Snow Day

Today was yet another snow day for the schools. The name is a bit of a misnomer since it's the ice that causes the cancellation, not the snow, but I suspect the kids don't care one way or the other. I took this photo while Lucas and I made the most of the relatively warm weather.

July Trip to Massachusetts

Lucas's team had their last game of the regular season this morning. They lost 3-2, but man, if it wasn't for the other goalie! As a conservative estimate, we think the Zombies outshot the other team 3 or 4 to 1. It was that incredibly lopsided. The problem was that the other team's goalie was phenomenal. There's really not much else the Zombies could do. Oh well, they have a couple of practices next weekend and then the playoffs start in March. The latest standings aren't up yet, but since they won their previous two games (4-0 and 4-2), I expect the Zombies to finish the season in 2nd or 3rd place. I'll keep you updated once they playoffs begin.

I decided yesterday that it's about time I catch up on the summer photos so here's the start of the deluge. The following photos were taken during our first trip to Massachusetts in July. It's when Lucas and I went on our own, giving Marilu a weeklong break from our zaniness. I'll be posting videos from this trip as well as photos from the second Massachusetts trip (with Marilu) and their trip to Newfoundland and Labrador soon.

Much time was spent in the backyard by the fire pit. You really can't go wrong with fire and beer. Or maybe you can go really wrong with that combination. I can't remember.

I love the expression on Lucas's face as he stuffs toasted marshmallows in his mouth. That's his friend Kyle who lives next door to my mom. Talk about a contrast in size!

We were lucky enough to be down there for the 4th of July so after we watched the fireworks, we lit off some of our own.

My mom and Lucas with Quick Dick, another neighbor and probably the strongest 80-something you'll ever meet.

During that trip, Lucas also got a chance to ride one of Kevin's horses. He had a blast. One of the videos I'll post later has an extended look at his ride.

A random photo from the bubble bath. I may have put in a tad bit too many bubbles, especially since the tub has jacuzzi jets.

Fishing at the lake.

I think this might be Lucas's first game of Scrabble.

A couple of goofy ones.

Pictures from our visit with Jack and Dominic at the miniature golf course. It says something about me that the highlight of that trip was the patty melt I had at the diner immediately before golfing. Best sandwich ever.

Swimming at Nancy and Bobby's.

And potentially summoning dark spirits.

That's it for now. Like I said before, be on the lookout for LOTS of pictures soon.

CTC Hockey

As promised (to my dad, at least), I've linked a video from Lucas's hockey game at the Canadian Tire Centre last Thursday. It's part of the Future Sens program that gives youth hockey players a chance to play on the pro ice. This was the third year in a row that one of Lucas's teams got to play. They also got to see the Sens game that night. It was a pretty fun time since the kids got to fill up a whole row sitting next to one another.

As for the early game, they played against a team from Nepean and lost a really close game 3-2. It was a rare stress-free game though since it didn't count against the standings. They followed up on Friday night with a 4-0 victory against another Kanata team in league play. I believe there are 2 more games before the playoffs, and at this point, it looks like the Zombies will finish in either 2nd or 3rd place (out of 10).

So without any further adieu, here's the video. The Zombies are in white, and Lucas is #5, playing defense. This was one of the first times I've taken video of a game so it's a little fuzzy, but I think it came out okay.

Results

Well, the bad news is that the Zombies lost this morning, 3-1. Despite the score, it was a very close game. It was 0-0 until halfway through the second period, and the 3rd goal by the other team was very strange. I'm not sure if our goalie was distracted by the coaches or what, but he was standing on the completely opposite side of the goal, turned away, when they scored. So it was basically an empty net goal. The Zombies had several good chances, but as has been the norm this season, they almost always seem to be just inches away from the rebounds. Whatever the case, I definitely look forward to meeting up with this team in the playoffs since our boys can definitely hang with them.

The good news is that Lucas had a great game. The only goal that happened when he was on the ice was the aforementioned one so it doesn't really count since there is nothing the defense could have done about it. And as far as I can remember, the other team only had one shot (besides the goal) while he was playing.

On Thursday, Lucas will be playing at the Canadian Tire Centre in the annual game on "pro" ice. I'll definitely be taking pictures for that so more hockey photos are definitely coming. In the meantime, I need to attack my backlog of photos. I have a bunch from last year's vacations to Newfoundland and Massachusetts that need to be sorted and uploaded so watch for those soon.

Super Bowl? Pfft, this game is bigger!

Although the game will probably be over by the time most of you read this, tonight is the eve of what is probably Lucas's biggest game of the year so far. It's the Zombies' second game against the #1 team in his division, which currently has an 12-0 record and the most goals in the league with 50 (the next closest is the Zombies with 36). They also have the least goals allowed with 13 (once again, the Zombies are in second place at that stat with 18). They won the first meeting 2-1, which was the closest anyone has played them, and it quite honestly could have gone either way. On a more personal note, the coach of the other team is Lucas's coach from his first year in IP so a win over him would be twice as big.

One of the big differences in this game is that the Zombies finally have set lines with kids playing the positions they are best at whereas earlier in the season the coaches were still getting a feel for that. So hopefully that will help. I've given Lucas a little bit of monetary motivation. I told him if he can prevent any goals while on the ice (since he is defense), I'll bring him to get a toy/reward worth $30. If he can keep them shotless? $50. I don't really expect the latter, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll be out $30 of birthday money.

Anyway, I'll pop back on sometime before the Super Bowl tomorrow with an update to let you know how it went.

Oh, I didn't mention it anywhere, but the game's at 7 AM on Sunday morning.

More hockey news

I know, it seems like hockey news is all I ever talk about lately. What can I say? It's winter. We're in Canada. There's going to be hockey.

This past weekend, Lucas's team definitely fell back into their winning ways. As I mentioned before, they won their game on Saturday 3-1, avenging a loss to a team that beat them by the same score earlier in the year. Then, to top it off, they won their game on Sunday 9-0. Wow! Two kids had hat tricks and another one had two goals. On the defensive side of the game (which is what Lucas played), he only allowed one shot during his shifts. Pretty damn good!

Speaking of Lucas, we received an email from Lucas's coach (also named Lucas, amusingly enough) earlier in the week, providing us with some feedback about his play this season. I've included some of the highlights below:

"I wanted to let you both know what a great year Lucas has been having. First, and foremost, he is an excellent kid, teammate, extremely positive in the dressing room and on the bench. He has a great smile, and really loves his hockey!!

From a hockey perspective, he has been really developing into a great player on defence. He has been taking cues and positional guidance and applying them (and improving) every game. The coaches and his teammates have really been relying on him, and it's a big reason for a lot of our success lately."

He then went on to ask us if we wanted to play Lucas at forward anymore this season since he's been a defenseman since before Christmas. They would prefer him at defense since he is one of the best players back there. As it so happens, Lucas wants to play defense so it's not a problem. I've been telling him for a while now that scoring isn't all there is to hockey. If you're playing defense, it's just as important that you don't allow goals, and he's been pretty good at that this season, and he's learned to rate his performance on that rather than goals.

This weekend will be interesting since they are playing the top team in the league on Sunday. They are undefeated at 11-0, but last time they played, they just barely beat the Zombies 2-1 so we're hoping for another revenge win like this past weekend. Whatever happens, I'll be sure to let you know.

No pictures this time, but plenty in the next update!