Ponderings, Photographs, Digressions Etc...: Hockey Week in Patuanak

It's been a busy week in Patuanak for hockey games....the good ole' hockey game....b/c of our extrememly cold weather week back in January/February -- the make up games are on now. Monday and Tuesday there were games in Patuanak -- the pee wee boys...then, on Wednesday I took the Ice Angels (the girl's team) to Canoe Lake for their game and on Thursday I went with the High School team to Buffalo. And that trip is where the inspiration for today's post comes from.

Fighting. It's part of the game. Unfortuantely sometimes, but nevertheless. The high school league is contact so sometimes there are fights. But this game was different -- this time, our one and only Gabbie dropped her gloves with 3 minutes left in the third period to fight one of the girls from the other team (in this league, boys can't check girls but all is fair when it is girl on girl) and consequently, both girls got thrown out of the game. Now, this happens quite frequently in hockey -- but this is the first time its happened to one of our girls! But this on-ice event caused quite a lot of drama after the game. The kids from Buffalo were kicking our kids' hockey bags as they walked out of the arena and while we were loading up the van, a group of girls pushed Gabbie into a circle/mob of girls and wanted her to fight.

This is when my "mama bear syndrome" kicked in. I grabbed Gabbie out of the circle, pulled her behind me and stood between our 9 kids versus their 35....phew....body guard! Nobody got hurt and we managed to get all of our kids into the van and drive safely out of town but that experience definitely made me realize a couple of things:

1. NEVER would I work in Buffalo

2. Our Patuanak kids are fantastic in comparison and they are very protective of us (but then again, I've very protective of them!)

Regardless, the experience has not deterred me from going with them on Monday to Ile a la Crosse -- they work so hard and its great fun travelling with them! So, there's my story for today...and some pictures for you to peruse! Happy Weekend!