Is Hockey Just a Game? Check out this poem!

Just a Game
                   by Matt Colclough
                                         age 17
  
Some say it's just a game. 
But I disagree. 
It ain't a game, no it's way more.
From 5 am practices to waking up at midnight 'cuz you're too excited to
sleep. 
Nah it ain't just a game. 
It's a passion, a calling, a way of life. 
Something you commit every fiber of your body to perfecting, but never can. 
Nah it's not just a game. 
Losing a game doesn't bring 17 and 18 year old young men to tears. 
No game has ever united an entire county. 
Nah hockey ain't a game, it's way more. 



Special thanks to Matt's mom for sharing her son's hockey poem with us!  Matt is a defenseman with the Baldwinville Varsity Hockey team.  Great job Matt!

Win a copy of The Puck Hog

http://www.usahockeymagazine.com/webform/52-weeks-winners-week-38-puck-hog-childrens-book

http://www.usahockeymagazine.com/webform/52-weeks-winners-week-38-puck-hog-childrens-book

Go Orange...Slop!

Hockey mom Amy Colclough whips up another recipe for hockey parents on the go. She says it may sound wierd, but it's easy, fast and tastes pretty good! Sounds like a hat trick to me. 

Orange Slop

In a large pot

Sauté 1 lb lean beef or ground turkey with 1 diced onion, 2 cloves garlic mined (or 1 tsp garlic powder), 1 ribs finely diced celery (if you don’t have fresh celery you can use 1 tsp celery seed)

Salt and pepper to taste, drain

Dump UNCOOKED egg noodles on top (1 bag)

Poor 1 large bottle of V8 tomato juice overcookedmeat and dry noodles. If this doesn’t cover the noodles completely add water til it does. (I use lower sodium spicy V8)

Stir in 2 Tbworcestershiresauce (more if you really like the flavor)

Simmer til noodles are just done (it will be mushy if you overcook noodles). Simmer uncovered (this will prob take 3 to 6 minutes depending on noodle size)

Let cool slightly,

Stir in3/4 container sour cream.

*If it looks like it is simmering dry – add a little water. Stir often.

Now you have orange slop and you only used one pot!

For some reason, kids like to eat something called slop…go figure!

Amy Colclough

Youth Hockey Leveling Up

Nice Goal. Celebration Needs Work

Wettel Elementary in Vernon Joins The Puck Hog Team

 From the "K" Team teacher at Wettel Elementary

       Thank you for coming to Vernon Elementary today.  What a great story with an inspirational message!  Being hockey fans  in our house as well, we are bringing up our children the same way.  Teamwork is becoming a lost art and I pray through your work your message will be heard loud and clear!   

Heartwarming Tribute On The Ice

Hats off to the Fulton Squirts hockey team,  honoring a teammate's father who left with the 44th Unit engineer company, Fort Ontario Reserve Center for Afghanistan. 

Before their hockey game against Midstate, Sunday, January 29th the Fulton Squirts took to home ice to honor Army Sergeant and the father of one of their teammates, Sergeant Rob Doran, who is now currently on active duty in Afghanistan. Sergeant Doran serves with the 444th Unit Engineer Company, U.S. Army Reserve Center, Fort Ontario. Doran’s Unit was deployed for active duty on February 2nd to serve in Afghanistan.

Before their warm-up the team and their coaches called Sergeant Doran to the ice for the playing of the National Anthem. After, with the crowd still on their feet, the team, all sporting yellow tape on their hockey sticks in homage to Doran, surrounded the sergeant in a circle as they tapped their stick on the ice. Simultaneously it was announced over the PA system that the team would wear the yellow tape on their sticks for the rest of the season in Doran’s honor and with the hopes for his safe return home. The tribute ceremony drew a massive round of applause from both the home and visiting crowd.

After Doran performed a ceremonial puck drop he took an honored spot on the coaches bench to witness his son Noah Delaney’s last hockey game before his deployment.

by
Todd A. Shear

Squirt Hockey Rock

A Hockey Player's Favorite...Garbage Brownies!

Okay, so we don't like it when our kids are talking trash on the ice, but this is one we don't mind sharing.  We're talking Garbage Brownies!  This is a favorite among hockey players.  It makes a lot of them and they are awesomely good.  Recipe courtesy of B'ville  hockey mom and contributing blogger, Amy Colclough.  YUM!

Garbage brownies (aka evil 3 layer brownies)

1 box 13x9 size brownies – make according to package EXCEPT PULL out 3 minutes early from oven

Sprinkle1 bag mini marshmallows on top and bake 3 more minutes. Pull out.

Let cool

TOPPING:

1 cupmini choc chips, 1 cup peanut butter, 1 teaspoon butter: MELT in microwave for about 4o to 45 seconds stir til melted. DO NOT OVER MICROWAVE. It will be lumpy and appear not melted, as soon as you start stirring, it melts. Fold in 1.5 cups Rice Krispies. Spread on top of marshmallow topped brownies. (you could also do this on stovetop with double boiler)

Let cool completely. Cut and serve. They are AMAZING. I have learned to cut these smaller because they are so rich,  Enjoy!

Amy Colclough

The Hearts of Champions

2012 Centerstate Tournament CHAMPIONS

                                Lysander Lightning Team Bellso – You Rock!
                                                                          By Dawn O'Neill
                                                                          Hockey mom
                                                                          Contributing Blogger   

               
THE WOW FACTOR
Our young hockey players, from the Lysander Lightning team, began their journey in the early morning hours of Saturday, January 21, 2012.  Many of these young boys  (and one girl) have never been in a tournament together.  Watching them, you would think they had been together since they were mini-mites.  These kids have chemistry and play with some of the biggest hearts you've ever seen.  They never give up.  They have coaches that hug and encourage them, win-lose-or-draw regardless of the score.  The parents have come together like no other group of parents I have seen in a team sport.  So, prior to the tournament, we all decided, along with voting from the kids, to do as much as possible to set ourselves apart as a “stand out” team.  On the first day of the tournament, we all decided it would be “cool” to have the team all tape their sticks bright pink as a sense of unity…the WOW factor as we call it!  On the second day, we all decided to tape their sticks bright fluorescent green.  And let me tell you, heads turned when these kids not only skated out on the ice in standard uniforms, but all with the samecolored sticks that stood out with noticeable difference!

 TOURNAMENT NERVES 

     As they began their journey on that early Saturday morning, we were to face the red team from New Hartford.  The game began with nerves and energy heightened.  Our kids were pumped!  Our kids dominated from the start, and it was obvious they wanted “the win”.  It is amazing to see the heart and soul come out of a group of 9 & 10 year olds when they want something so badly.  The game concluded with Lysander coming away with the win 4-3.  It was fought with courage and energy, and the boys were off to a great start!  At the end of the game, there was a goalie competition “shoot out”.  My young “man between the pipes”, “Big B” Bradley O’Neill as he is known to his teammates was to face 5 shots one-on-one from the opposing team.  By the end of the shoot out, “Big B” had stopped all shots against him, and Lysander had scored one against New Hartford…YEAH!  We had time between games and did not need to return to the rink for our second game until later in the afternoon, so off to some serious team (and parent) bonding we went for a much-deserved team lunch.  We returned to the rink with the same anxiety and nerves from the morning and were expecting to play the blue team from New Hartford.  The game began and while the kids skated with the same heart as they did that morning, the win was not to be in their favor and they lost 5-3….OK, no big worry, right?  At the end of the second game, there was a goalie competition “shoot out” again.  And “Big B” was back it again…stopping ALL shots against him, and Lysander scoring two against New Hartford.  As with all tournaments, parents and kids alike were anxiously watching the points from the other games to see what odds they were up against for the next early-morning game, where they were to face the hosting Centerstate team from Morrisville.

DETERMINED TO WIN

 The game began and our team was off to a fantastic start!  Our boys (and girl) came out with determination and before we knew it, it was 10-1….GAME OVER!  Now, it was obvious this team was anxious to find out whether what they had just done was what it would take to get them to the championship.  As all of us parents were standing outside the locker room while the Coaches had their “team talk”, we suddenly heard the LOUDEST scream you could ever imagine coming from that room of 9 & 10 year olds.  The Coaches had just informed them that by taking all 5 points from the game they, in fact, would be in the Championship game later that day!  As is tradition at the end of every one of our games, the Coaches usually hand out a “game puck” to a player who really stood out in their efforts and in playing their position.  However, this tournament, it was not to be.  The Coaches said to the team that to get to this point, they had all shined, and so there was a TEAM PUCK that represented ALL their efforts….YEAH!  So, it was off to a very calm (and team bonding) breakfast break for the team, and a little celebration for having come this far!

       And this is where the REAL EXCITEMENT begins…

THE BIG PEP TALK

The team returned to the ice plex and you could see they were pumped up and anxious.  In the locker room, there was talk of what they wanted out of this.  As parents, of course, we were telling them to just play hard and have fun and that the results would be as they would.  However, this courageous TEAM, who have really come together with passion and skill, was not having any of that “parent talk”…. THEY WANTED TO WIN!  As I suited up my “Big B”, I took his face into my hands and simply said “Buddy….just one save at a time, just one save at a time!”  And in his wonderful and angelic manner, he replied, “Mom, I just want to win!”  Choking back the emotion, I replied, “I know, honey.  You guys can do it, but be proud of the outcome…whatever it is!”  And we left the team to be with their coaches for the ritual “pep talk”.

 FIRED UP AND FOCUSED

 The parents, very nervously, awaited the team's entrance on the ice.  As is customary, “Big B” came out of the locker room, leading his team to the ice entrance.  It was an eerie feeling, as you could see the determination in their eyes and the energy like they were going to explode!  With no noise or yelling, “Big B” skated on the ice and went to the center, slapping his bright green stick.  We all began cheering and then very quickly quieted down, when we saw what the team was doing.  Each player skated out on the ice, circling “Big B” in a continuous motion, all slapping their sticks, and NO ONE saying a word.  They were focused and sending a VERY BIG message…..they were here to play AND to win!  For about a minute, they continued this and then broke into their regular warm up drills.  The game began and off we went.  Both teams were energized and played hard.  It remained very competitive throughout the whole game.  In the 2^nd period, a player from New Hartford committed a “major penalty” which resulted in 5 minutes in the penalty box.  During this very big power play opportunity, our team was able to score 2 goals off of it.  As the 3^rd period approached, our parents were yelling, “This is YOURS!  You guys want it?  Go get it!”  We began to pull away in the 3^rd period, ONE unified team, with ONE goal in mind, and they did not let up!  With about 2 minutes left to go, it was 6-3, and we were about to bust……these kids were going to do it!  As the seconds ticked down on the clock, we got louder and louder.  Time expired and Lysander Lightning, Team Bellso, had just won the championship!  The boys jumped the wall and in unison, all gloves and sticks went flying high into the air.  And, “Big B” was nowhere to be found…he was buried below a team of 16 of the best (most supportive) teammates one could ever ask for!  We stood in awe of the perseverance of this team, as they celebrated what was duly theirs!  The Coaches have done and amazing job with building these kids up with not only skills, but with heart and with believing in themselves!

THE THRILL OF VICTORY  

     After the huge celebration in the locker room, I went over to “Big B” and asked him, “Buddy, what were you feeling and thinking as you sat there watching the last minute tick off the clock?”  His reply was, “Mom, I just kept thinking….we’re gonna do it, we’re gonna do it!  And we did!”  He also informed me that the team had planned, beforehand, exactly how they were going to celebrate on the ice “WHEN” they won….that’s kids for you! 

    From your team parents, THANK YOU, Team Bellso, for a heart-thumping, exciting weekend…..YOU GUYS ROCK!

The Puck Hog's Newest Team Members

                                                  READING ROCKS AT ST. ROSE!

Hi Christie,


Peace and blessings!
You give an excellent presentation filled with enthusiasm and energy!!
Thank you so much for coming to our school - it was much appreciated.. Everyone enjoyed your presentation.

You are an excellent speaker!

Sister Catherine
St. Rose of Lima School
North Syracuse

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