New season, new pads.

After using my Itech profiles all last season, and them serving me really well to see if I was going to stick at the hockey my dad had promised me new pads.
We looked at the Reebok Premier 3's, but they only came in black with white and gold detail and I wasn't keen on the colour combo. Due to the lack of pads available in this country we then looked into the Reebok X-Pulse pads. I was already using X-Pulse stick and X-Pulse protection and they were both great so I thought it would make sense.
Fiona at Breakout hockey in Durham ordered me some up and made sure they came over night as I needed them for the weekend away to Bradford for conference training. I'd like to say a big thanks to Fee for her efforts in making sure I had my kit on time and I really appreciate it.
When they arrived they looked awesome in White/Black/Silver colour combo. Dad had also ordered me a matching catcher and blocker too, which I didn't know about. The spec that were delivered were the Pro Spec pads so they are a better pad than the regular X-Pulse.
The pads were very easy to break in and after only a game and a couple of training sessions they were fine. They are a lot lighter than my Itech's and a lot more flexible. They rotate well in butterfly and offer great protection. I'm really happy with them and would recommend them to anyone.

     

Manchester away...

Saturday the 5th September.

Our first game of the season was against a team we hadn't played last year, Manchester Phoenix.
We didn't know what to expect in Manchester and it turned out they were icing a lot of new skaters, a bit like ourselves. Although the game wasn't quite a level affair it was certainly a great way to start the season. We won the game 12 - 2 but the dreaded rule of 15 plus a minder hit us for an "official" loss.

After the game I was invited to go and train with the Conference Under 11 team. Although I am too young to play for the conference, to be able to train with them will give me a great deal of experience for next year. I was very proud to be asked to train and together with the win made this a great day, and a great start to the season.
Here's a write up from the Manchester Phoenix site.

Manchester Phoenix U-10s 2 - 12 Whitley Bay Mischiefs

The first weekend of the season saw a double-header against Whitley Bay for the youngest Phoenix team. For eight of the Phoenix players these would be their first ever games of ice hockey and despite the score lines they can be proud of their efforts.

Saturday's home game started with two early goals for Whitley Bay for Jamie Ord and Finlay Ray which tested Will Soens in his first ever outing between the Phoenix pipes. The Phoenix first line continued to attack the Whitley Bay net and in the 8th minute Sophie Reeks scored her opening goal of the season from a great pass from Leon Shaw. Despite Phoenix's best efforts Whitley drove home another two goals from Ord to end the first period 1-4. The second period went all Whitley's way with two more goals from Ord who was making life difficult for the Phoenix second line although Max Sullivan in his first ever game was battling hard. Despite several breakaways and some great passing, Phoenix were unable to get past Rudd in the Whitley goal and the score at the end of the second period was 1-6. The third period continued in the same vein with the Mischiefs claiming another four goals with one each for Ord, Ray, Hopkins and Taylor. The Phoenix never gave up though and in the 58th minute were rewarded with their second goal when Ethan Cassidy found the net assisted by Charlie Ratcliffe. Whitley's third line then finally broke through the brand new Phoenix third line and Fisher scored two late goals ending the final period on 2-12.
The score did not reflect the level of effort and determination displayed by the very young Phoenix side and the crowd did their best to show Phoenix just how proud of them we were. MVP was Jordan Clare who in his first ever game in defence had helped ensure that the first line only conceded one goal.

Hello and Welcome.

Hello and welcome to my blog.
My name is Devon Rudd and I am the Netminder for the Whitley Mischief's. We are an under 10's team from Whitley Bay in the North East of England and we play out of Hillheads Ice Arena.
My interest into hockey started last year when I received free tickets to a Newcastle Vipers game from school. That was it, I was hooked and my Dad looked into finding skating lessons for me. I began the "Rookies" skating prgramme at Whitley Bay and within a few weeks I was asked if I wanted to try and learn hockey and more importantly the role of Netminder. This was great for me as goalie was my favourite position. There's just something so cool about the goalie, the mask, the pads, the way they have to be fearless and are afraid of nothing.
Since then I went on to complete my first season as Netminder, and although we were short on team members and we lost every game by default for this I had a great time. Travelling the length of the country I made many new friends and had some great fun along the way.
I was lucky enough to receive coaching from Thomas Murdy, who is now Coventry Blaze's Netminder and also Andrew Verner. Andrew is one of the greats in the net and was playing for Newcastle Vipers at the time, but now is a Sheffield Steeler. Andrew "Magic" Verner has played for Edmonton Oilers and Team Canada as well as some of Europe's finest teams. I learnt a lot from Verns and loved the time I spent with him training, a true great.
Throughout the year I picked up many trophies for Spirit of the Game, tournaments and my most treasured trophy (so far) was for being Whitley Mischief's MVP (most valuable player) at our end of year awards ceremony. Leading out my favourite team, Whitley Warriors on several occasions as mascot was also a great honour for me as well as presenting their trophies at their awards ceremony to some of my favourite players.
So it was an exciting year for me and this has prompted me to write this blog, not only to document our new season but also to hopefully bring others into junior hockey as it really is great fun, not to mention an awesome way to stay fit as well.
I've made some great friends through hockey and hope to make even more this season.

Take care and enjoy the blog.