Late Final Game Recap

Sorry folks for the late recap (still pretending there is someone out there reading this)! The excitement of Ohio's final game was just too great, that we needed a day off.

Well, here it goes... Pennsylvania was seeded second, Ohio seventh. This was to be a rematch from the last game played, this time during a single elimination tournament bout. The boys came out firing and within the first minute, notched the first goal of the game. This was certainly a wake up call for PA, showing them that the game was indeed on. The pace of the game picked up dramatically, and Ohio held them off for most of the first period when PA scores with just over a couple minutes remaining in the first.

Zac gets called to the penalty box for hooking, and Ohio is faced with the PK for the remainder of the period. They hold their own and finish the period tied 1-1. Of course, now they must start the final period a man down.

Ohio successfully kills off the penalty, only to give up a goal seconds later. PA goes up 2-1 with most of the second period remaining.

Roles reverse as Ohio draws a penalty and now have the man advantage. A flurry of shots and no goals, Ohio continues to control the puck well. In similar fashion, Ohio scores the tying goal seconds after the power play expires! It's now 2-2 with just over six minutes remaining.

Five minutes to go and the teams trade penalties. They play the next two minutes three on three. As the penalties expire, the Ohio goalie makes an unreal glove side save to keep the game tied. A flurry of shots are traded and its anybody's game at this point. The clock reaches one minute to go and PA is on the rush. Six long seconds tick off the clock and our goalie is beat by a one timer from the point putting PA up 3-2.

No time to waste, the coaches pull the goalie soon after the face off to gain the extra attacker. The boys keep the puck in the offensive zone but can't solve their net-minder! With .8 seconds to go, Zac is boarded and play stops. PA goes to the box, it's five on three as the clock is reset to 1 full second. Last ditch effort to score on the face off, and a shot is fired at the net when the puck drops.

Buzzer sounds. Game over. Tournament over. What a well played game. Ohio certainly had Pennsylvania on their heels for this one, and who knows what would have happened if they would of pulled off this upset!

Either way, the boys played with heart and should be proud of what they accomplished here. Zac had great fun, and commented that he has learned a lot playing with the boys on his team, and against the skilled other teams. He looks forward to the chance to play at this level again.

That wraps up the tournament blog! We took the day off yesterday and went into the city to visit the Shedd Aquarium and Navy Pier. We had dinner at "Dick's Last Resort" and will blog the experience sometime soon.

Until then...

The Pennsylvania Recap

This was the game... A loss to PA would have meant nothing to them, the standings wouldn't have changed. A win to OH would have meant a 4 or 5 seed, rather than the 7th they are in now. The tie they ended up with kept them from getting the bottom seed, but it pits them against PA again, but not the same team from last night.

Let me paint the picture for you... The tournament at State Wars, while a great event, has in my opinion a couple of flaws.

First flaw: The 2 period game. While it's true that the clock stops and maximizes the 12 minute periods, there is no time to recover from 1 bad period. The boys are all used to three period games, and I don't think the mindset is there at this age to recover from a flurry of goals against. Don't get me wrong, it's fair, because all games are run this way, it's just good hockey, and I personally would like to see it go three periods :)

Second Flaw: The ranking of teams. When teams are evaluated during try-outs, they are ranked as A or AA/AAA. Fair enough. However, if there are not 8 AA/AAA players to make a team, they make them an A team. Which must compete against teams that are potentially all (or mostly) A's.

Here is how that second flaw played out last night: The PA team had 4 skaters and a goalie ready to go at game time. These boys are good, of the AA/AAA variety. The choose not to dress the whole team, because 3 of them played on the 1997 AAA team. They had a game later that night and wanted to rest them. As the puck dropped, another skater showed up and joined the team. It's still unknown if this is a roster player, but is being looked into by the coaching staff. Either way, we knew PA would be a tough team, and they are in the top spots in the standings.

Playing against only a handful of them gave Ohio a chance, and boy, did these kids play their heart out. If you read the Tweets (which I recommend for the full play by play recap), then you know it was a close game the whole time. Ohio got an early lead and then lost it, and then tied it.

Even a rare fight broke out (started by PA, which would have given OH the extra skater, but there was only 6 seconds on the clock).

It was the best game the boys played. Zac had a great first shift, OK in-between shifts, and the best opportunity on his last shift. Let me tell you... He had the game winner on his stick. Shot from high in the slot (Justin has a heck of a slapper) that the goalie dropped right in front, where Zac was there to bat cleanup. He lifted the puck nicely and it was headed right for a puck and half size opening, where it just caught the inside of the post, just enough to keep it from going in. What a game changer that would have been with less than 2 minutes on the clock and the score knotted at two.

And so it was, the boys from the Heart Of It All gave it all their heart and ended the regular games with a respectable 0-2-2 record. Seeded 7th, they will face Pennsylvania tonight at 5:30 PM Central time for their single elimination play off game.

I hope the boys forget everything else, and play this game with the ever increasing ability they have been showing thus far. Anyone can win, and this might just be there night!

Good luck boys.

Note: I left my card reader at home, so most of the action shots taken with the "big" camera will have to wait. So, sorry, no action shots just yet!

Team Standings

Team Name	GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA	PIM	LAST 5	STREAK
Virginia 1996 A	3	3	0	0	6	13	4	20	3-0-0	3-0-0
Pennsylvania 1996 A	2	2	0	0	4	13	4	6	2-0-0	2-0-0
Florida 1996 A	3	1	1	1	3	12	7	20	1-1-1	1-0-0
Michigan 1996 A	3	1	1	1	3	13	8	8	1-1-1	1-0-0
New York 1996 A	3	1	1	1	3	11	10	6	1-1-1	0-1-0
Illinois 1996 A	2	0	0	2	2	7	7	4	0-0-2	0-0-2
Ohio 1996 A	3	0	2	1	1	7	14	6	0-2-1	0-2-1
California 1996 A	3	0	3	0	0	2	24	10	0-3-0	0-3-0

Interesting Day So Far

Where do we start? How about the team record: the Ohio '96s are 0-2-1 after three games. I guess they end you in a tie in the tournament, which is not a loss! The team is definitely picking up confidence with each game they play, and they almost had game 3 put away, but turnovers killed the momentum.

Game 2: 7:30AM

This game was against New York. The early start left the boys feeling a bit to sleepy, or so it seemed. NY got out to an early lead that saw them close out the first period 4-1. It must have been the cow bells that their fans brought, because they kept the momentum going into the second period. The Ohio goalie was awake now, and stopped shot after shot that was thrown his way. An early breakaway, eased the situation when Ohio tallied there second mark making it 4-2. Soon after, Ohio took a penalty (only one of the game) and gave up the last point they would concede to NY making it 5-3.

Ohio's defense was strong in this second, and their offense felt better as well. They edged out another goal midway through the second making it 5-3, which was the score at the close of the game.

Outscoring the opposition 2-1 in the final period gave them a spark to carry into the next game of the morning. They would have only an hour and a half to recover before taking to the rink again against Illinois.

While we were waiting and watching the other games, Virginia (who routed Ohio 6-1 the previous day) was playing a tough game themselves. It was halfway into the second period of their back to back morning games, and it was obvious they had no legs. The score was still 0-0. Talking with a Virginia parent, it seems that this same squad made the trip to State Wars last year as a Double A team. They made it all the way to the championship game last year, and led it 4-1 before eventually losing. They were surprised to learn they only got the Single A rating this year after doing so well. Hearing that, our boys felt a lot better about the game they played the day previous.

Game 3: 9:30AM

Here we are against the home state of Illinois, and it isn't 30 seconds in when Ohio strikes their mark. You can see the weight lifted off the shoulders of these boys when that puck goes in, and the pace of the game is fired up!

The first period closes at 1-0 and the battle is on. It is relentless good competition and both sides are skating their hearts out. However, it is Ohio that scores first in this period as wellm, making in 2-0.

Lots of smiles and a little too much excitement, because the boys got caught on their heels. Two really bad turnovers later and the game is tied. Illinois goes three goals unanswered before Ohio wakes up again. Three minutes to go, and Ohio pots one to even it up. Just not enough time on the clock to put a notch in the win column. But hey, a tie is not loss, and they are improving each game.

Pennsylvania is next at 8PM, and they have yet to lose a game. These boys need to not be intimidated and go out there and give it their all. One solid win could certainly help their seeding in the tournament to not have to face PA or VA in the first round.

Overall

Overall, the defense has improved, especially the Goaltending. The offense has certainly been moving the puck well, getting past most defenders, but honestly, they have faced some really good net-minders!

Notes

This tournament has been an eye opener for Zac. There is some really good talent up here, and the games are fast paced. A lot of these teams come from areas where they all know each other, play together and travel together. The Ohio team has boys from the Columbus area, Cincinnati area, and of course Wapak. They had only 2 full practices with each other and are lucky to known each others names when the puck first dropped (let alone each others tendencies).

That said, they have really come together after three games. Our fingers are crossed, and we are hoping for the best this evening! Regardless of the outcome, Zac is having a blast and learning a lot. The team is gathering for dinner at BW3's at 5:30, and that should help the team bonding.

Until later...

Quick Monday Recap

(full recap coming mid-day)

Sorry, busy day yesterday, and I didn't get a chance to update the blog yesterday after the game, so I will get a full recap going between games today. Right now, I will give a quick rundown, as the day is starting early!

We have to be at the rink at 7AM, and not sure what the traffic will be like as 1 lane is still closed on 83. Its only 4 miles, but you can imagine how Zac gets anxious before a game!

Let me just say, that the game prior to Ohio '96s yesterday was something else. I am not sure of the year, but it was the AAA Bronze game. Alberta Canada VS Pennsylvania. This was world class hockey. Played like the pros on ice. Swift game, crisp passing. It was fun to watch. Close too. Alberta won the decision 4 to 3.

Anyways, the Ohio '96s were intimidated from the start. Seems that the Virginia team is favored to go all the way. They have close to the same squad they had last year, and they were a dominating team then.

The boys all looked nervous and it took them most of the first period to calm down. Even the coaches were struggling to get the line changes they wanted, and couldn't always get the match ups they desired. Virginia took an early lead and Ohio only got 1 goal in the first period. The game ended 6 to 1. For a play by play recap, check out the Twitter at #jneumeier (I will be giving twitter updates at this morning games).

Quick note: Games are 2 period, 13 minutes each. Unlike how we play in rec league, the clock is not constantly running. There are two officials, and its a full sized rink played with a puck. A very fast moving game.

Well, have to run for now, grabbing breakfast and off to the rinks.

Game Schedule

Here is the game schedule. After these four play-in games, they will be seeded for the tournament that starts on Wednesday. (I wrote Vermont earlier, but they play Virginia, oops!)

Home	Away	Date	Time	Rink/GS	GT
Ohio 1996 A	Virginia 1996 A	Mon, Aug 09	3:50 pm	Darien 2 Rink
Ohio 1996 A	New York 1996 A	Tue, Aug 10	7:30 am	Field House
Illinois 1996 A	Ohio 1996 A	Tue, Aug 10	9:30 am	Field House
Pennsylvania 1996 A	Ohio 1996 A	Tue, Aug 10	8:00 pm	Darien 2 Rink

The State Wars Blog, Day 1.5

(Day one recap, followed by the morning report)

Ok, here goes... We haven't blogged since our trip to Canada (which was a real hoot, by the way), so we thought we would give it a shot here at State Wars.

First off, what is State Wars: State Wars (www.statewarsrollerhockey.com) is a roller hockey tournament in which each state that participates creates teams based on birth years. Zac tried out in Cincinnati for the 1996 birth year team and was selected to participate! Which means, we travelled to Chicago (just outside it, actually, in Darien, Ill.) for a week of tournaments against other states 1996 aged kids!

Zac, Kierstyn and I departed for our hotel in Westmont, Ill (4 miles from the rink) on Sunday afternoon. Elisha and Kayla will be arriving late on Monday. Being that hard worker that she is, she needed to squeeze one more day in to make sure the fine folks at her workplace get paid! We arrived around 5PM Central time, checked in, found the pool location, then headed to the rink to check out the venue.

We met up with Coach McFarland so that Zac could pick up his uniform. They each get a home and away jersey, and roller hockey pants. The kids got to pick their own number (Zac, as you see, is 77; as he explains it, "7 is lucky, so why not double up, plus, 7 is the Lord's number"). Kierstyn posed with him. He is pleased to have jerseys now with his name on them.

The rink is quite an impressive place. They have an indoor soccer field, and 4 ice rinks. They ran into trouble during the first week, because they put the sports court floor down over the ice on one rink and humidity took its toll. They had to move most of those games to a rink an hour away, and that really put some families in turmoil. They have that problem solved (or so we are told) as they melted one rink, and moved the flooring over there during the day yesterday. We should (thankfully) have all of our games in the Darien Sportsplex.

Well, we grabbed some dinner, and headed back to the hotel. Long day of traveling and excitement behind us, the kids swam for a bit, then we called it a night.

Central time got us up early, but the Clubhouse Inn and Suites, along with complimentary wireless Internet, also has a nice free breakfast buffet. We got our fill. Kids are getting ready, I'm blogging, and we are going to go exploring before our first game tonight.

Zac plays the first game at 3:50PM Central against Vermont, and then no more games until tomorrow. I plan on posting via Twitter (follow me on as #jneumeier on Twitter.com) and facebook all of the game updates, with daily blog recaps. We'll pretend that people are actually following and reading!

Thanks for reading, and thanks to those that sent Zac encouraging comments!