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| January 10, 2002
By Phat Plastered
Day Five--And Its Almost Over
Michigan States takes the College Division
|  Its OCB so far in Atoms, British
Columbia Surprising in Squirts, and
Pee Wees keep Irish's Top Four...for
now.
Day 5
January 7, 2002
Monday
ATOMS
It was great to see the Grommets
play. There was a great deal of
excellent talent.
Oddly enough, however, one of the
best players didn’t seem to play
much. A young McNeil, #8 on the
Blades, came to play from British
Columbia because his brother was
playing on my dark horse team,
Team BC. More about them later.
Anyway, when a whole bunch of 14
and unders are watching a atom
game and saying, “Geez, why don’t
they play the really good kid?” it might
be time to look and learn the
difference between a name and solid
hockey talent. Mom and Dad are
great folks and the father might just
know a little about hockey… McNeil…
hockey… Canada… university…
minors… pro… any of this ring a bell
to you? Do what you want, but to
keep the youngest McNeil on the
bench in favor of other players
makes as much sense to me as
making Mike Tyson a proctor for an
all teen age girl’s school.
Coaches need to research their
players, especially those that are
invited to play from afar. You can find
out a great deal of information even
on the internet, or for goodness
sakes, talk to their coaches. Young
McNeil is simply one of the best
younger players in Western Canada
and plays simply and purely
fundamentally sound. On a team
with some “big names” (yeah, like
Atoms should have big names!), the
OC Blades seem to sit a player every
bit as good and most likely better
than their very best. Makes you
wonder. He was out for about three
minutes the whole game, had two
scoring opportunities, three great
passes, two defensive stops and
skated as fast as any kid, Blade or
opposing player. I don’t mean to
harp…oh heck, yes I do. I was
speechless. For once all I could do
was shake my head.
In any event, the little guys looked
great. OC Blades still look very
strong.
SQUIRTS
On the morning of the fifth Day
NARCh said let there be Squirts, and
there were, and they saw that it was
good.
The biggest news was the boys from
BC, who shocked AMB early with a
tie. Watching them through two
games the lads from the frigid north
country seemed to get stronger and
stronger… My advice is to knock
these guys out early or you just may
see them in the finals.
OC Blades have CJ and Scooter, and
a host of others. I need to get that
roster because they are getting
stronger and I will tell you that right
now they look the strongest team in
Squirts overall. I am not ready to call
of my prediction of an AMB win,
because I trust them there doggies,
but the top four, and I don’t care what
their records are, are whisper close:
AMB, OCB, Quakes, and BC. It
should be a great tomorrow.
PEE WEES
Well, I called the final four, now there
is a twist. Bet I surprised all of you on
that.
Here is how we ended up before
Tuesday:
1. Nexed OC Blades 87 (who will
play #8 LaVerne Empire in
quarters—a battle of 87s v one of the
best 88 teams)
2. Hyper Empire 87 (who will play #7
Rollin Ice Patriots—a battle between
two great friends, the Rice Bomb and
the Potato Bandit)
Note: the difference between first and
second seed were two goals over
three games, OCB 87 had zero and
Hyper had 2 GA.
3. Detroit Venom (who will play #6
Anaheim Mission Bulldogs—Team
Hudson takes on Motor City)
4. Nexed OC Blades 88 (who will
play #5 Raiders 87 – Raiders haven’t
beaten them yet…)
Predictions? Top four should
move on and in the semis it will
simply be a toss up. Finals should
have OCB 87 and Hyper 87, and right
now Hyper 87 has faced tougher
competition… Still, too close to call.
On paper, the edge goes to Hyper.
Too bad hockey ain’t played on
paper…
JUNIORS
Still playing and I am going to sleep.
Saw a lot of games. I like Anaheim
and Predators.
COLLEGE
Michigan State over Ohio State in an
OT thriller, 3-2.
I would like to comment on the class
act that Michigan State, and all the
college teams, presented this
tournament. Rejean Tremblay, the
Head Coach of Michigan State, is a
leader in the sport and getting it
recognized as a legitimate sport in
the college ranks.
The Spartans train and practice at
the old MS ice arena, and their
players are committed to the
program presented by Coach
Trembley. It is always good to have
good people who understand the
purpose and benefit of athletic
competition. A class coach and a
class team that represented their
school well.
You can be a winner, or you can be a
champion, or you can be fortunate
enough to be both. The Spartans,
this year’s Winternational
Champions, are both.
Day Six
January 6, 2002
Tuesday
Atoms start us off at 8 am. It will be a
day of play offs and finals.
Squirt Play offs at 8:45 am and 9:30
am.
Pee Wee Quarterfinals at 9:30 am,
10:30 am, and 11 am.
Atom Final 11:00 a.m.
Junior Quarterfinals play at 11:45
am, 12:10 pm, 12:30 pm and 1:00
pm.
Squirt Semi Finals play at 1:15 and
1:45 pm.
Pee Wee Semi Finals play at 2:00
and 2:30 pm.
Junior Semis at 2:45 and 3:30 pm.
3:15 pm Squirt Final
4:25 pm Pee Wee Final
5:35 pm Junior Final
RUMORS AND
PROPAGANDA…
Some people think that Phat
Plastered is Irish #19. Now, I resent
that. Irish is a short pudgy guy, and I,
Phat Plastered, International Man of
Adventure, is tall, blond and skinny,
kind of like Paul Chapey thirty years
ago…
BTW, Never eat a pork ribs TV
Dinner.
Has China asked that Roller Hockey
be added as an Olympic Sport for
2012? Rumors keep persisting.
Trying to lock it down now…
Connie Stephens’ birthday is
January 24.
The Nike Documentary is just about
done. I wonder if they cut out the
Junior Irish fight… His Mom doesn’t
know anything about it.
IRVINE HAVOC…
A note about the Havoc program and
Coach McClean. Now I have heard
some comments by pin headed
know nothings about the “style” and
“play” of Havoc teams. I mentioned
one time Coach McClean had a
reputation for “chippy play.”
Sometimes reputations are earned,
and sometimes they are not. For
example, some of you think I may
know what I am talking about. Boy
are you stupid.
I had the good fortune of watching a
few games of the Havoc today.
These kids may not be the best
players around, though they are
certainly good players. They may not
have the “name” or the reputation
that other players have. But, let me
tell you what I see. I see kids who
skate hard. I see a coach that works
his kids hard. I see a team full of
kids who by sheer guts and hard
work, get the job done. Sure, you
can’t be feint of heart and play the
Havoc. They will come at you, and at
you, and at you. Sometimes a little
too strongly perhaps, but you never
skate off a rink saying to yourself, that
team was easy.
Hockey is a great sport because
even in today’s atmosphere of talent
upon talent upon talent, the kids who
work the hardest, the blue collar
players, need not take a back seat to
any little priss with a fast pair of
skates. Hockey is a get your hands
dirty, gritty and tough sport …kind of
like the way Dave teaches it?
Hmmmm… Have we all used the
term “chippy” a bit too much?
I saw their PeeWee team tie the
Blades 88. In fact, a late penalty,
under two minutes, was called, and
the tying goal was a power play goal.
Was it a penalty? Yes. Should it have
been called---under two minutes in a
tie game… well… It was the game of
the Day and a great success story for
some blue collar kids from Irvine.
Irish’s Hats off to the Irvine Havoc
and their coach, and a great group of
kids who skate their hearts out every
time I see them.
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