Winter Olympics are coming up!

My name is Ryan.  I am 8 years old and I love hockey.

The winter olympics are a couple of weeks away...Vancouver 2010.  I can't wait to see the new Team Canada.  Today I want to talk about the goaltenders...Martin Brodeur, Roberto Luongo and Marc-Andre Fleury.  I want Roberto Luongo to be the main goaltender because he plays for the Canucks.  He'll be the home town 'favourite'. 

This weekend, I actually got to play goalie at hockey practice for the first time.  Here's a picture:

It was a very fun experience and I actually got a shutout in the scrimmage.  It was hard at first, but I figured out pretty fast how to skate with the big pads on.  I should get a chance to play at least one more time before the end of the season. 

Check back next week here in the Neutral Zone because I'll have a recap of the game this coming weekend...it's at an outdoor rink! 

Talk to you next time here in the Neutral Zone!
Ryan

Yesterday's Game

My name is Ryan.  I am 8 years old and I love hockey. 

Yesterday I played a game against the Woodland Park Huskies.  I scored a hat trick!  Here's what happened...

On my second shift of the game, one of my teammates cleared the puck down the ice.  Their defencemen were down in our end so I took off after the puck.  It bounced off the boards behind the net and came right out in front of the net.  I took a quick shot and put it in the corner of the net.  The goaltender didn't know where the puck was.  My other two goals were in the shootout.  The final score was 2-1 Falcons over the Huskies.  It was actually tied 1-1 for most of the game but one of my teammates scored with only 46 seconds left in the game. 

My Dad Tivo'ed the Penguins/Leafs game for me last night and I'm going to watch it today.  Dad won't tell me what the score was! 

Congratulations to the US on winning the World Junior Hockey Championships last week.  Jordan Eberle scored two goals in the third period to tie the game up 5-5 when it was looking like the US was going to win easily.  John Carlson scored in overtime for the US to give them the 6-5 victory. 

Talk to you next time here in the Neutral Zone!
Ryan

Canada vs. USA

My name is Ryan. I'm 8 years old and I love hockey!


I can't wait until tomorrow night to see the Canada versus USA Gold Medal game.  The US beat Sweden 5-2 last night.  Yesterday afternoon, Canada beat Switzerland 6-1 to also move into the Gold Medal round.  The last time these two teams met, on New Years Eve, Canada won in a shootout 5-4. 
 
The last time these teams met in the final round was in 2004, when the U.S. won to claim their first World Junior Hockey championship.  Canada has won the last five World Junior Hockey Championships and I'd love to see them win a sixth!
 
On another subject, the Maple Leafs' Wayne Primeau was injured on Saturday night in a bad 3-1 loss to the Calgary Flames.  I have a funny connection to Wayne...he is the cousin of my parents' friend Sherri.  Sherri's husband, Lou, used to coach for the Brampton Batallion.  Have you heard of Jason Spezza?  Lou coached him with Brampton.  My mom got an autograph from Jason Spezza years ago when he was with Brampton and she sang the National Anthems at a game.  I'll write more about this later.

Talk to you next time here in the Neutral Zone!
Ryan

World Junior Hockey Championships

My name is Ryan. I'm 8 years old and I love hockey!


Yay Canada!!  By beating Switzerland this afternoon Team Canada will be playing in the Gold Medal game at the World Junior Hockey Championships in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. 
 
In case you're wondering why I always seem to be rooting for Canada (like my favorites, the Maple Leafs!!!), I was born just outside of Toronto but moved to Colorado when I was 1. 
 
My parents won't let me stay up to watch the US/Sweden game tonight (boo Mom & Dad!!).  Just in case you're wondering, I'm going for the U.S.!!  The winner of that game will take on Canada for the Gold medal. 
 
I'm also really looking forward to seeing Steve Yzerman's Team Canada play in the Vancouver Olympics.  I hope they win Gold too!!  But there are lots of good teams out there for them to beat!
 
Talk to you next time here in the Neutral Zone!
Ryan

2010 Winter Classic

My name is Ryan.  I'm 8 years old and I love hockey!


Yesterday I watched the Winter Classic...Philadelphia at Boston played in Fenway Park.  The game was great.  Tim Thomas made some amazing saves for Boston.  At the other end Michael Leighton had a shutout until almost the end of the third period.  At the 17:42 mark, Boston's Mark Recchi scored to tie it 1-1 for Boston.  Then they went to overtime. 

Philadelphia's Daniel Briere had a great chance but he fanned on the shot.  Finally, right after that, Boston's Marco Sturm deflected a shot by Patrice Bergeron to win the game. 

After the game they announced the U.S. Olympic hockey team.  Tim Thomas, the goalie for Boston, made the team.  Two of my favorite players for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Phil Kessel and Mike Komisarek, were also both named to the team.  The Leafs President & General Manager, Brian Burke, is the General Manager for Team USA.  Great to see lots of my Leafs represented on Team USA!!

Talk to you next time here in the Neutral Zone!
Ryan