Hockey Travels

We had our first away hockey game this past weekend. In Erie, Pa. During Winter. Enough said. Ugghh. The drive up wasn't too bad. We had a dusting of snow here at home when we left. As we got about 1/2 way there, near Grove City, there was snow on the ground. Then suddenly, BAM! About 18 inches or so. The roads weren't great when we arrived, but not bad either.

This picture doesn't even come close to showing how much snow there was, but you can see the snow pile in front of the parked cars- and the bushed by this mail box are BUSHES, not ground cover.

The boys were excited to take a bath in the hotel (we only have a shower stall at home)

Some of our team came to the Otter's game. Most of our team didn't come the day before, and some weren't able to the games on Sunday because of the bad road conditions. But, we had enough players- besides, we had the goalie!

That's Bryan, and yes, those are hockey puck ear muffs, and no, he wasn't drinking.

It was "donate a bear" Salvation Army night. They collected over 1,000 bears!

The Patton boys

They lost both games. We didn't find out until we were there that the team we played was the hand-picked "all-star" team! They travel to Canada and other cities in the US to compete. Doh! Poor Brayden was upset because he felt all the pressure as the goalie. He did wonderful though! He blocked a TON of great shots. Bryan got some video footage, so hopefully you'll see some clips soon. Rylan did great too, getting the puck several times and shooting it out of their zone.

The drive home was rough in parts. We got in the path of a snowstorm and had to drive about 20mph part of the way, but got home safely last night.

Oh, and a side note:
PLEASE reconcider your decision to bring a COW BELL to sporting events. The ringing does nothing to help your team win. Its just plain irritating and makes people want to shove it down your throat....or somewhere else. Thanks.