Game on! (2016 Edition)

The Emojis had their first hockey game of the season yesterday, and it went pretty well for about 95% of the game until a remarkably boneheaded play by Lucas gave up the winning goal late in the third period. He was playing left defense, and for some reason, he decided to wind up for a slapshot from the blue line instead of passing it to a forward. While winding up, a speedier player on the other team swooped in, stole the puck, got a breakaway, and scored on the Emoji's goalie.

It's really too bad since he had a very good game up to that point. He was playing the puck well and his ice awareness from last year was in full swing as he was almost always in the right position. While losing the game wasn't entirely his fault--the final score was 3-2 and the two other goals came against the other defensive line--it was just a really dumb way to give up the puck. On the plus side, I don't think he'll be making this mistake again anytime soon since it was a big learning experience.

For what it's worth, the team looks pretty good. They had a LOT more scoring chances than their opponents, but they just couldn't seem to get the puck in the net. However, once the kids have a little more time playing together and develop some chemistry, I think they'll be a lot more dangerous.

Since we're talking hockey, here's a picture of our little defenseman in the locker room prior to the game. You may notice that the jersey looks a bit different than last year's. His league completely replaced all the house league jerseys during the off season. I definitely prefer these ones as they are a bit more flashy plus the only lettering is Kanata. The old ones said Blazers, which is the name for the competitive teams from Kanata. It never made much sense to me why the house leagues wore Blazers, especially since they always named themselves something different. An added benefit is that the kids got to keep their jerseys from last year, and it's always good to have extra ones for practice.

And this isn't really related, but Lucas got a haircut on Friday so here's a picture of his styled hair right after the appointment. He really likes it. I'll withhold judgement since I obviously don't "get" what kids like these days. :)