Dawn of the Hockey Mom

I knew this day would come. Caleb is finally old enough to play hockey league. We'd been preparing for this moment for more than two years. Ever since our almost three year old developed an obsession for hockey, and we started group ice skating lessons, we'd been working toward the collective end of one day playing hockey with a stick.

After a crash course in all things hockey, I now know how to tape a stick (thank you Youtube), and how to keep hockey socks up. Of course we went cheap on all of the equipment ... he is only five after all, but he is thrilled. He would wear it full-time if he could fit in his car seat all padded up, and if the elbow pads didn't itch and if he actually liked wearing a cup.

Now I find myself at the ice rink two hours a week -- on Monday's for mini mites practice, and on Saturday's for the weekly game. But this is only the beginning. Someday hockey may takeover our lives ... clinics, camps, traveling teams ... who knows what the future holds. I feel hockey mom-dom burgeoning.

Still I don't want to get too far ahead of myself. Although Caleb is holding his own, he is hardly a hockey prodigy. There are other kids that are much, much, much better.  We don't know their story either. Caleb has been playing hockey for a month ... they could be older, or playing longer, or have parents that actually ice skate. Their parents could have been grooming their progeny for hockey since birth ...  in fact we overheard one mom say to her son (who happens to be a fantastic skater), "in Russia we ice skated everyday and we didn't complain."

All that said, the most important thing right now is for Caleb to have fun, and he is having a blast.

A Night At the Shark Tank - Hockey with Kids

Caleb has been attending hockey games since he was three years old. He has surprised us with his focus and his interest. He can recite all of the players by number, understands many of the nuances of the game, and when he is at the Shark Tank (H-P Pavilion) he is in his element.

Xander on the other hand does not like sports. I sometimes struggle with the question, does Xander simply not like sports, or does Xander not like sports because Caleb loves them? I may never know the answer, but this winter Xander my little hockey hater found himself at two hockey games.

The thing is, games aren't cheap. The first visit was part of a family package -- tickets and dinner at a big discount -- but still close to $100 for the family. The second visit was for Jonathan's birthday. His beloved Capitals were in town on his birthday, and he wanted to take the whole family to the Shark Tank to celebrate.

It was good that we went with the special family pack offer before embarking upon the Capitals game. It gave us an opportunity to expose Xander to his first hockey game, and figure out entertainment. There was no way that we would have had a happy 6 year old if we forced him to sit through three hours of hockey without a simple video game.

In fact we treated the whole affair like a roadtrip. Our family pack seats weren't very good. We were up high and away from the action. But Xander, who doesn't like loud noises, got an opportunity to survey the environment and get a taste for what to expect. In hindsight bringing my iPad was overkill. Something more discrete like an iPod Touch would have sufficed. Xander was pleased as a clam playing games the entire game. Standing up and cheering for the goals scored, but otherwise disengaged from the entire event. Caleb was, well ... jealous. The boys aren't exposed enough to "my" iPad to see it as something other than a special treat.

At the Sharks/Capitals game we had much better seats. Jonathan had been looking forward to this game since September. In a way, I'm certain he imagined his two boys sharing in a happy pursuit. But he knew that Xander's resistance to sports, even fandom, might pose a problem. For this event we brought the less obtrusive, and less special iPod Touches. Caleb was much less jealous, but made the mistake of rooting for the Caps (it was a spectacular Sharks victory). Xander was better able to engage in the game, and also play games when he was bored. It all worked out.

Will we be taking Xander to games in the future? Not by choice (his or ours). But if we have to take him, or want to keep the family together, we now know we can handle it.

The VIP Treatment - Preschooler at an NHL Game

After just a few ice skating lessons and a few weeks with a street hockey stick and puck (well, an orange ball that is meant to replicate a puck), Caleb had shown a keen interest in hockey. We got a Sharks jersey for him, which he wears to hockey lessons without fail, and whenever else possible. He sometimes sleeps with his hockey stick. And, because his jersey is for Evgeni Nabokov, the Sharks’ goalie, he gets excited whenever he sees “Nabby” on TV.

So, even though Caleb is only three, I thought it would be worthwhile to take Caleb to a Sharks game. Kate thought I was brave. I thought, well maybe, but also it meant a guilt free night out at a Sharks playoff game, against the storied Detroit Red Wings no less. The Red Wings are one of the “original six” hockey teams and have won the Stanley Cup 11 times (including a sweep of my hometown team, the Washington Capitals). So, I was excited too. When the playoff series schedule was announced, I learned that Game 1 of the series would take place on a Thursday evening at the pre-school friendly hour of 6pm (a benefit of living on the West Coast). I bought two upper level tickets, 4 rows into the upper level, on the blue line in the zone where the Sharks would shoot during two of the three periods.

On Game Night, I was prepared. I made Caleb change into pull-ups, packed a backpack with a change of clothes just in case, put on his Nabby jersey, and took a deep breath. Any concerns I had with bringing a 3 year old to a sporting event were immediately alleviated, however. In fact, when at the game with Caleb we were both treated like rock stars.

First, we got there early to avoid the big lines, and when we walked up to our seats, the usher spent time with us and played a game with Caleb. He asked Caleb to pick the hand with a prize in it and after a couple of hints, he chose the hand that had a very nice Hot Wheels car in it. Caleb loved it and played with it throughout the game. After the first period, Caleb wanted to go down to the ice. The ushers in the first level let us down, no questions asked, and we spent some time right at the glass on the ice hanging out with the fans in the $500 seats. Of course, as the second period was about to begin, we headed back to our seats (though Caleb was a little upset).

Walking around the arena, everyone was great too. People came up to us and gave Caleb high fives, the vendors with giveaways called us over to give us miscellaneous tchochkes, and Caleb spent time talking to the police officers.

Something that’s not new these days is that sporting events now are as much about the overall entertainment value as they are about the game itself. The Sharks have this figured out as well. Caleb loved watching the players enter the ice through the shark, and loved watching Sharkie the mascot wander around the arena and banging his drum to get the fans excited. With five minutes to go and the Sharks up 3-2, it was an incredibly entertaining game, but by that point all Caleb cared about was finding Sharkie.

We did have our moments where Caleb was a little antsy...after all we were there for over three hours between when we arrived and left. But overall it was a great experience, and Caleb is looking forward to going back next year.