Labor Day Game #4

For the final game of the tournament, our boys took on the Beach City Lightning. It was their first chance to play against another SCAHA team and a chance to maybe see how they stack up against the local competition. The Mariners came out strong and generated many good scoring chances. Those chances payed off early when Cornado took a nifty pass from Shawn Wentzel and buried it in the net. I guess the goal got the Lightning's attention because they came roaring back to tie things up.

Unlike the three previous games in which the Mariners fell apart in the third period, the boys decided to take the second frame off in this one. The boys were sloppy and getting beat to every loose puck. As bad as the period was, they somehow kept the Lightning off the board. In the third, the Mariners found their game again, but unfortunately Beach City scored, breaking the long-standing tie.

The boys made a mighty push at the end, but couldn't find a way to get another goal. They lost 2-1, but certainly played well enough to win.

Tournament Summary

I know some of you parents are concerned with losing all four games this past weekend. I can assure you there is nothing to worry about. All of the teams we played have been together for some time. Our team, with a few exceptions, is completely new. We have kids that haven't played together before, kids that haven't played travel, and kids with very little ice experience. As they come together and grow comfortable with each other, the game, and Coach Sergey's system, they're going to be awesome. These pre-pre-season scores don't mean a thing. We played some mighty teams without getting embarrassed. In a couple of months, we'll be able beat those teams.

Not only am I not worried, I'm actually excited. We have some nice size and speed on this team. Those are things that can't be taught. We've only just begun and the kids are already started to gel. The other thing that fills me with joy is how tough our kids are. They can dish it out and take it. Most of all, these boys listen. They take instruction and try very hard to execute. I can't overstate how important it is to have coachable players.

If you're still not convinced, consider this: we rolled all three lines the entire tournament. Coach Sergey wanted to see every kid in every possible situation (penalty kill, powerplay, etc..). The teams we played went with short benches, keeping their top players on the ice. The fact that we were hanging with teams that were trying to win at all costs shows to me the potential of our kids and the depth of our team.

The scores that we lost by are nothing. This team grew by leaps and bounds over the course of three days. Just image what they can do over the next several months.