, but 5! I was told about the place before I got there but thought it was too good to be true. With the lack of sleep from the night before and the 3 hour drive at 5AM that it took to get there I really had thought I died and was in a state of ecstasy. Really though I was at the New England Sports Center.
To the games...
My brother, Kurtis, is only 8 years old so he plays at the Mites level. His team is fairly good, I have only seem them loose once. (I don't get to go that often) They played a game the night before I got there and won pretty easily I was told. The same was said about the game that finished just as I arrived to my new sanctuary. This meant I was only going to be able to see his third and final game- against Lewiston. For those that don't know Lewiston and Auburn do not get along well. They are to youth and high school hockey what the Red Sox and Yankees are to baseball. I even found Kurt and his buddies running their mouths back and forth with players from Lewiston that happened to be staying in the same hotel.
The game was exciting right away. Though my kid brother and his team came out a little flat, the crowd was behind them the whole way. At one point I was seeing stars I was yelling so loud and hard. Especially when my brother was sent to the penalty box. I did not contest the call too much, but instead cheered my brother on for playing hard. My family asked why I would cheer that to which I replied, "the box is a good place to reflect- besides he is a hockey player, all the greats take penalties."
After a while Lewiston took the advantage by two goals. My personal philosophy on hockey is that a two goal lead is always the hardest to hold. The team with two goals gets cocky, plays sloppy because they are up. Then after the lead is cut, they still rely on that one goal lead, before you know it the game is tied. And this game was no different.
At 2-2 with very little time left it seemed everyone was happy with a tie. The coach changed his lines and looked like he was going to settle with a tie too. I guess no one told the players, they had found a gear that they had not reached at all during the game and scored again to go ahead with less then a minute. Though my brother was not the hero I still could not have been more proud of him. Mostly because he was for once not the first one in line to shake hands with the other team, but instead on top of the pile of kids that mugged the goalie. They looked like what I expected my Capitols to look like at the end of this year. WINNERS!
The next day they lost in the championship game, but like I said I could not have been more proud of my brother!
pictures from Auburn Youth Hockey Elite Mites Facebook page
also pictures are from a tournament earlier in the season that noted above...but still at same venue
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