Coach's Corner
NARCh Notes from Jim Wackerman
Aug 19, 2008, 3:07 pm
CHICO 12U SHOW GREAT SPEED & SPORTSMANSIP
Well, we just got back from San Jose; what a time! The experience this afforded
our kids was magical. We ended up taking 4th place. Thursday we
lost to Delta River Rats 8-3, an unexpected outcome. We have won all but one
game against them this year. Our kids were extremely nervous; I thought a
couple were going to blow chunks on me on the bench! Gabe scored all 3 of our
goals, I think his previous experience at NARCh really helped him out. We
really rebounded our next game on Friday, beating the Revision Colts 3-1. I
think Dylan Golet scored 2 goals and Garrett Anderson Scored one with Gabe
assisting on 2 of those goals. Carson got back in form with his goalie-play.
On Saturday we had our 2 toughest games of the preliminaries facing both the
teams from St. Louis(Both undefeated). We tied the Cobras in the first game
2-2, playing the best hockey our kids have ever played as a team. We were
playing with high energy and flying all over the place! The game started out
with the Cobras taking a 1-0 lead, we ended up answering with 2 goals in the
2nd half and held the lead until about 3 minutes left in the game
when they tied on a fluke play. The Cobras were very upset and displayed poor
sportsmanship at the end of the game, our boys displayed perfect respect and our
program should be proud of how they handled the situation. I think Dylan scored
both of our goals in this one. The second game we played was against Tour
Blast. Again, our boys played with great energy. I think the blast ended up
taking a 2-0 lead in the first half. We came back in the second half to take a
3-2 lead. The Blast tied it up and then we went ahead 4-3 with about 1 minute
remaining. But, alas, we couldn’t hold the lead and they tied us with a last
minute goal. I think Garrett scored 2, Dylan 1 and Gabe 1. What a day! We
almost beat the top two seeds in the bracket and outplayed them in the
process!! The teams from St. Louis are very polished. They spread the floor and
their spacing is perfect. Their passing is very impressive. Both teams come
from elite programs and the kids also play ice. We ended up a 4th
seed in the medal round.
Today we drew the 1st seed, Tour Blast. The game started very tight
with both teams playing very well. Then, the Blast scored 3 straight goals and
we looked to be in trouble! Gabe answered with a goal to close to within 1. I
think Garrett scored the next goal to tie but, Tour Blast matched his goal
within 30 seconds! We battled some more and Garrett scored again! We had a tie
with about 3 minutes left and everything was looking like we would go to
overtime!! Unfortunately, Tour Blast scored with about a minute left and our
dreams for silver or gold were dashed. I think the discipline with which the
Tour Blast played was the difference.
The bronze medal game was against Kauai, Hawaii. I think the loss in our first
game really affected our team. That and the fact that the Hawaiian’s were
fastest team we have ever seen and also had two forwards who were about 6 foot
tall!! I don’t know how these guys lost to the two St. Louis teams because I
thought they were even better! They ended up beating us 5-1 with Gabe scoring
our lone goal. To me, the outcome was not in question after the first 5
minutes. This team was bigger, faster and played as a team better than our
team. They were even nicer because they presented our team with shell beads and
a bag full of pencils, key chains and chocolate-covered macadamia nuts! What an
experience!!
I am very proud of my guys and our time together this week was wonderful for our
team bonding. We also
chipped in and bought the video of all our games from NARCh. I think this will
be fun and perhaps helpful in determining how we might improve as a team. I’ll
keep in touch.
Jim Wackerman
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