Girls U-12 in Northfield

I spent the weekend in Northfield MN with Lucy and Grace. The Omaha Lady Jr. Maverick's played a tournament there and took home the third place trophy. Their first game took place at 8AM on Saturday morning and all the girls looked tired and slow. But their second and third games...well...those were a different story...

In the way that I do, I've worried about Lucy. She and Grace are dramatically different characters in all kinds of ways, but they do share one trait in common. They are superbly talented athletes who are not always inclined to push themselves to work at the outside edges of their ability. With some regularity, both girls seem content to skate well within their comfort zones and this, I think, slows their development. Having said that, Lucy played so well in the second (and third games) this weekend. She was stunning.

Lucy plays hockey like a shark when she's of a mind to do it. She circles, watching for opportunities, and then strikes with exceptional speed. Lu scored the first goal of the second game with a sweet shot through a scramble at the net. She played great offensive hockey and was absolutely fearless about working for the puck at the boards. She was fast, confident, and aggressive in the best sense. She scored a second goal later in the game and the team went on to take the game 5 - 1. The third game pitted Omaha against Waconia in a very even match. Again, Lucy played confident, aggressive hockey, scrambling fearlessly against Waconia's #14 (a girl who was probably a foot taller than Lucy). Lucy took a couple of hard hits that probably should have been called (one as checking and one as interference), but she jumped right back up and got right back into the game. One of Lucy's great strengths as a player is the degree to which she keeps her head up and looks for passing opportunities. She has really good puck control and when other players are also playing heads-up hockey, Lucy can keep a passing game going strong. Bella, Connor, Miley, and Taylor also played exceptionally well in the second and third games and the goal-tending for both games was fantastic!

On Saturday night, most of the parents and kids went to a bowling alley near our hotel. I had so much fun watching Lucy with her friends. Off the ice, she is so funny and kind. I think I fell in love all over again with little Lucy Condon this weekend. What a gal! What a weekend!

Other news in Brief: Last Wednesday I passed level four having finally mastered (sort of) my three-turns. On to backward crossovers. Yipe! Grace has a bee in her bonnet about testing. She worked with Mike on Friday morning at the Ice Box on her camel spin. She's working to get her flying leg higher. She also has to land her flip consistently before Roxanne will test her. So, we're in for another intense week of skating as Grace prepares for the Winterfest competition and works toward testing...