Hockey Rant

Hockey is not a sport for the faint-of-heart.  It is not a sport for the over-protective, "my poor baby fell down" Mommy.  Believe me.  I used to be that Mommy and I had to learn very quickly that he IS going to fall down.  He IS going to get knocked down.  He IS going to get tripped.  Bottom line.

This is our 3rd year of hockey so it no longer bothers me to see him sliding across the ice, slamming into the boards, and laying there for a second.  (The first time this happened I thought I was going to have a heart attack.  Not because of the sliding/slamming part but because of the laying there part.  I thought he was knocked out/broke his neck/paralyzed for life . . . when he finally got up we asked him what he was doing just laying on the ice.  He said that the "bad guys" had shot him.  Now I can look back and laugh at the cuteness of that.  It was NOT funny at the time). 

But I digress . . .

This past weekend Kanin had a very early morning hockey game.  As soon as both teams hit the ice, it was obvious that this was not going to be good for Kanin's team.  The other boys were A LOT bigger, A LOT stronger, and A LOT faster.  4 out of the 7 boys on the other team were at least a foot and a half taller than every single player on Kanin's team.  Since this is an Instructional League, the coach set the teams up to be competitive and fair.  Our main focus at this level is to learn the game, the positions, and skate skills.  Winning and losing is last on our list.  At the same time, who likes to lose?   Kanin's team lost 13-3.  Ugh!  Even though Kanin did score-yay!

As the game started, I started getting really annoyed.  A couple of these boys were just overpowering Kanin's team.  Tripping, pushing, shoving.  Yes, these are all things that happen in hockey but not on purpose at the Instructional Leage and not when those boys were 12 years old and Kanin is 7.  It was literally like David and Goliath.  One kid skated by Kanin, put his elbow out and hit him right in the helmet sending Kanin flying across the ice.  Well, let me tell you, THIS mom came unglued.  I was ticked off.  I tried to control my anger because I'm sure that kid's parents were sitting in my same section but I can assure you that the entire section knew that I was not happy.

See this #53?  HE is the one who knocked Kanin in the face with an elbow.  This picture is NOT distorted.  That kid is every bit as tall and big as I am.  (That's Scott that Kanin is looking up at)

After the game, I was telling yelling to Scott about how crappy it was and how unfair the match-up was (the coach knows about it and is addressing the problem) and he told me that kid's parent told him to check.  Scott is a helper out on the ice and told that kid that there is NO CHECKING and the kid said, "I know we aren't supposed to check but my dad told me to just do it anyway and to do anything to get the puck."

Ugh!  I could just scream at these parents.

Yes, I love that competitive spirit and you should do anything to get the puck but not when you are in 6th grade and you are playing some 1st graders.  If this kid had been in 1st, 2nd, or even 3rd grade and had elbowed Kanin then I would tell Kanin to work harder but he had no chance against these older boys.

Why do parents do that?  Why tell your kid to break the rules?  Why put your child in the position of either listening to you or listening to the coach?  Why mess with the safety of other kids?  I swear I just want to slap some parents!

The same thing happened in soccer earlier this year.  Some parent put their 10-year-old on a 6-7-year-old team.  Naturally, the 10-year-old was the "star" and best player on the field.  Why do that?  It's like these parents want their child to be the best so badly that they have to cheat to do it. 

Sorry for the vent but when you mess with Mama Tiger's cubs, you get the wrath.  LOL