The Tin Bin

A bunch of crazy boys in between hockey games

Finn has some skills as goalie!

The Penguins hockey team after their first (and only) victory!!

Liam and Luke ready for their first tournament game

Luke and Liam participated in a hockey tournament over the weekend called the Tin Bin.  The host of the tournament was the hockey association where the boys play.  There were 20 teams in all from both our association and other nearby hockey associations that came to play over the weekend.  Each team played four games in two days.  The majority of kids on the teams were second and third graders.  The tournament gets the name "Tin Bin" because the rink where we often play is an aluminum building that is freezing cold in the winter so it gained the nickname "Tin Bin."  The average temperature over the weekend was below zero with windchills on Sunday of -35 degrees.  I am pretty sure my toes were frozen all weekend.

The boys had a lot of fun playing in the tournament, but it was an eye opener to say the least.  While the best players in our association are spread out among 8 teams, many teams from other associations have all the best players on 1-2 teams.  Our team has 4 brand new skaters that have a hard time  making it up and down a full sheet of ice so playing in a game was fun, but perhaps a bit daunting for them.  While we have a great goalie and a few experienced skaters, we are usually fighting an uphill battle because you can't hide your new players on each line of skaters.  Honestly, as a parent, its frustrating to watch, but it was a chance for the boys to see there are lots of other good skaters out there so they need to keep working hard.