A Sad Ending....

Well the team imploded from the inside out and we lost both our state final games to Honeybaked and Compuware. Devin was in net for both and did not get any help from our "D", allowing nine goals in two games. We didnt think we would be able to beat HB; however, we were hoping to beat CW and of course we only scored two goals in two games. Devin was extremely frustrated due to a ton of odd man rushes in which the "D" should have taken the passer but took the shooter, leaving Devin to tackle them both which is an impossiblity. That, penalties and no offense was a recipe for disaster. Needless to say our year is over and not soon enough for me. It was bad enough that we peaked way too soon and then had major unrest in our ranks, but we went into the state finals as the Michigan Warriers, not the Motor City Metal Jackets. Problems within the organization the week before the finals caused us to leave the Jackets. Not a good way to go into a tournament. The good news is, Devin received his invite to the NTDP 40's camp for March 20-24th. There they will pick the National team for next year. I hope our showing at states did not hurt his chances for the team, they are only picking two goalies out of four invites. Rumor has it that they have already committed to one goalie so that narrows our chances even more. I will keep you posted.

NAPHL Championship

Well what should have been the Motor City Metal Jackets crowning glory ended on a sad note. Tied for first when we began the weekend, we ended up in 7th out of 8th place. The only bright side of this was that Devin had his best weekend by far and stood on his head to keep the team in the running. Once again penalties reared their ugliest head yet. Game 1,instead of putting Devin in to start, coach started the other goalie. He allowed three goals and we lost that game. Game 2 Devin started and it ended with a tie of 1-1, even with 12 penalties, so we went into a shootout. We scored 2 and Devin didnt allow a single goal so we won that game. Game 3 was a must win if we had any chance of moving on. The game was a joke! We had more penalty minutes than game time with 72 minutes total. Devin stood on his head, killing off 12 minutes of 5 on 3 and the game was 0-0 until 7 minutes left in the third period. And what else, they score on a power play. Shortly thereafter they score again (one Devin said he should have gotten), we pull him and they score an empty netter. So in all those power plays the other team had, including three or four 5 on 3's, he only allowed two goals and we scored zip. He played awesome!! Now I will say reffing was bad, there were several penalties not called in our favor that were blatent; however, the other 50% was stupidity on our part as usual. The fourth game was a consolation game and Devin was in again, this time getting a shutout and we won 2-0. Now its on to states and we play Honeybaked, Compuware and either the Detroit Falcons or Lansing Capitals. If we play like we did this weekend we will get killed, if we come to play and dont take stupid penalties, we can hold our own. At the end of March is the 40's invite and we will have a better idea whether he makes the National team. Keep your fingers crossed.

January Showcase

Well the January showcase is now behind us and though we did well, Devin only got to play two games again. He lost the first due to stupid penalties again and we won the other four. We are now tied for first place and move on to the championship in February. Only the top eight teams move on, the last six play consolation games. We have our schedule and they are breaking down the top eight into two groups of four. The four teams in each group play each other and the top two move on to the semi finals using crossovers. The two winners from that group play for the championship. If our team plays smart and holds the penalties down, we have a good shot to go all the way. It will totally depend on how the team comes to play. Our teams are the Las Vegas Storm, the Thunder and Omaha. I will keep you posted on the outcome. Though Devin has had a few losses the past two showcases, he is playing really well. The team has a tendency to play more offensively when Devin is in net, which allows breakaways and scoring. They play more defensively with the other goalie. In March we play the top 5 AAA Michigan teams for states, then the season is pretty well over, it went by fast. We still havent heard anything on the NDTP invite so I have no news there.

Boston Showcase

Well the third showcase is done and we didnt fare too well. The team had alot of penalties the first four games and we lost both the games Devin played in. Had alot of 5 on 3's, all the goals were scored on penalty kills and the reffing was really bad. One of the ref's got a three month suspension because of the bad calls. We managed to win three of the games so we are still in a three way tie for first; however, Devin dropped to the middle of the goalie pack. He will have to work hard the next showcase to climb back up. One of his teammates made the ultimate blunder and may now be suspended from hockey for a year. He was so upset by the bad calling in the third game that he knocked the ref's feet out from under him and he fell to the ice pretty hard. This suspended the player for a month and he has to face a hearing regarding when he can play again. Past experience shows a years suspension in which he cannot go anywhere near a team, not even to practise, has to practise on his own and cannot play in a game until his year is served. Well this kid is the coaches son and had a good shot at the NTDP. He was also one of our best forwards and now he is going to be lucky to even play hockey again. Two of our defenceman were also hurt, one with a separated shoulder, the other with a broken thumb. It was not a good weekend for the team. What is ironic, the day before the kids left for Boston they played in a scrimmage against the number 5 team in the country and beat them 4-3 with Devin in net. Go figure...........!

Tournament In The Soo

Well this past weekend was a huge success, the Motor City Metal Jackets won it all in the Championship game. We were in Sault Ste. Marie, Canada for an international AAA tournament. Four regulation games were played and Devin played two, tending goal against the toughest team, who we met up again with in the championship game. His first win was 3-1 with their only goal coming at the end of the third period when our kids coughed up the puck behind our net with a minute left in the game. He got MVP for that game. In the championship game he got his shutout, 3-0 and again was MVP. We had two good teams with good competition, the other two teams were pretty weak and we won those easily. We ended up with five wins and a tie, the tie had the backup goalie in the net. One of the referee's, who reffed three of Devins games kept telling him how good he was and that he expected to see his name in the OHL draft next year. Just what the kid needs to hear, considering we dont want to go that route, though he does. Well we will see where it all leads.

San Jose Showcase

Well our second showcase is behind us and it was a great four days. We won all five of our games, two in shootouts in overtime, both of which Devin played. We played the team that was in first place, tied them 4-4 and then won in the shootout, taking over first place. At this time we have no losses in regulation, the only team out of 14 teams that has not lost a game in regulation. Though we did have alot of penalties in both of Devins games, 13 to be exact. Two of the penalties against the number one team were full 2 minute 5 on 3's. Once we get the penalties under control, we will do even better. The team is coming together well, passing is second to none and our speed is tremendous. Good coaching has a lot to do with the way the team is looking. After Devin returned home, Clarence received a call from the director of the USHL. He told Clarence that they have been watching Devin over the past few years and he has made every team he has been on better. He said Devin is a franchise player and that they consider him to be the number one goalie in the country. He also said that U of M, MSU, Ohio State, Ferris and a couple of other Division 1 colleges are interested in him. We have a tournament in the Soo next month and in December they go to Boston for the third showcase.

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.