Minnesota is history

Well the first big showcase of the season is history and Devin's bus wheeled into Detroit at about 5 a.m. this morning. They had a successful five games and Devin played four of them. The first, second and third games were all ties and for the first time in his goalie career we lost all three in shootouts. Unfortunately our kids couldnt score at all and out of fifteen shooters, three goals went in, always the very last shooter. Though Devin was bummed, we were the only team without a regulation loss. And of course DWills redeemed himself by getting shutouts the last two games. Out of 24 teams we are number 5 and out of 24+ goalies Devin is number 5 with a 1.25 GAA and a .91 SV %. The sad thing was they left Detroit at noon last Wednesday and were on the bus until 2:00 a.m. After unloading the bus and getting to bed by 3:30, they had to get up at six to play their first game at 8:00 a.m. No rest for the wicked I guess. The goalie coach for the NTDP was there and watched two of his games as well as many college scouts. Next month they go to San Jose and I will send emails out with the schedule and arena times.

Motor City Metal Jackets AAA

Well the season has begun and Devin had his first tournament this past weekend. We tied two, won one, lost one (Devin wasnt in net). The team looks pretty good and Devin ended up with a 1.5 GAA. They are now getting ready for the Minnesota tournament, leaving tomorrow on the bus for five days. None of us are going, which is unusual in itself, so it will be his first time completely on his own. They have a room reserved so the kids can do their homework. Next month is the San Jose tournament, of which Clarence and I may be going. Will keep you posted on his games. Clarence is getting calls on a daily basis from advisors and agents, he keeps telling them we are not going with anyone at the moment. He has plenty of time for that, he isnt even 15 yet. Right now he needs to concentrate on his schoolwork, he will be missing so much school.

His First Letter.....

Well since the Rochester camp, Devin has received numerous offers from advisors, wanting to promote him in his hockey career. Being that he is not even 15 till October, this in itself is amazing; however, he has plenty of time for that. Right now his concentration is on his new Motor City Metal Jackets team, which has been practising since his vacation in Manistee ended. Though not long enough, he had a nice little break with no hockey whatsoever. He also received a letter from Michigan State University expressing an interest, wanting to give him more information on their program and hoping to have him attend an MSU hockey game sometime this season, to let him see how the NCAA level competes. He also attended the Collegiate Summit in Ann Arbor, where the Western Michigan head coach expressed a great interest in him also. He was able to meet two young men currently playing in the NHL who went the college route to get there. It was an interesting experience and he will need to take the required courses to meet the NCAA eligibility. The next few years should be exciting.

Rochester Update

Well the showcase camp in Rochester NY was a huge success for Devin. He set out to prove that last years 18th place was not a good showing and this year he ended up in fourth out of 24 goalies. In five games he got two shutouts, allowed two goals in two games and allowed one goal his last game to help bring his team to 2nd place out of 24 teams. His GA was 2 and his SV% was .946. Given that he was not picked in the Soo but invited later, he proved why he needed to be there. The two goalies who were picked came in 17 and 24, while the two goalies they invited later came in 2nd and 4th. And the goalie who came in second has been playing AAA with Honeybaked for five years whereas Devin has only had one year of AAA. All in all he had a great time and came home with a different attitude about where he wants to go. After attending some seminars, Devin has decided that he wants to go into the NDTP (as he planned) with the hope of moving on to U of M. He is taking the college route very seriously and is even looking into college prep classes to take in high school. Yeaaaaa!

News Flash

Well Clarence received a call from USA Hockey, as well as the assistant coach of the NTDP. They apologized to Devin for being overlooked in the Soo and have invited him to the national camp in Rochester, NY. They said they wanted to represent Michigan with the best players and Devin is the top goalie in Michigan, and in fact, the country so they want him there. Well we were pretty resigned to him playing in Ann Arbor and looking forward to the fall season; however, we are now very excited that he has been invited to NY afterall. The coach from the NTDP also told Clarence that Devin is targeted for the program so long as he continues to impress and improve over the next year and a half. It is now up to Devin to continue to take his game to the next level and he will get his wish to play with the US national team.

The Soo Camp

Well the Soo camp was a success for Devin, he played very well and enjoyed himself tremendously. In five games he only allowed five goals and made a good showing. He loved the camp but was tired by the end of the week. Unfortunately he did not make the list of kids who go on to Rochester NY. I was shocked that he did not make the top four goaltenders who, two go to NY and two go to Kent State in Ohio. Given he went to NY last year I thought he would at least make one of the two camps; however,we were told later that he is already on the radar of scouts and it was time to give other goalies a chance to prove themselves. Well that made sence, though we were extremely disapointed. He is practising with the NTDP coaches in Ann Arbor three times a week until the end of July and this instruction is priceless. He is learning alot, improving his game and hoping to become part of the program in the future.

Youth Goalie Aims High

This was an article in the Saginaw News dated Thursday June 10, 2010:
"Youth Goalie Aims High, 14 year old gets taste of elite hockey"
Between the pipes and on the ice is where Devin Williams has always felt comfortable.
Thats a good thing, because he's been spending alot of time there lately.
"I liked being in the net,"Williams said, "It was just different from everybody else."
Williams, a 14 year old Saginaw Township resident, has been garnering plenty of ttention for his skills as a goaltender s he climbs the rungs of youth hockey.
Last month, Williams attended the third annual Warren Strelow National Team Goaltending Camp in Ann Arbor. The camp brought in 36 of the best youth goaltenders from around the country for four days of fundamentals work.
Strelow was the goaltending coach for the 1980 United States Olympic Ice Hockey Team, and spent 21 years as a goaltending coach in the NHL. USA Hockey sponsors the camp in an effort to develop elite goaltenders for its national teams.
"I was pretty excited to be asked to go there," Williams said.
The camp's affiliation with the USA Hockey program had Williams especially excited. A year from now, Williams said he hopes to be invited to the USA National Team Developement Program, which grooms some of the top American junior hockey players for college and professional hockey.
So far, the feeling would appear to be mutual. On top of being invited to the Warren Strelow camp, Williams also participated in the USA Selects program last year, which included a trip to the team's national player development camp in Rochester NY and has been invited to work out at the USA Hockey complex in Ann Arbor during the summer.
One of the reasons the USNTDP has caught Williams' eye is the international travel aspect. Their U-17 team took a trip to Slovakia last season, while the U-18 team traveled to Belarus, Russia and Finland.
But before he's old enough to join the USNTDP, Williams will play with the Motor City Metal Jackets AAA Midget Minor team in Troy, when he is a freshman at Heritage.
Williams moves on to the Motor City program after graduating from the Bay County Blizzards, FLint Phantoms and the Belle Tire program out of Detroit.
Last season, Williams finished with a goals against average under 3.0 and got a taste of high-level youth hockey. "I learned how fast the game was at the top levels," Williams said.
And he is confident he has the skills to take himself to the highest levels. "Im good at moving in the net and reading plays," Williams said.