They do!

Do they play in OCTOBEr???

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote: Mon May 26, 2025 10:49 am Is there a very good chance he is able to get onto St. John Fisher's club hockey team? Is it a done deal, basically?

One of the kids on the team is a kid that he played with waaaay back when he was 6 years old. Shawn went on to play high level travel hockey and prep hockey, the other kid played house hockey his entire life. The other kid has played every year in college so far. So yeah, I'm pretty confident Shawn is making the team.

He thinks he's going to step up and lead the team in scoring. I think he's in for a bit of a surprise.. it'll be tougher hockey than he thinks. But I think he'll succeed and have fun, so thats all that matters.

Is there a very good chance he is able to get onto St. John Fisher's club hockey team? Is it a done deal, basically?

Well, the 2nd year of hockey at prep school was an unmitigated disaster. The head coach MAY very well be the worst coach in the history of hockey.

Let's say that in season 1, you have a top line that scored 60% of your team's goals. Your top player graduates. What do you do with the other two players on that line in season 2? Well, of course you split them up, and put them on the 2nd and 3rd lines, and give all of the top line minutes to an entirely different group of kids. Makes total sense. Its a great formula for a... 3 win season I think?

Shawn got buried on the 3rd line, playing with kids with much less offensive skill. They were decent players (one was great size and very physical, but does not complement Shawn's strengths), and the other was very fast but had zero hockey sense (also not complementing his strengths). Totally demoralized my kid.

On the upside... he realized maybe this hockey thing wont lead to an NHL gig. He COULD have played junior hockey (ANYONE can play junior hockey, there are so many teams at so many levels). After 2 more years of that, MAYBE he could, at best, get a division 3 offer. And while playing D3 hockey would be awesome, in the end, he'll just end up getting a job like anyone else. D3 hockey isn't leading to a meaningful career in hockey. So he has decided to go to college.

He's going to be coming home and going to St John Fisher, studying Data Analytics with a Sports Management minor. His dream job would be getting into analytics with a pro sports team. I think that'd be awesome for him. Who knows!?

So he's been gone for most of the last 2 years at prep school, but he'll be back home with us for the next 4 years while he attends Fisher. And on the upside, they've got a REALLY good club hockey team that won nationals 2 years ago, and lost in the national championship game this year. He knows 4-5 kids on teh team already, and we hear it's a lot of fun. Hoping he finds success with it again, while getting a great education.

Went up to NH for the boy's Senior Night game this weekend. It's very bittersweet seeing it all come to an end.

His team this year is BEYOND awful. I didnt think we graduated much SKILL last year (other than our leading scorer), but we definitely graduated some grit. We did not add any skill OR grit this year. The team is horrid. One of the worst in New England.

The coach is a jackass. They get to games two hours early, with no plan on what to do with al that time. The team does zero proper warmups. (IMHO, the kids should be fixing this themselves, but nobody wants to step up and be a leader). The team just has no direction or passion. It's so awful to see. Shawn has gone from scoring 23(ish) points last season to scoring *3* this season. He's mired on the 3rd line playing with kids with zero offensive skill whatsoever.

I'm trying to understand the coach's thinking. "I graduated my top scorer, but I returned my #2 and #3. So I think I'll break them up, put them on the 2nd and 3rd lines respectively, and build my #1 line out of a freshman, a sophomore, and the lowest-scoring returning senior". BRILLIANT. The team struggles to score every game. Does he shake up the lines? Nope. Just keep doing the same thing over and over again. Insanity.

So if anything 'good' comes of this... Shawn has realized that he's not going to the NHL. He's not going to play Division 1 NCAA hockey. Previously, MAYBE he had an outside chance at a low-end D3 team. But to get there, he'd have to play 2 years of juniors. His thinking now.. why should I grind out 2 years of juniors to TRY and get a shot at a D3 team, when it wont lead anywhere after that?". I cant argue with him.

So he has decided to just make the jump to college near year. He said he's proven he can go away to school and enjoyed the experience, but he wants to come home and go to school. I think the plan now is to come home, get a job, live at home, and attend St John Fisher. On the upside, they have a really strong club team that he should thrive on.

Its sad to see him give up the dream, but as a parent, I can appreciate him figuring this out on his own and being at peace with the decision.

Cross checks > Social Security checks

I would love if this was my kid someday.

https://www.today.com/video/at-96-years ... 6585795556

My nephew still plays on a men's league. Hell, my brother still plays on a men's league and he's 60. Hockey will still be there if he wants it

That'll be the interesting thing. I wonder if he'll play beer league, even if he has no interest in drinking? He's full on Walrushitty at this point. Maybe he'll come to the dark size before he hits 45?

He has a lifetime skill though, he'll be the best player on the rink for most of the rest of his life and wherever he goes there will be hockey available! I stopped playing, albeit roller, at 32 when I tore up my knee and I regret not going back to it. I enjoyed every game I ever played in a parking lot or frozen field and whatever else.

It's been a rough year for his final year of HS hockey. They've played an absolutely ridiculous schedule, and the team is just NOT GOOD. They've given up 10 goals twice in the first 10 games... they went 5 straight without scoring a single goal. He's playing against teams that have multiple kids committed to Boston College, Boston University, Providence, etc. It's just been brutal.

So we were talking about "life" while he was home for Xmas break, and I think he's backing off the idea to play junior hockey. If an opportunity comes knocking, maybe he takes advantage of it, but he's not pushing it anymore. The reality is, maybe he plays 2 good years of juniors. MAYBE he gets a D3 opportunity. Even that is a stretch, because kids who now play Canadian juniors will be allowed to play NCAA D1 hockey, pushing other D1 kids down to D3, raising the talent level even more. Anyways, his take is "Even if I play D3 hockey... where is that getting me afterwards?". So I commend him for coming to this conclusion on his own. I'm sure the fact that his girlfriend is already in college plays into his thought process. He would be a a freshman when she's a senior. He'd be starting college a year after his sister, who is 2 years younger than him. I think he's just ready to move on with life.

Right now his leading college contender is St John Fisher. It's a great university, a good education close to home. He'll likely play club hockey there, so he won't give it up completely. And their team is good.. they won a national championship a couple years ago. He even has a couple friends on the team already.

Fun corollary story: Our local junior team just had a player quit the team. This player was the son of Patrik Stefan, #1 overall pick in the NHL back in 1999 (and a huge bust). He was committed to Sacred Heart University to play D1 hockey, and had his scholarship offer rescinded (see comment above about Canadian kids now being allowed to play D1 hockey). He was a fringe D1 player.. maybe could have caught on someplace else... but just decided he was done, and wanted to move on with his education. So there ya go. Sounds like kids of all ages come to this realization.

I'll be sad to see it come to an end, but I respect him seeing the writing on the wall, and making the decision on his own. He has friends with a lot less skill chasing the dream and going nowhere. its tough to give up on.

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote: Sun Jun 16, 2024 6:16 pm I'm not taking the jerk's side, but I would have followed the girlfriends of so many dudes at high school. I would have.

Oh, me too. No doubt. But he was doing it purely to be a dick.

We lost in the tournament semi-finals. 3-2, to a team that we'd beaten the night before. It was a bummer of a loss, but we lost to the team that eventually won the tournament. No shame in losing to the eventual winner.

The boy also had a D3 coach pull him out of the locker room and talk to him about his future plans. That was a first.

I'm not taking the jerk's side, but I would have followed the girlfriends of so many dudes at high school. I would have. Out of innocence. But still.

Am I a bad person? Probably?

We are at a tournament in Niagara Falls this weekend. The team went 3-1 in round robin play, playoffs tomorrow AM. The boy has 3 goals and an assist on the weekend. Should be better, could be worse, whatever.

Lowlight: One of the teams that we played is a group of kids from Buffalo that we know well. One of them goes to Brewster with Shawn. Others on the team are total knuckleheads. A couple of them are straight up dicks. I've always resisted calling teenage kids "dicks", because it's not really their fault, it's parenting. But they are 18 now, and a dick is a dick. One kid was kicked out of 2 of his 3 games (he was suspended from the 4th because of his ejection in a previous game). Kept starting fights with kids who were not interested. Cross checking kids in the throat. Broke one kid's helmet. Blew Shawn's girlfriend a kiss in the rink parking lot, then followed her on Instagram. These kids are amazing.

Highlight: After one game (probably his worst of the weekend), a coach from a D3 school in Ohio pulled Shawn (and two of his teammates) out of the locker room to talk to them about collegiate plans, etc. Not saying this would turn into anything, but it's the first D3 coach that has started a conversation with him. Most colleges dont want you until you're 20. So that was kinda cool.

Shawn is declining an invite from Team #2 to their "Identification Camp" in Michigan. It might be a good experience, and he'd definitely go if looking for a place to play next season.. but it's just not necessary.

He also got a text from the team in Utica today. Utica is the armpit of New York State. But its also in the division that provides some of the least travel in the entire league, so its somewhat appealing. He'll talk to the coach tomorrow. Should be an interesting conversation.

Jizaboz wrote: Fri May 24, 2024 7:30 am ROFL I mean, if he has the reflex then fuggit. He could be a Bo Jackson of both baseball and hockey. That would be awesome.

I keep joking with him that he's going to end up with an offer to play collegiate baseball instead of hockey.

His response?

PASS.

Da King wrote: Wed May 22, 2024 8:12 pm Oh, and IRONY.

GOAL: Go away to school to try and further your hockey career.

ACHIEVEMENT: Get recognized as all NEPSAC (New England Prep School Athletic Council) in baseball. :facepalm

ROFL I mean, if he has the reflex then fuggit. He could be a Bo Jackson of both baseball and hockey. That would be awesome.

Oh, and IRONY.

GOAL: Go away to school to try and further your hockey career.

ACHIEVEMENT: Get recognized as all NEPSAC (New England Prep School Athletic Council) in baseball. :facepalm

Jizaboz wrote: Mon May 20, 2024 1:37 am I hope he looks back on the experience and likes the fact that he did it one day. If he goes on to do it more then awesome!

I fully expect that he will be working in the sport when his playing days are over. Maybe as a coach, maybe as a trainer, maybe as something else. Who knows. But the kid's life is pretty much all hockey.