As suspected, we’ve received the Devil’s schedule and it’s no less hectic than the Boy’s.  In fact, early on it looks to be even a little more demanding.

With girls’ rep hockey in our jurisdiction, leagues are structured according to a system whereby teams are ranked and put into divisions based on results in exhibition game. All teams are tasked with scheduling a number of “pre-season” games against teams believed to be of similar caliber in order to gauge their ability, or inability as the case may be, to compete with these teams. In order to get a the most accurate rating it makes sense to book a fair number of these games.  Mind you this is generally left to the discretion of the coach and his/her staff.  In previous years the Devil has been on teams where the coaching staff either did not have the desire or interest in finding out where the team should be properly ranked and thus played a seemingly bare minimum. This can, of course, come back to haunt a team which may be placed in a higher division than it should be. Some would argue this simply means a higher level of competition, but it can also mean a season of lopsided losses and dejected players.

Such is not the case this year, as the Devil already has eight exhibition games scheduled this month including two games in two different towns on one Saturday and an early morning practice followed by a late afternoon game the following Saturday. This schedule is sure to test both the ability and the conditioning of the team, while at the same time getting them all quite familiar with one another.  All good stuff in the eyes of this hockey dad.

So I’ve now combined the September schedules and it seems that in the 23 days starting the day after tomorrow there will only be 4 where either of our two young athletes will not be engaged in some form of hockey-related activity (i.e. practice, game, dryland training). We’ve yet to decide exactly who will be taking who to which practice and/or game, but we’ll likely just play it by ear depending on other scheduling challenges. Mix in some more fundraising activities (i.e. bottle drive, raffle ticket sales, something else will likely pop up) and there’s nothing like easing into the pre-season. Bring it on I say! It’s what I’ve been waiting all Summer for. Alright, besides the introduction of HST, the start of NFL season and the latest installment of Glee! (jk)

#imahockeydad