Coley the Goalie

Something amazing happened on November 4th.

This is the third year my Son Cole has been playing hockey. Being the diligent hockey dad that I am, I've seen every single game, and I still don't know what it's like to see your son score his first ever goal. I do, however, now know something maybe even sweeter. At this early stage in their hockey careers, kids tend to shift around in positions, and permanent goaltenders are rare. Cole has played goal once in each of his first two years, and if I remember correctly, he won both games. He didn't really pay as much attention as I would have liked, but hey, 2-0 is 2-0, so I can't really complain. This year though, Cole's team DOES have a permanent goalie, Ryan, who is amazing. On November 4th though, his team needed a replacement keeper. Ryan spent some time on the DL, while undergoing a contract dispute - he was traded to another team in the league's rebalancing, but his parents told the league that he wasn't going to report to the other team, so the league said...uh...ok and left him with us - but he was actually out that game anyways as he was sick. Cole had mentioned he wanted to play goalie a few times, so I told the coaches and they put him in. Brilliant move. Cole didn't exactly have the reflexes of a cat, and he had a lot of help from his teammates, but he played well enough to earn a SHUTOUT!!!! He stopped one of the best scorers in the league on three shots and forced him to hit the post another time, and he held the rest of the other team at bay for at least a dozen shots. Shutouts aren't that common in 8 year old hockey, so this was a pretty decent accomplishment and I'm proud of my boy.