10/29/2017: Final Scrimmage Notes...
The session was scheduled for two, 10 minute periods. We'd told the kids we structured it this way intentionally. We wanted to see them max-effort, balls-out battle levels. They were told of all the ways to make a lasting impression on us, this would be their best opportunity.
Instead of the gold and black jerseys we'd seen yesterday, we saw two squads, one "shirts", the other "skins." (Apparently, the kids went out last night after the talent show and drinks were drunk and somebody lost a bet...)
Dale reminded me that a local kids league team had the ice reserved for their team at 11:00am. The team of 10 and 11-year-olds sat in the stands and were eager to watch the prospects display their skills.
The puck dropped promptly at 10:00am sharp.
Play ensued after the opening face-off a bit sluggishly with neither team seemingly taking an advantage. Passes were off the mark, teams were going offside and the few shots that were taken rarely gave either netminder much of a challenge.
The scrimmage's first half ended with a scoreless tie.
The final ten minute period began with a highly unfortunate injury. Kid Wock skated full speed toward the corner to the right of the opposing goalie. Wock did beat the defenseman to the puck, but caught his right skate in a rut and crashed violently into the boards.
Wock had knocked himself unconscious and fallen awkwardly with his left leg underneath him.
It took half an hour for the paramedics to arrive and get Wock secured in a stretcher for a trip to the local hospital.
Injuries happen and while everyone felt bad for Wock, there was still hockey to play. Trouble was with the delay from the accident, time was running out for the prospect scrimmage.
The kid's team was now in the dressing room and waiting to take their turn on the ice at the HHHH.
Dale Rosetti quickly brainstormed a compromise to the conflict.
The prospects would take on the team of 10 and 11-year-olds in a no-check running time game of 30 minutes.
It was no surprise that after the 30 minutes came to an end, that certain players had stood out.
Dayton is always looking for young players with promise, and several players were pulled aside and informed by our scouts that we were quite impressed with their play.
We'd certainly found a few "under the radar" players that we will be targeting in a future draft.
While not eligible for either the 2018 or 2019 CCHL Entry Draft, we are quite excited about 3 or 4 kids for the upcoming 2025/26 drafts.
We had a few minutes with Dale to share our observations of the camp. He expressed remorse as to how things hadn't gone as planned on his end. We talked briefly and I asked about the future outlook of the rink in Hocking Hills.
Dale said, "I think the future is bright. We have good community support and a solid financial backing from our investor group. Matt especially is on top of things as a liaison to the pro hockey and the rest of his team, Eugene, Paul and Chris were always responsive when we needed anything."
It was at that moment, it fully dawned on me what exactly had happened over the last 48 hours.
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