Athletic Result: Boys Hockey

Zach Stein on the forecheck.

Boys' Hockey Competes at EJHL Showcase

Zach Stein

This weekend we went to Marlborough Mass to play in the EJ showcase at the New England Sports Center. Even though we went 0-3, we had a pretty good turnout due to the fact the level was so much higher than we are used too. We bonded more as a team, and started playing better breaking some parts in our slump.

We headed on the road Thursday around 1:00 for a four and half/five hour drive. The drive was really long, and the buses were very crowded. We had fun on the bus talking about high school conversations. We arrived at the Holiday Express around 6:30 and had dinner reservations at 7:00 at Applebee’s. The dinner was not good at all. I had a Riblet basket with honey barbecue sauce on it, fries, and water. Fucas and I split Buffalo wings as an appetizer, which was the only good part of my meal. The Riblet basket was very petite, and had a lot of the bones. We went to bed at 11:00 because we had two games in the morning. We woke up at 7:00 and ate breakfast as a team. I had a bacon egg and cheese on a bagel. The breakfast was pretty good, but we had a tough game against the Junior Flyers. The final score was 4-0, but they scored a couple of week goals.

I felt we played much better as a team, than the Northwood game. We were really moving our feet out there, passing the puck, and hitting bodies. Unfortunately we did not put the puck in the net, and we made a couple mistakes that were capitalized in the Flyers favor. My mom ended up coming to the game and wanted to take me out for lunch after. We went to get a quick bite to eat at a sushi bar, and had to be back for 3:30 because we had a team brunch at 4:00. We ended up going to subway down the street. It looked like the workers were mad that out whole team was in there, and they had to serve us. The subway was so small that we all didn’t fit in the store. After subway we went back to the hotel and hung out for a little. We left for the rink around 5:30 because our game was at seven. We did some dynamic stretches as a team to warm up for the big game against the Junior Springfield Pics. We knew they were good, and we were going to have to work extra hard to keep the score down. Our forward were really moving out there, but our goaltenders were having an off game. The score resulted in a 9-1 loss, but haze broke our little scoring slump with a goal. My mom and dad both went to this game and saw me after for ten minutes. I knew they were coming to final game Saturday, and I could see them after. It was nice to see them even though it has only been a week. We had curfew at 11:00 again. It was Saturday morning and we woke up at 9:30 to get something to eat. For today’s breakfast I had a bagel with cream cheese, and some toast. After breakfast I went up to my room, and watched TV and layed down. Around 3:00 we warmed up outside the hotel room. We ran, stretched, and got the blood flowing. After, we went to a restaurant for lunch. I wasn’t that hungry, but got a balsamic chicken wrap. It was very good, and filling. Our game was at 7:00, and we were playing a good empire team. My brother, mom, dad, and uncle were coming to watch me play and I was already sore from the previous games. Our team was playing really good in the beginning but fell apart. The final score was 8-2, and our coach was a little upset with the way we played. He said we are going to have a tough week at practice. I went to Olive garden with my family after the game. It was nice to go out as a family and enjoy a fantastic meal.

In conclusion, we had our ups and downs this weekend, but I feel like were tending to break our slump. We are doing certain things right as a team and getting better at some areas. It’s like Coach said we need the whole package not just some areas. Next weekend we play in cape cod, and hopefully it’s a better turn out.