This was the best thing I heard last night as we witnessed Keegan, Josh & Connolly on the ice as hockey players for the first time. All kitted out, head to toe in their hockey gear and their oh-so-cute Timbits Hockey jerseys, KJ&C stepped on the ice like it was second nature to them. Of course there were a few spills, but considering they haven't been on skates since their last course ended in April, they did awesome.
Right away, all the kids were given the opportunity to skate around, have some fun and figure out what they were doing before the coaches gathered them in a circle to do a few warm-up exercises. Then it was time to sort out the more experienced skaters from those who weren't quite as quick on their skates.
Keegan and Josh were put into one group with intermediate level skaters, while Connolly was with his fellow 'walkers/gliders'. Connolly was in the Top 3 for speed however in his group, so he was pretty comfortable where he was and didn't seem to have any issue with not being with his brothers.
The coaches were fantastic. They were very understanding and most of all, extremely encouraging, especially to the slower skaters. The reminder that even NHL players fall while skating sometimes was great to hear. You could see if gave some of the kids a new-found confidence. 'Well if Iggy falls sometimes, then it's ok if I do'
Josh is very competitive and each time his group played 'Red Light, Green Light', he skated as fast as he could to beat this other kid in the group. It was quite funny to watch. He is so his parents' son!! LOL At one point though, he started to get a little over-confident and started to fall down a lot. He recognized it though and pulled back a little on trying so hard to win.
Keegan, in the same group, stayed in the middle of the pack, concentrating on what he was doing but making sure he was in the top half of finishers as they skated across the ice.
Connolly did awesome too in his group. He listened intently to what the coaches were saying, he got high praise for gliding properly and despite hurting his bum when he fell near the end of the practice, he stuck it out and told us how much he enjoyed it afterwards.
We are looking forward to watching them develop their skills over the next several months as they continue in the Timbits program.
Every day is a great day for hockey ~Mario Lemeiux
To view ALL the pics (1st & 2nd practices), go here: KJ&C ~ Timbits Hockey (Updated Sept. 12th)
For videos of KJ&C at their Timbits hockey practice, please check out their youtube channel, Triplet Travels
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