Puppy on Ice!

Last night Coach and I went to see my advisee, Chad, play in one of the Berkeley hockey games.  We were playing a pretty good team and we still have a very young team.  So, it was going to be a lesson in determination, teamwork and enthusiasm against superior skills.  

Coach, Jamie, Merideth and another mom watch the game from the goalie's perspective.

The Clearwater rink has an interesting set up as far as seating goes.  There is more indoor seating, but there is also space behind the goal so that you can watch the whole game from that special perspective. That's where all the moms were, so that's where Coach and I went.

Coach was not particularly fond of this spot.  He didn't seem to be able to get comfortable on the floor. I think he is a real Florida dog.  We did have a couple of struggles with the down command as he wasn't fond of the cold floor.  Ultimately, he ended up sitting between my legs. And we took a walk at one of the breaks to warm him up.

He got to experience whistles, buzzers and crashes.  It seemed to me as if he did, in the end, enjoy the game, because when he was sitting his ears were perked and he was following every swoosh of the skates, every pass by of the skaters, every crash into the boards.  

At games end, we were down 20-2.  Our team was feeling quite legitimately down in the dumps, despite leaving it all on the ice.  Our goalie in particular was incredible.  Michael deflected so many shots on goal and was swarmed.  This year is his first as goalie and I was quite impressed with his fortitude in the face of an intense and nonstop barrage of shots.  Well done! 

After the game I had asked if there was a possibility of getting Coach on the ice with the boys and parents Bobby and Merideth made it happen.  It seemed to cheer the boys up a bit too, if their smiles in the photo below are any indication.

Photo of the whole team with Coach finally sitting his butt on the ice in front of them. 

But then, who wouldn't love to see a puppy get on the ice for the first time?  I let Dawson take him out on the ice as Dawson has an ambassador dog at home and knows all the rules.  It was only that very tail end of the skate that Coach goes a little puppy crazy, but you can see that in the video.  Coach really didn't want to sit down because it was so cold. So he was doing this weird hunching thing.  One of the boys asked about whether he had to poo.

I said he just didn't want to freeze his booty.  then I thought to myself, "Please Lord, don't let him poo on the ice!" He did sit for them, finally. And I walked with him back over the ice to the doorway thinking to myself, "Do NOT fall on your butt! Do NOT.  Walk VERY slowly!!"

We made it safely to dry land.  Please enjoy the video of Coach's first ice experience.