Junior Titans Pee Wee A: Coach Gibbons

I was very disappointed in Grundy today….  I was given a great tip about a famous pretzel place in town from a former police officer (they know their baked goods).  “A Taste of Philly” boasts famous soft Philly pretzels in many varieties (even pizza stuffed pretzels).  As we came upon the place, less than a mile from the rink my mouth began to water… Maybe I could wash it down with a root beer.  I was hungry.  The sign on the door said “Open 12-4 Sundays”.  It was only 3:00…..but they were closed…Very disheartening.

Chris D. makes one of many saves on a busy day in net 

I was not so disappointed with the hockey, where they were just a little too big and fast and good at checking for our first year Pee Wees, so you can’t be too upset.   The game was more of a lesson than anything else.  The Senators brought their A game (or perhaps a AA game), and after controlling the puck for the first 7 minutes they opened the scoring.  They hit and they hit and they hit us some more.  Richie and Tyler both went down after hard hits into the boards, but seemed better after the game.  The second period was long, filled with penalties, some intimidation and Senator goals.  There were some very good efforts out there that need to be mentioned.  Chris D. stopped almost 40 shots, and never backed down to a very good shooting team.  Tim G. was all over the ice, helping some of his smaller ‘brothers’ and fighting for the puck.  Many of the boys learned a little about taking checks and we actually gave some back as well.  We did not come close today but there is much hope; the weekend shows we can be very good, but still have a long way to go to compete with the best teams.  There is also hope in my Pretzel dreams, as I learned by doing a little reading tonight that “A Taste of Philly” has 7 outlets in Pa.  Wait till that next road trip!

Austin gets of a shot, but the defenseman did his job.  Drive him wide and get a stick on him! 

The boys showed heart today. After outplaying the Cranford team for most of the game, and being shut out on our first 34 shots, Cranford pushed one in on a second effort late in the third. One ref seemed to blow the play dead, but the closer one put his hand out signaling goal, taking a shutout away from AJ who made 22 saves in a great effort. After confusion and a reaffirmation of the goal, the place went quiet….And the clock was not on our side.

They had outplayed Cranford, and deserved to win. Teams that deserve to win only do so through action and perseverance. With the minutes ticking away, Ryan Price picked up a loose puck at center ice, skated to the right of the goal and lifted a shot over the Cranford keeper to tie it at 1-1. The momentum shifted. The Titans had more jump in their step. On the next shift the puck moved back and forth, AJ reached out and knocked away a dangerous shot with his stick. Tyler H. broke the puck out of our end, Austin T. passed it forward as he was stood up. Richie looked for a second as if he would dump the puck at the blue line and change. The Cranford net minder must have thought the same as he relaxed. Richie threw a shot at the net. TOP CORNER, TITANS LEAD 2-1.

Titans celebrate the game winner!

The defense held on for the last 2 minutes and then everyone could celebrate with their goalie (he is in there somewhere). A hard earned victory!

The Ducks and Kings open the 07/08 NHL season Saturday in an unusual venue, London England. The game, which will be broadcast at home here live at noon, is being played in the “new” O2 arena. Built as the Millenium Dome for a huge New Year’s celebration in 2000, the arena boasts its envronmental friendliness. If there is not enough hockey in your life, Saturday is just the beginning, as the Devils, Rangers, Islanders, Flyers, VS. network, HD net, and NBC all have NHL hockey broacasts on just about every night of the week.

The highlight of the season may be Jan 1. The Sabres just announced they will be playing the Penguins outside, in front of 80,000 in Buffalo. Cool!

Debuting at the all-Star Game, and featured in practice jersey’s in the last 2 years, the RBK Edge uniforms will be everywhere this fall.  All 30 NHL teams will wear the RBK EDGE uniform in their respective colors and designs this fall with the opening of the 2007-08 NHL season.  The Junior Titans are wearing the same style jerseys, with their leaner, lighter look and feel.  There are many who like or dislike the look.  Here is a link to a logo fan website:  http://nhllogos.blogspot.com/

We are also not the only team with a new look, the Stars, Capitals and Canucks have made big changes logos and or colors. San Jose, Ottawa and Tampa and Columbus have also mde smaller changes.  There will be no 3rd jerseys in the NHL this year.

Here’s what Reebok has to say, “Designed in collaboration with NHL players and the NHL Players’ Association, the Rbk EDGE Uniform System provides the cutting-edge technology required by the player of today — and tomorrow — while remaining respectful of our sport’s glorious past,” said Brian Jennings, Executive Vice President, NHL Consumer Products Marketing and Retail Operations.

“Reebok’s long history of innovation combined with Reebok-CCM Hockey’s expertise in the sport have culminated in the creation of the Rbk EDGE Uniform System,” said Matt O’Toole, President and CEO Reebok-CCM Hockey. “The enhanced materials engineered into the system will help the League’s great athletes in taking the fastest game on ice to an unprecedented new level of performance.”

These features of our uniforms match the NHLs:

• Lighter fabrics incorporated in the jersey,  to keep players drier while also adding increased durability to the uniform.
• The jersey’s stretch fabric in the collar features Rbk’s innovative PLAYDRY™ moisture management technology to maximize comfort, breathability and temperature control.
• The stretch mesh in areas including the underarms and back provides additional range of motion and increased ventilation.
• 4Way Stretch Pique features Rbk’s latest innovation, BEAD AWAY™ water repellent technology. The 4Way Stretch Pique offers freedom of movement while retaining 76 percent less moisture than the current NHL jersey.

A subsidiary of the adidas Group, the company operates under the Reebok, CCM, Jofa, and Koho labels.

The Senators are our Sunday opponent. We have improved significantly since our opening day loss to them. This will be a great way to measure progress. Grundy has played common opponents and have performed as we would expect. The Freeze whomped them 7-1 in a game that was not close at all, and they handily beat their neighbors, the Blazers from Bristol 9-3 (the same team we beat last week).

Their goalie is a .85 and our shots on goal numbers have been steadily rising. We should improve considerably on our last effort with them. Also recall they played the last game with a short bench, which may change their team’s composition.

If you are going to split a season series, the game to win is most definitely the last one. See u Sundy in Grundy!

I was engaged in other activities after Sunday morning Hockey, but one of my egg-eating friends took up a solo trip with my son and and his.

Here is his entry:

This past Sunday created for a definitive stir in our normal hockey activities: a house league game mixed with players of all sorts and abilities and a practice in the parking lot, known as “dry land”, to work on face offs and positioning.  Rather than going to many of our standard hang outs, I decided to visit the town of Farmingdale, only 10 minutes away for a change.  We didn’t go to Connie’s restaurant (a town favorite) as I thought I should save that for our broader group that would include the other egg eating friend and our usual pancake sampler.  I decided upon Main Street Bagels as a good place to grab some breakfast, especially that one of the boys in my small crowd had never been there before.

Main Street Bagels has been in the town for many years and been under the same ownership up until this past Summer when it finally changed hands.  I didn’t realize at first since when we first entered the facility, much of the old look and feel was still the same, as was some of the same customers that I’m sure I had seen before.  Since I knew we weren’t going to just grab something ‘to go’, we entered the dining room for a sit down meal.  It was then that I noticed something different  and realized that there were new owners.  Although much of the old feel (I mean very old) was still there, apparently there was a fresh paint job which came out very nice, more current art work hanging on the walls and a flat screen TV for the customers to watch.

We kept our orders somewhat simple: an egg and cheese on a roll, another egg and cheese but on a bagel and a bacon and egg on a plain bagel. They didn’t have the first 2 choices we asked for which is quite disappointing for a bagel shop!.  We were the only customers sitting at a table and the service was pleasant and courteous.  The coffee was plentiful and there was no problem getting a second cup. Everyone was satisfied with their meals but we knew it just wasn’t the same as when we are with the broader crowd.  I’m not upset that we went there, but just not so sure that we may be back with the gang.

1 pancake.

Editor’s note:  You too can contribute to the team Web Log.  Take a picture?  Want to share a video?  How about some insight into our competitors?  Just Email me!

Cranford has a hockey history that goes back over 50 years. They have a good reputation for disciplined hockey. The boys we will play this weekend are used to travel. Their home ice is still a little wet, given that its an outdoor rink, so they practice in Union or at The Rock.

They have a large squad, made up of all 96s, having picked up a few players from Bayonne (who only has 1 PW team, and dropped from AA to A). Ice time will not be a problem, as our game will be their second game of the day. Their schedule shows a number of 3 game weekends to accomodate the large squad.   Some of their kids played our Squirt Bs tough in two games last season that could have gone either way.  Chris T. contributed to this article (you too can help coontribute, just drop me an email).

They have beaten some good teams, and play a combined A-B schedule, and are 2-1-1.  The Titans will be building on last weeks victory!

“All great change in America begins at the dinner table“.  Ronald Reagan 

These Friday night power skating lessons gave me another reason to eat out with hockey friends.  The Great Communicator’s biggest fan and his Team Manager, two great people we met through the Titans joined my own clan, along with my two Egg Eating friends and their lovely brides for a nice meal at Basile’s in Freehold.  No pancakes here (and no intended review), but the food was hot, the conversation was warm, and the kids were cool.  Part of your tuition is for ice time.  Part is for the opportunity to meet new people, and for the kids and parents to develop friendships that otherwise might never happen.  The nice part is that the conversation had very little hockey in it.  Just 4 sets of parents talking about life, and enjoying the opportunity to unwind after a long work week.  Its hard for everyone to get together for a meal (hopefully we can when we have tournaments).  But in the meantime, there are plenty of opportunities to break bread in small groups.  You have to eat, right?  By the way, Basile’s did a great job with the food….

http://www.basilesitalianrestaurant.com/

As soon as the puck dropped, you knew this would be a different kind of game. 

In a battle where we bent but did not break, the Titans played good hockey for 3 periods and came away 6-3 winners.  Austin got the scoring started.  Each time we scored, they seemed to answer.  The first ended in  1-1 tie and we dominated with good puck control in their end outshooting the Renegades 10-5.  Austin added a second tally and Ryan took it deep on a beautiful fake then shot.  Then, we had a bit of a dry spell, not shooting until the period ended.  AJ was at his best during this time, and he stopped 8 shots.  But a few were to slip by.  A Renegade took a fluke shot, high off the blocker, then off the back of AJ’s head.  A second defensive breakdown and a second shooting chance slid under his body, tying the score at 3 and setting the stage for the dramatic 3rd.  

Jared had taken a header into the boards at the end of the 2nd and was late to the faceoff circle.  The delay would prove deadly for the Renegades as their goalie must have lost focus.  Tim took the opening draw, got a poke by Andrew right back onto his stick, and he let go from just inside the blue line.  The goalie reacted a second too late, and the eventual game winner was in. 

With well over 14 minutes to go, it was still anyone’s contest.  This is where our Defense took over.  They kept the puck away from Chris who had replaced AJ in the 3rd.  Frank, Tyler, Nick W., Nick K., Ryan, and Chris M. held the Renegades to just five third period shots, taking the body and breaking it out.  This allowed Richie to score the backbreaker and left Austin to ice the cake with his trick.

The path is long, and we will have other hills to climb, but the progress is clear, and it will get better from here.   Good job boys!

School is in full swing as the calendar marks the first day of fall. Time for a history lesson. How did the hockey puck originate?

Well, there are a number of stories about the origins of the game. Canada and the North of Europe had an unusually cold period during the late 1800s and people adapted by spending more recreational time on frozen lakes, rivers and harbors. People that played Hurley or Field Hockey took the game to the ice. This had been an occaisional past-time in Europe since Roman times. Most early accounts of Hurley used a round ball although balls used in some English field hockey leagues were square.

In Halifax Nova Scotia in the 1860s, square wooden pucks were being used on ponds (round balls bounced into the spectators too much), a new type of skate was invented that held blades to shoes with tension, carved ice sticks were made, and a new game started to come together. Over the next few years the game was refined and rules were written. Montreal saw the first “indoor” game between young English men from both Halifax and Montreal using square wooden pucks. Like rugby, forward passing was forbidden.

As wood is porous, it soaks up water and creates friction. Early players adapted by cutting pucks from solid rubber lacross balls starting in the 1880s. At first they tried to cut them square, and the surviving relics are pretty crude. They then settled on just cutting off the top and the bottom of 2 balls and gluing the pieces together leaving a rounded disk shaped puck, not far from the shape of the modern one.

Sometimes hard shots off the post split the glued puck in two resulting in arguments if one half entered the goal. After 1930 one piece vulcanized rubber pucks were the rule. These modern pucks were ridged with a diamond pattern to create shooting friction in the 1940s, and the puck has not changed much since.

So next time you need to do a history report, think hockey, there is plenty of history to explore!