Fathers, Daughters and the Good Ole Hockey Game

Storm Warnings: November 15th, 2016

I wish I could put my finger on it.  How to make instant hockey players. So much to learn and so little time? A work in process. And it’s so easy to coach from the timebox. I know it all when I’m over there in my cage, but certainly have more appreciation for the coaching staff after getting the opportunity to be on the bench opening the defense door on Saturday when the rest of the assistants were busy. Talk about feeling helpless.  One player was missing and some sick girls in the line up, including the goalie Heaven ‘ the Brick House’ Colbourne,  that sure didn’t help, but the effort was also sub par when the Storm travelled to Wainwright on Saturday morning. The girls coming out of the gate very sluggish and couldn’t seem to get any traction in the first period right from the first drop of the puck. Wainwright scored two quick goals in the first minute and it was a uphill battle all the way for the Storm. Deflated before they started, they rebooted in between the first and second period and played much better in the second and third, but by then they were so far in the hole they couldn’t dig themselves out.

Avery Warawa Storm Trooper November 12th, 2016

The one player who didn’t power out at all and seemed to have unlimited energy, was peewee aged Avery’ Whirlwind’ Warawa. She was named the player of the game, and she truly deserved the honor. ‘Whirlwind ‘ worked very hard on the fore check each and every shift, gaining possession of the puck and getting pucks to the net. She need a little help, couldn’t do it all alone, although she certainly tried.

On Sunday at home the Storm was a whole different team then the day before. Whatever the girls had for lunch, some extra sleep in the morning, plus the motivational speech head coach Jena Colbourne gave them before the game obviously worked and they responded with a 110 percent effort and except for a one minute span in the later half of the second period when Wainwright scored 3 quick goals in about a minute the Storm skated stride for stride with them.

Jenna ‘ Precious’ Poitras was the Storm Trooper of the game in this one. She’s a very smooth fast skater that almost seems to glide without any effort. Pushed by assistant coach Art Parr to become more aggressive, she was going way out of her comfort zone, fore checking every shift, carrying the puck in across the blue line and getting some quality shots in on the net.  Next weekend the Storm travels to Lloydminster on Saturday and host Lloydminster at home on Sunday…come on out… support the girls!!

Now for the K. A. quote of the week. ‘ Being the first to cross the finish line makes you a winner in only one phase of life. It’s what you do after you cross the line that really counts.’ – Ralph Boston