We Struggled and Emerged

We never won the "big game." We struggled in those. But that was today. Tomorrow, a bigger game - the longer game - awaits.

But along the way we had some BIG moments. We emerged.

We had a feeling the 23-24 Fremont Flyers season was going to be a special one. Not because of trophies or banners won, nor were we guaranteed anything. Including our rink, which finally kicked off a campaign to #FundTheRink after years of deferred maintenance. This would make individual fundraising for the team difficult as we supported our home rink for the future, but we still focused on competing at the highest levels we could, within reason, to give everyone on the team the best possible chance to compete at the next level while still being able to be an 11- or 12-year-old.

That meant entering a lot of tournaments where we wouldn't win more than a couple games. Though we did early and often mostly because we were able to get an earlier start than previous seasons on our home ice with it left in to keep it alive over the summer.

The regular season began in November and the learning curve from preseason easy wins showed. The ups and downs were significant as the players were thrust into new roles. However, we upset a very good Utah Jr. Grizzlies AA team to start the Westminster Silver Stick Regional and that boost and belief carried through the rest of the tournament, capped off by a semifinal come-from-behind win over Arapahoe to secure a spot in the Forest, Ontario, Canada Finals against five of the top Class B Representive teams in all of Ontario in January. More on that later.

We then entered the "gauntlet" through December and to Canada, playing Minnesota A teams like Albert Lea, Windom, West Fargo, Marshall, Dodge County and Sauk Rapids. We even played Omaha's AA team and our league's top team from Kansas City to prepare. We struggled.

The wins were hard to come by, but the team's connectedness shined through in the lowest of moments - a 3-10-1 stretch that may have led to turmoil on other teams.

But what made it special was the struggle. We drove through blizzards to Marshall, Minnesota, missing a defenseman due to injury. One of our goalies also lost an uncle - a huge Flyers fan - that weekend to an unexpected death. But that adversity led to BIG moments. A 3-3 tie against West Fargo for that goalie and the team. And a brother-to-brother combo that won't be forgotten. We had emerged.

Or so we thought...

We ended what was the originally scheduled "gauntlet" with a 5-4 win to finish seventh place in Minnesota. We didn't celebrate like we won a championship, but we were sure proud to survive the month with our heads held high, and more work to do. So seventh place was a successful weekend for what we had been through.

But the Canada trip was tough. As a Canadian, and observer of the Silver Stick tournament, I knew our work was cut out from the beginning. We had qualified for the "B" division but make no mistake - in the U.S. these are AA/AAA level teams. Funny when you travel around how the letters mean much different things in different places!

The organizations we played against had 50-60 peewees while our association only had 35. We were by Ontario definitions a C team playing A and B teams. But we wouldn't want it any other way. We had the goal to challenge Minnesota A and American AA teams and so we took this new challenge and ran with it thanks to the support of the parents.

The rules are very different and the eastern Canadian refs called the game by the book... and then some. We battled and skated for long stretches with very good teams who defended and played hockey in a style we had not seen before - even in Minnesota. Although we lost all four games, we loved what it taught us and prepared us for down the stretch - on AND off the ice.

We struggled and emerged.

After another up-and-down weekend in Kansas City where we went 2-1 against league foes, but ultimately had some setbacks, we took some time off after a very busy stretch. We think it's important players get time to reset and rest here and there. Hockey seasons are long. There is a lot going on outside the rink to attend to. Sometimes that can be forgotten in a long season in Travel Youth Sports.

So we did something a little different than the standard <insert stay-to-play> tournament to end their regular season in mid-February. We gave the boys a taste of the junior hockey / varsity high school hockey experience with a bus trip, two road games in old barns where the other teams and communities had a pride of place, a gameday skate, and we concluded it by cheering on the squirts (9- and 10-year-olds) in their first game at the Fargo Squirt International.

The boys battled hard despite being down a couple players and hopefully came away bonded a little closer with each other, and more independent as their hockey journeys continue in the coming years.

Again, the wins weren't coming, but you could feel something brewing that maybe - maybe they would be rewarded - if they stayed focus on the goal of competing with each other, for each other, and with courage. Our motto. To #PlayWithCourage. We emerged.

After one of our most-dominating performances against Omaha's A team which we led 1-0 with just three minutes left after holding them to no shots in the second period, they scored a powerplay goal late and won with us pressing to regain the lead. Because that's the way we were going to play - with courage - not hoping or defending to try and tie or not lose. It felt like we were playing some of our best hockey at times, even though the results were the worst! What a life lesson! Keep doing it "The Right Way" as our Assistant Coach Kevin Kern kept reminding our forward group, and focus on the next shift, the next period, the next game - not the past. That led to two consolation wins to end the weekend against Des Moines and Sioux City. We emerged.

"There is always that fleeting idealism of a boy. Fleeting because if you can catch it at the right moment, you can sweep it on to great great achievements." - Pere Athol Murray

With just three games left and two days in the season, we started our playoffs against one of the most skilled teams in our league from Cedar Rapids. They defended well, and moved the puck around even better. We couldn't buy a break and it looked like our season was ending down 4-0 in the third period.

Then something finally magical happened.

We got a break! A puck went off three players and found the back of the net.

Then we got another. Then the momentum was on our side as we scored to tie it. We almost won it in regulation. A 3-on-3 overtime went back and forth and our goalie made two big saves before an exhausted forward flipped it into the top of the net for the 5-4 OT win. We emerged.

We got a couple more breaks that evening and finally beat the best team in the league who we were 0-3 in the regular season (Kansas City) 5-2 that night to put us into the league final against Ames. A team we had gone 2-2 against for the season. Despite getting down 2-0 early we made it 2-1. Then we got down 4-1 and we made it 4-2. We kept playing with courage, pressing to go on the attack, and ultimately that may have cost us, which is OK. With the score 5-2 we had two or three glorious chances. But they iced it with an empty netter to end it 6-2.

Our run had ended, and so had our season. We never gave up though. Not like we did when we struggled. When we focused on the outcomes and the mistakes. We always had to remember, no matter what the REAL score was, the score in our head was always 0-0. It's why I love this photo so much at the old barn in Albert Lea.

We had emerged.

The next chapter for all of them now awaits.