Winter is one of my favorite times of the year. I loved to see the trees covered with snow. There is just something about getting all bundled up to go outside and play in the fluffy stuff.
It's also the time of year my absolute favorite sport is played. Hockey and I go way back. It was 1992 and I was a young girl. It was a Friday night and my mom said, "let's go to the movies, they're showing a double feature." Four of us ended up going to see a little movie called "Cutting Edge." It was about a hockey player and a figure skater coming together to skate as couples in the Olympics.
It's one of my all time favorite chick flicks, but that D.B. Sweeney is a cutie. From then on I was hooked on hockey. Even though he wasn't a real hockey player!
Our town has a great Western Hockey League team that has won the Memorial Cup a few times. I'm not gonna lie, I love the speed, the game and the fights. Hockey has bonded my family. I used to have season tickets with my sister and her family. It was tradition that we would get together every weekend and watch some hockey.
During all this bonding we learned to love the Canadian National Anthem as much as our own. So much so we've all sang it to our kids in the dark of night just to get them to fall asleep.
Apparently it had some effect on them. All three of my nephews play the game well. MJ is on a rep team that travels all over the Pacific Northwest and Canada to play. They even won a championship game against a Canadian team. Those boys up north are basically born with DNA that makes them great hockey players. To beat them is a real victory.
My youngest nephew Con-Man is just starting. He's a great skater and equally amazing snow angel maker on the ice, when the puck it as the other end of the rink. It makes his mother crazy, but he's truly following in the traditions set before him!
Yet, it's T-Dog, my middle nephew, that had his moment to shine this past weekend. He's been playing hockey for as long as he could walk. He's both talented and fast. I got to see a side of him this past weekend that I knew he had, but am so glad it's finally recognized: leadership.
This past Saturday he was named Captain for one game. He got the coveted "C" on his jersey. Behold Captain T-Dog.
Doesn't that look awesome on there?
I also got to see a side of him that made me even more proud. As a captain you get to name your assistant captains. I'm sure it's similar to sitting at the cool kid table at lunch. One of his choices was the goalie. It's rare that goalies get picked as captains or assistants simply because they aren't the player that skates all over the ice either trying to make a shot or defending the goal. Their whole purpose is to protect the net and it's rare that they leave the area for anything.
Yet T-Dog recognized their goalie as an assistant.
He's got all the skills on the ice and the heart to motivate and lead. He is truly Captain T-Dog even if he only got the "C" on his jersey for one game.
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