Express Sunday Skate

Sunday, Nov. 13 was a home game for the Chicago Express and yet another game where I was taking the boys without Scott because of work. My dear friend Vicki joined us from Rockford and the boys entertained her for the day!

It all started with the boys taking pictures of the players during warm ups and my two boys wanting to be on the ice with them. Buying season tickets has definitely increase their passion for hockey. All they talk about is skating to the point where I'm beginning to consider building a little ice rink in the back yard for them to burn off energy during the winter. Sounds like a good idea, huh?

The game was a hard fought game. The Express lead most of the game but Gwinnett came back to tie which caused OT then a shoot out. Unfortunately, the Express lost.

The game was on Sunday and part of their marketing is to have an open skate with the players after every Sunday home game. As my two boys were so excited, Logan was the first nonplayer to take the ice. Here are some pictures.

Logan as the first skater on the ice.

Below is Kyle Ostrow skating around with Coulson.

Tyler Johnson and Logan...

During the skate it was really cool as player, Pierre-Luc Faubert skated around the entire ice with a kid who could barely stand on the ice. It was awesome the compassion he showed to skate with this kid. These players will even say, "Thanks for coming out." Its an awesome family friendly environment.

Have a great day, time for a conference call.

Bain Boys & Us: Morphsuit Boy at Chicago Express Game 10/19/2011

Morphsuit Boy at Chicago Express Game 10/19/2011

Its Halloween weekend, I'm taking a friend who I haven't seen in ooverfive years to an ECHL Chicago Express game. The Express was giving kids an opportunity to trick or treat with the players after the game. My kids and their friend Mikey took FULL advantage of wearing their costumes.

Scott was on You Tube watching a fight from one of his favorite players, Bobby Robins, when he came across a video talking the The Morphsuit Kid. That Morphsuit kid was Logan. Watch the video, its funny! Look at the next posting and hit the title.

Where did time go?

Time has flown since the last post. This seems to be a common theme over the last several entries, period. Hopefully that will change but this job thing is in the way...but I guess I have to work to support the activities of the Bain Boys.

Early 2011, we bought season tickets to watch a new ECHL hockey team in the Chicago area, The Chicago Express. Something this organization decided to do was send out their players to deliver the tickets. It was really fun to see the excitement of Logan & Coulson talk to the players. Kyle Ostrow and Matt Lombardi came out, delivered the tickets and here is a picture of the four. Can't tell my two guys are excited with those smiles. Lombardi was traded after they left the house, he received the call on their ride back. This is a great picture!

The Express season opened this past weekend, Oct. 22 and they won that game. It was very exciting and most of all the boys had so much fun! We were able to skate with the players after the game. The boys got signatures and we took pictures too. However, my pictures are in a black hole of my new phone which I'm unable to retrieve at this point and I'm bummed.

Since Logan's concussion, he missed tryouts for the Sabre's and he was devastated! They are still involved with skill & drills through December then in Jan I'll get them in an in-house league and wait for spring tryouts. Coulson just wants to play goalie and Logan just wants to play. They're still interested in LaCrosse but I'm not sure how to fit that in the schedule.

For some reason technology isn't my friend today because I'm unable to retrieve pictures from the memory stick...ugh! I guess today's lesson is patience.

Have a great day!

Hockey is over for now...

Yesterday, the boys played in the final game of their Bruins Season with a loss. Even though the loss was devestating, those 9 boys played their hearts out! They never gave up!

Team Bruins learned so much! For starters they learned how to play as a team by positions, passing and skating with a common goal. What was so great about this experience for them is that the coaching they had was great! These coaches really helped develop the natural talent of some while teaching others. They gave each kid and opportunity to play goalie if they wanted, who some wanted to play it more than others. Other kids know their strength as being a defenseman while others are true offensive players. Watching the skill sets develop for these kids was amazing and I'm so proud of all of them.

Even though Logan and Coulson chose not to play baseball and continue with hockey, they haven't complained once. These guys of mine are so happy to have friends from other suburbs. Myself, I love the fact that I'm getting these kids involved outside of everything in Oswego. Please don't misunderstand me here, I love Oswego and we are involved in our town but I do believe it builds confidence, more character and contributes to making a well rounded individual by not falling into the mindset,
"This is the only way to be" attitude that you sometimes see in communities and neighborhoods. Having an extended group of friends outside your immediate community is awesome.

Yesterday, we celebrated the boys "friends" birthday party with 42 kids at International Ice Center. There were about 6 kids who have never skated before and they loved it. Everyone else loved skating and parents even took the ice. I'll post pictures this week.

May was a busy montth for us. We celebrated the boys birthdays May 2 & 9 with First Communion May 7. Hockey games and practice in the middle and school coming to an end. Its been crazy! We have managed to plan another baseball game and field to check of Scott's list. In a few weeks we'll be heading to Cincinnati to see the Blue Jays play the Reds. While we're out that way, we are talking about visiting Mammoth Cave too since it isn't too far away.

Have a great day!