USA Hockey Magazine

January 2013

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line change advice for parents, refs and coaches Organizing Your Hockey Household By Christie Casciano Burns Few of us ever gracefully glide into the challenging role of a hockey parent. It���s more like a face plant. Once you���ve learned the quickest way to the rink, how to dress your kid, the difference between icing and offsides, there is still a ton of things to figure out. I was fortunate enough to receive great advice from other hockey moms, and now it���s time for me to pay it forward. There���s An App For That Jodi Lupo, a hockey mom from Baldwinsville, N.Y., is a big fan of the Cozi Family Calendar. It color-codes, sends reminder texts and links her entire family into one calendar. When she and her husband make changes, it updates everyone who needs to know. Her kids can log on from a laptop to also see what���s on the horizon. What To Do With Stinky Hockey Bags If the idea of sifting through the moldy mysteries of a hockey bag disgusts you, you may want to follow the lead of Teri Parks. After each game and practice, the rule is to pull out and hang up the gear. Her Squirt daughter Maddie and Mite son Gavin have a designated drying area for their equipment. Parks prefers to have the hockey bags 14 JANUARY. 2013 hang too. ���Any strong hook or two should be able to hold the bag or you can use a coat rack,��� Parks suggests. Keeping things vertical saves precious space. Stick wall mounts are great too, especially when you place them on a wall where the sticks are easy to grab and go. Know Where To Find Hockey Clothes Keeping hockey clothing separate from regular clothing can score you some points in the staying organized department, too. For Trenna Brodey Kelley, from Cazenovia, N.Y., that means a separate dresser drawer for her Mite son Zander���s jerseys, socks and Under Armour. And to share the joy of hockey, Ann Schneid, from Baldwinsville, N.Y., donates outgrown skates and unused gear to community programs. ���Hockey is a wonderful sport that should be experienced by all children,��� she says. How do you keep yourself and your family organized during the hockey season? Share your advice on our Facebook Fan page for your chance to win an autographed copy of Christie���s new book, Haunted Hockey in Lake Placid, The Puck Hog Volume 2. USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM Maryland Prep Squad Finally Enjoys Sweet Victory There are losing streaks and then there���s what members of Blake High School hockey team in Maryland endured over the last six years. Since its inception, the Blake squad had racked up a 0-63-3 record while competing in the Montgomery Hockey Conference. That all changed when the puck dropped on the 2012-13 season as Blake finally cracked into the win column with a 6-1 victory over league rival Poolesville. For head coach John Drzewicki, who took over the program in 2009, the victory was made even sweeter because of the character of his kids, his fellow coaches and the parents who never lost faith in each other. ���I was happy for all the kids, but especially our two seniors (Jimmy Stradley and Pradip Ramamurti) who battled through the last three years,��� Drzewicki said. ���Despite struggling with victories, we battle hard and we never quit. On that night they were rewarded.��� Drzewicki knew he wasn���t going to turn his team around in a single season when he took over the coaching reins in 2009. But from fundamentals he learned from attending USA Hockey coaching clinics and from reading various coaching manuals, he instilled five key elements into every practice ��� skating, passing, shooting, stick handling and checking. ���We���ve tried to keep the practices upbeat and let the kids and the parents know what we���re trying to do,��� said Drzewicki, who gives most of the credit to his coaching staff that includes Kevin Esser, Joe Chiaravallotti and Drzewicki���s son, Dylan, who is giving back to the program while attending a local college. ���We just tried to improve, and last year most of our losses were very close. We knew it was only a matter of time.��� That time came on Nov. 16, as Blake led throughout the game. And as the seconds ticked down to zero, the players jumped over the boards and mobbed goaltender Brendan Isaacs. ���It was exactly as I had hoped. It was jubilant, and yet they knew they had more to do,��� the coach said. ���We got back at it [at practice] on Sunday night. We didn���t want them to lose their focus.��� Stars And Stripes At IIHF Events International tournaments will once again have an American influence in 2013 as at least 25 USA Hockey trained officials will work as referees and linesmen. Leading the way on the men���s side will be Harry Dumas and Steve Patafie, who will serve as referees at the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ufa, Russia. They will be joined by linesman Tommy George at the tournament featuring the best Under 20 players. On the women���s side, Kristine Langley has been tapped to work as a referee at the 2013 IIHF Women���s World Championship in Canada. Laura Johnson and Kate Connolly will join her as linesmen. Officials working the men���s IIHF World Championship in Sweden and Finland will be announced later this month. According to Matt Leaf, director of USA Hockey���s Officiating Education Program, the number of American officials assigned to work international tournaments continues to increase every year. ���We have always taken pride in the caliber of person/official that has been selected to represent USA Hockey as an official on the world stage,��� said Leaf, who also serves on the IIHF board of officials. The criteria for being selected to work an international event has become more stringent over the years, said Leaf, but the hard work American officials put into perfecting their craft both during the season and over the summer at USA Hockey regional camps has given them a leg up on the competition. ���The commitment this group has made to perfect the ���art of officiating��� has established them as the best of the best, not only domestically, but on the global stage as well,��� Leaf said. Photos by Images on Ice; John Drzewicki

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