We did other sports after hockey camp ended mid-August. After that we basically just waited for an email about when to come back to the rink. I think the first day was October 30, but we were already in hockey mode and had already gone to at least one Devils game that season.
My wife was taking Masters classes that year, so every time there was a hockey session for Rusty, my two year old Dusty would come along, too. I taught him to yell, "Skate!" at the kids. He would pick up stray pucks on the side and keep them. And of course, we would have to stay after so he can watch the Zamboni resurface.
We still went to Secaucus to keep working on skating. I hadn't done any actual drills with Rusty yet. I just went around skating with him. But he was just getting comfortable on his own, skating on one foot, lining up his skates, jumping over the lines, dragging a foot to stop. I did make him wear his gear though because I figured it would be best to get him used to it. Sometimes I would let him go without his bucket. However, we went to a session with Bert one time, and his dad had him in full gear, including helmet, and from then on, I had rusty wear everything.
We generally had two sessions a week. One was just the U8s on Saturday and another sharing ice with the U10s on a weeknight. I'm a little mixed up now which weeknight it was, but the previous year it was Wednesday, and we would sneak in with the older group on Monday. I do have a picture of Rusty and Bert on a Tuesday, but it's possible I just posted it a day late.
Anywhoo.
At the start of that season, there was this one kid everyone noticed right away. He was wearing a jersey with Russian characters in the back. And he was super fast - at least compared to the rest of the group. it was a boy named Serenity, and he was only a few months older than Rusty and Bert. He was placed in the U10s and was also a better player than most of the kids there. We were impressed, of course. But I kind of thought it was silly to watch him dominate the drills, taking and controlling the puck every time with the other kids just watching. I liked it better when they had small groups and Rusty was not with him.
An email was sent out that there would be a House League and how the kids would be grouped. I looked forward to it because those kids were given uniform jerseys, one color for each team - white, red, black and green. Most of the program's equipment were donated so the kids all were a motley crew of different colors. Rusty's jersey the previous year was a reversible white/navy Avalanche, and this year he had decided to go with his free LTP Jamboree white Devils #9 jersey. Once in a while, a kid on ice will ask him, "Do you like Taylor Hall?"
Well, the email was sent out, and Rusty wasn't chosen for a team. Neither was Bert. They were too young. The U8s were not included. I was disappointed. I looked at how excited the older kids were to receive their jerseys. And I was really looking forward to more of the team experience.
Rusty kind of just shrugged it off. He just liked being out there on the ice and trying. One time he was sick but still wanted to go. He vomited a little in the locker room, and then he said he was okay. He seemed fine during the session. Actually now I remember there was another session right after, and sometimes they would let the U8s stay on for extra ice time if they wanted. Anyway, Rusty was good during their session. For the next one, he started getting sluggish. I went onto the bench and asked him how he was doing. He said he didn't feel good, and so I took him home. When we got there, he vomited all over his room. Anyway, what is my point here? I think he liked hockey enough that he withheld his vomit during his session and only threw up before and after.
The only other time Rusty didn't finish was one time when I saw him whack another kid with his stick. I had been talking to him about his little meltdowns, and especially after he screamed at a volunteer mom at hockey camp. So when I saw him succumbing to his frustration, I called him over and said, "You're done!" His coaches didn't think it was that big a deal, and yes, after all they are all wearing gear and no one got hurt. But for me, it was part of a pattern and I didn't like it. Also, there were really only five minutes left. But Rusty didn't realize that. All he knew was that everyone else was still on, and he was leaving early. He didn't do it again after that.
In late December, Rusty, Bert, Ernie, Lino and some other kids were chosen to move up and join the U10s for the rest of the season. They played some full ice scrimmages. Although we were not too heavy into the sport yet, I did want Rusty to improve, so I would give him some advice. Just common sense stuff, like, don't just whack the puck away when it comes to you. Because it was hard enough for him to even get to touch the puck, but when he does, he would just hit it away at any direction. So one of the things I wanted him to do was just hold on to it and even if they try to take it away, just to do his best to maintain possession. It took a while, but one Saturday in December, he did take the puck from in front of his defensive net, skated it all the way to the other end, and scored a goal. I was excited! And I got it on video!!! And then he never did it again for months after that.
And I took more and more videos. I would show him at home what he did and what possible things he could have tried. I would show him where there was space, where he could have gone. I showed him what the better kids do. It turned out to be good. He understood, he could explain the situation and he asked questions if he had them. But the actual results wouldn't show on ice for quite some time.
Now for some random stuff that I can remember.
The city offered free power skating clinics at 7am for the three days after Christmas. We didn't go to the first one because the age group was for U10s. But Bert's parents took him. It turns out only a handful of kids came and they didn't check the ages anyway. So we came on the second day. It wasn't really much of a clinic. It was just one coach I haven't seen before showing them some skating drills from one end of the ice to the other and then letting the kids try it. Not much correction or critiquing even though there were only six of them at the most. And for the second half of the hour, they just scrimmaged.
After the session, Bert asked if he could sleep over at our house. When his mom said yes, Rusty was super excited because it was his first sleepover. He didn't even have clothes to change into because they just decided to ask on a whim, and I think his mom was just tired from the holidays and was relieved to have a little quiet at home. I don't think she even checked with the dad. But that's how it would be for the years to come. The two of them would just plan playdates and sleepovers and basically just tell the parents about it. They also figured out how to ask in a way that made it seem to one's parent that the other's parent already knew and said yes.
When they got to our house, they kept punching each other in the "goods". My wife and I told them to stop. They explained that it was okay because they do it all the time in school. As though that makes it all right. Of course, they didn't sleep much, and the showed up to the clinic the next morning super tired. Bert's mom thought maybe they had a fight or something because they weren't speaking much. But they were just tired.
The following clinic after that - I think this was a Wednesday night (too lazy to look it up) - was the first U10 moved up session or whatever you want to call it. Some of the slower U8 skaters were no longer there, and there were some new faces of the older kids.
One of them was this really nice boy, Jim, who took to Rusty right away the previous year. Jim held him when Rusty was learning to skate, and told him how to hockey stop (not that Rusty got it). He had an older sister in the program. She was in the U18 group, and I kind of felt bad that there were not a lot of signups for that age. I think most teens think it's too late for them to learn the sport, if they even hear about a free program that will teach it and provide free gear. So most of the time, Jim's sister would join this age group and learn while helping.
Another was Jim's classmate Patrik. I remember one time asking everyone who their favorite player was, and he said Patrik Elias, and I said, "Why? Because you have the same name?" I think that was the year Elias' number was retired (too lazy to look it up).
Then there was this other boy in the corner, super quiet, always smiling and happy. Turtle. His dad was always with him helping him with his gear, and the following year he was doing it all by himself, including tying his skates and putting his helmet on. He didn't demand attention when we were in the locker room, as he was not as loud as the other kids. But on ice, you couldn't miss him because he would always flash open. When a teammate has the puck, Turtle was always the best option for a pass, not that the other kids had enough hockey sense to notice. Turtle would also always crash the net and made his living feeding off leftovers. Also, a few times, his mom made him wear a scarf because it was cold. Coach told him to take it off, but he said, "My mom told me to wear it!" He never did take it off.
And then, of course, there was Serenity. Rusty was not a great skater and not a goal scorer. But he hated being scored on. And something about Serenity's confidence lit a fire in him. Whatever he lacked at skill, Rusty's determination made up for it. And he was determined not to let Serenity score. I think i wrote about this before, but they were playing half ice and Rusty was frustrating Serenity a lot. He was everywhere Serenity wanted to go, and passing was not a thing Serenity was accustomed to. And Rusty didn't care to try and score. He just whacked the puck away and stayed there playing defense. Eventually though, the puck did go in and when it did, Rusty knelt down to pick it up. Serenity took this opportunity to tap him on the helmet and say something. That was when Rusty erupted. I can't remember what he said, but the entire rink heard him. He screamed right at Serenity's face, making him cry and leave the ice. He cried for a long time in the locker room.
His dad came up to me later and, well, it wasn't so much an apology. Maybe it was but there was a bit of a Russian language barrier. In any case, he said something and I said something and we were okay. But we haven't talked to each other at all since then.
In the following sessions, Rusty and Serenity apologized to each other. That's what Rusty says anyway. I can't hear them on the ice. But they do kind of get along now, and I don't feel any animosity between them at all.
But I talked to Rusty after that night, and we ended up agreeing that if he wanted to get better I would help him. I never played hockey before but I would do my best. And he would need to commit and do his best. So I looked up YouTube videos for some help.
And we selected Serenity as a target for comparison. We aimed for Rusty to be as fast as him or better. Or if not, to at least close the gap.
Rusty was afraid to skate too fast because he couldn't stop and would crash into the board. So I decided we should first work on hockey stops. Ice time at Secaucus was limited, but Newport Skates was open to the public everyday. It cost more, and you had to pay for parking, but you could pretty much skate for as long as you want. So I took him down there. And every hour or so, I would have to move the car because the meter wouldn't change if you didn't. But the staff was kind enough to understand and let me get my shoes back to move the car and get the skates again at no extra charge. So yeah, Newport Skates. That was where Rusty learned to hockey stop. Thanks to his dad who can't hockey stop. I just explained the best I could, illustrating with hand movements and very slow demonstrations by me. Very slow. He also worked on backward skating and flips down there. I said, "Why you flippin'? Cos you Filipino?"
Whenever Secaucus was open though, we would to to public skate there. It was just easier having a parking lot, and the low price of admission and rental didn't hurt. One time I noticed they were open on MLK day, so we went there and it was just me and him for most of the session. And then later on just a couple other people. It was great. It was not like that this year, with everything else closed and the townspeople having nothing else to do.
One of the staff members there noticed that we were working on hockey skills, and he said it was all right as long as we watched out for the other skaters. Later he gave us the number of this teen who was looking to make extra cash with lessons. So I contacted him. It was just during a public skate session. I didn't go on ice because I wanted to be hands off and just watch. But then I realized, you know what, I could do exactly what this kid is doing. So again, I looked up some YouTube videos and just ran Rusty through some drills on our own. And he did improve. And yes, I am very proud of being able to do that.
Around this time, Bert started going to public skate in Jersey City instead. I'm not too fond of the ice there, and the staff is not as attentive to rowdy skaters, so didn't really go there a lot. Once in a while we would go just to join Bert. But when we would go, I was already resolved that I wouldn't get much out of Rusty as far as drills. I have tried many times to get Bert to join, but it's hard to get him to pay attention. When they are together, I just let them have their fun.
Anyways, at one point in the season the hockey director emailed me one day and asked if I could get to Prudential Center that night. There was a Mites On Ice event during the intermission, and Rusty was selected to go on. Unfortunately, my work was not that flexible at the time so I couldn't get him on. I asked if Bert was selected also because then I'm sure Rusty could get a ride. The answer was no. I should have at least asked who else was going because I'm sure somebody would have taken him, but I didn't want to put more things on the hockey director's plate. I was also kind of thinking there would be more opportunities for Mites On Ice. Being still kinda new to hockey, I didn't realize he would no longer be a mite after the season. And I didn't fully realize yet my value in the workplace that I was afraid to call out at the last second. Now I do regret missing it because it would have been great fun for Rusty. Of course, Hockey In New Jersey provided plenty of terrific experiences for years to come, but you are only a mite for a couple of years in your life. What mite have been, I guess. O-welles.
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