Getting Going

Mac and Aidan begin an organized relationship with the Ashburn Ice House in the fall/winter of 2007.

Mac was placed in the hockey instructional predecessor classes - Power Ice, Learn to Play, etc. He was moved up from Power Ice 1 into Power Ice 2 the first week. Not a week or two later, he was moved up from Power Ice 2 into Power Ice 3. When he completed the Power Ice 3 and 4 sessions he was enrolled in a Hockey "Learn to Play" session conducted on Saturday afternoons. Coach Bucky and several other of the Ashburn Ice Hockey program coaches regularly participate in this program. Kids of all ages and development are enrolled. Many skating skills are demonstrated and emphasized to the kids in this program.

Mac always anticipated the final 15-20 minutes of the sessions because the coaches would split the ice and divide up the kids in appropriate age groups to conduct informal scrimmages. For a kid without much ice time under his belt, Mac quickly began to stand out and excel in these scrimmages. Even though checking is not allowed until age 11, Mac had been watching Alex Ovechkin quite a bit through the 2007-2008 NHL season and he was a buzzsaw - taking kids out on the boards with gusto - that is until the coaches let him know he wasn't allowed to do that just yet. I took some pleasure at hearing the comments of parents observing the scrimmage. Some were perplexed as I'm certain their child was one of the ones receiving the hits. Others were commenting on the aggressiveness and willingness to mix it up. Few kids at age 7 are quite aggressive, and most are never aggressive with slightly older kids. Mac took to the physical side of hockey very quickly. After witnessing this passion for the game, the Ashburn Ice House Hockey Director, Troy MacCormick, approached me about Mac possibly trying out for the Spring Power Play Selects (more on that in the next post).

Another program aimed at the younger Mites is called Mini-Mites. Aidan was enrolled in multiple sessions of Mini-Mites throughout the same time period. This was his session - no big brother! He could take pride in getting dressed to head out there. His Dad helped him get his equipment on for his first session and his PapPap came to help him out for the second session. Mom always made sure Aidan was there and on the ice generally.

Mini-Mites is generally coached by Wendy Marco and Rob Lorenzen. Wendy is a professional power skating and speed development coach who has several pro teams and pro players on her resume. She consults and provides instruction through her company, Cold Rush Hockey. Rob Lorenzen is a coach of the 1999 birth year Ashburn Xtreme hockey team as well as serving in his most notable role as the General Manager of the Ashburn Ice House.

Mini-Mites is setup to be fun with several games being played initially in the sessions to get the kids warmed up and always make sure they are looking forward to getting out there. Wendy and Rob weave the skills they want to teach into the fun programs they conduct. The kids are always eager to get into the Mini-Mites programs. Aidan participated in 3 or 4 back to back sessions of Mini-Mites to get his legs under him.