Off & Rollin' at the Plex

By Nick Boyarsky

We’ll be in 10 excellent venues this NARCh season, but in my mind there’s no better building to start the season off than The Silvercreek Sportsplex. The energy in here this morning already feels like we’re games deep into the day (I mean the parents...the kids still look a little groggy). Even though it’s only the first qualifier of the NARCh season, most of these Norcal teams and programs have multiple tournaments under their belts with NorCal Cup and NARCh Winter Nationals. Everyone is done feeling each other out, they know who they're playing and what they’re up against, now it’s about staying the King of the Mountain or climbing your way up to challenge that King. 

Today will be a long one with 3 rinks pumping from 7am to midnight. Just to keep ‘em on their toes we started the day off with some midget games, which always makes things interesting seeing guys who are used to the late games, play early. That alone can change how a game can end up with players still shaking off that morning haze. As rattled as some of these midget guys are right now, the ones playing men's later in the day will appreciate not having to jump rink to rink and will actually be fresh and rested. Intermixed with Midget is our Pee Wee division which is our largest of the weekend with 10 solid teams. There will be a few match ups later in the day I’ll be making sure to catch!

Our crew for this weekend is the NARCh Boss himself Daryn Goodwin, the Rookie T.D. Itan Chavira, myself, and then later in the weekend, showing up like a feature artist on a hot track buried deep in the album, the great Alex Morrison.

To the left of our check in and merchandise booth we’ve got Richard and Parker from Clutch Hockey, one of the newest NARCh Sponsors, set up to bring their brand to the fine folks or Northern California. Parker Moskal is the Clutch poster boy, and he’s more than happy to sing the praises of the gloves and stick he’s been using the last few months. I’m assuming Parker’s legendary hands on the rink are a direct result of his Clutch gloves and stick, and have nothing to do with his own abilities?? If you’re here at the event, for sure pop over and chat them up, they’re great guys with a lot of passion for their brand. 

If you haven’t caught the video Daryn posted on social media yesterday evening, make sure to hunt it down. It features some great clips of Parker, Itan, CJ Gamble from Verbero, and Daryn having a little after noon dangle session. 

One last note, remember tonight you lose an hour so for those teams with morning games tomorrow, make sure you remember to change those alarm clocks and that your phone jumped that hour forward. 

More to come later today so stay tuned!