tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5996906379128418242012-02-16T04:23:52.733-05:00follow my journey as I coach two travel hockey teams this season along with some random posts on life in generalMike Housmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06651397850730211461noreply@blogger.comBlogger191100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-599690637912841824.post-84719764403664821082008-10-14T08:49:00.002-04:002008-10-14T08:53:20.986-04:00

After a dramatic 3-2 win over Darien to get into the championship, the Eagles had to face a Darien team looking for revenge. The Eagles had many great chances in the first period but were unable to bead a Darien goalie who was on top of her game. In what turned out to be a very physical game with Darien players taking runs at some of the Eagles, Darien was able to find the back of the net 5

Mike Housmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06651397850730211461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-599690637912841824.post-32953501808283539432008-10-12T09:33:00.003-04:002008-10-12T09:41:00.667-04:00

The Eagles faced off against the undefeated Darien team Sunday morning in an effort to advance to the championship game of the Columbus Day AAA Classic in Marlborough Mass. The Eagles came out a little sluggish just as they did against Green Machine, but were able to get through the first period tied 0-0. The second period started with trouble and the Eagles struggled to get out of their own

Mike Housmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06651397850730211461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-599690637912841824.post-39663791737009702812008-10-11T19:39:00.002-04:002008-10-11T19:49:22.155-04:00

The Eagles came into the Columbus Day AAA Classic looking to put themselves up against some of the best squirt teams in the country. First up for the Eagles was the Montclair Blues. The squirts looked a little rusty after all the travel and needed to get some of the first game jitters out of their system. Even though the team had a sub-par game, they were able to come away with a 6-2 win

Mike Housmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06651397850730211461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-599690637912841824.post-28864433573851431062008-10-01T09:15:00.002-04:002008-10-01T09:20:31.466-04:00

The East Coast Eagles were ranked 13th in the country by myhockeyrankings.com in their initial rankings which came out October 1st. This marks the highest ranking the team has had in the last two season. The Eagles will look to improve on their rankings next weekend in a AAA tournament in Marlborough Mass at the New England Sports Center Columbus Day Classic. The Eagles will be in the same

Mike Housmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06651397850730211461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-599690637912841824.post-18628952222123526812008-09-29T21:48:00.002-04:002008-09-29T21:57:51.092-04:00

The Eagles squirt team finished off the weekend with two wins over the Montgomery Blue Devils (6-0, 7-1) and a win over the Prince William Panthers (10-0). The weekend came as a little revenge for two real bad losses last season for the Eagles against the Blue Devils. Ryan Graham played strong in net when tested and the offense was very strong on special teams with a couple power play and

Mike Housmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06651397850730211461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-599690637912841824.post-45794599121348823532008-09-27T20:15:00.002-04:002008-09-27T20:20:51.870-04:00

The Eagles Squirt team took game one from Montgomery 6-0. The score was not indicative of the play though as the game was back and forth between the two teams. The Blue Devils had some great chances but missed the net a couple times and when on net, Ryan Graham came up with some big saves. Justin Hall led the way for the Eagles with 2 goals. Sean Gelband picked up a shorthanded goal and Cord

Mike Housmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06651397850730211461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-599690637912841824.post-21668682035535599232008-09-26T22:49:00.004-04:002008-09-26T23:06:28.188-04:00

Well it has been a crazy couple of weeks between hockey and work. With the whole AIG mess ( I used to be an agent with AIG American General) and a crazy hockey schedule, I haven't had much time to update the blog. Since I last posted, the Squirts suffered their first loss of the season to the Charlotte Checkers 4-3. It was nice to see them bounce back in the next game with a convincing 6-2 win in

Mike Housmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06651397850730211461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-599690637912841824.post-21787595290111810472008-09-13T10:50:00.003-04:002008-09-13T10:55:07.836-04:00

This weekend is the kick-off for the Eagles youth teams with everyone playing home games up at the Factory Ice House. My squirt team is going to be taking on the Charlotte Checkers who we beat twice in the Labor Day tournament up in Chesapeake, Va. The Checkers were a very challenging team to play against and should be a very tough opponent this weekend as they look for some payback. The

Mike Housmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06651397850730211461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-599690637912841824.post-18586280376525965492008-09-05T00:03:00.002-04:002008-09-05T00:08:53.968-04:00

The bantams (well at least the ones that can make it) will travel on late notice down to Charlotte this weekend to take on the Checkers AA team. This will give me a great chance to take a look at the players who will be making the trip and see how they play in game situations and speed. Being away from the Bantam level for as long as I have, this weekend will also give me a chance to see

Mike Housmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06651397850730211461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-599690637912841824.post-65245728681848686762008-08-31T21:13:00.003-04:002008-08-31T21:34:12.877-04:00

The Eagles squirt team started off it's season in Chesapeake, Va taking part in the Labor Day Primer at the Chilled Ponds. Team team came in with some confidence coming off of two wins previously against the Hampton Whalers and was looking to continue their dominate play with the first tournament of the season. The tournament started off on Friday night with a game against the Wilkes-Barre

Mike Housmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06651397850730211461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-599690637912841824.post-1147300691472822852008-08-28T22:02:00.004-04:002008-08-28T22:11:48.632-04:00

All teams take on their own identity. Some end up with two groups of kids who get along with each other, some split up into multiple groups, and others in which the kids don't get along with anyone. My squirt team may be the first team I have coached where everyone seems to really get along well. At first I thought it was great that the team had really gelled before we even started, but after

Mike Housmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06651397850730211461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-599690637912841824.post-24728846283507649192008-08-25T22:19:00.004-04:002008-08-25T22:40:22.239-04:00

Here I am on the night before we start practices just trying to come up with some practice plans. I have assigned the Bantams a little brother on the Squirt team hoping to create some unity between the two teams and foster some Eagle spirit at tournaments. It felt last year like a the three teams were very disconnected, just associating while passing in halls between games and practices. I

Mike Housmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06651397850730211461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-599690637912841824.post-48922443494335291552008-08-21T13:22:00.003-04:002008-08-21T13:51:26.619-04:00

This may be an area that a lot of coaches struggle with over the course of a season. I like to sit down before the start of every season and put together checkpoints throughout the season along with what I would have liked to accomplish by that point. It takes a lot of focus to stick to those goals and not let short term goals consume the long term success of a team. Many skills and systems in

Mike Housmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06651397850730211461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-599690637912841824.post-10072757710241473172008-08-19T14:50:00.003-04:002008-08-19T14:52:34.759-04:00

So much for taking a week to rest before the start of the season. After teaching power skating last night I have 2 private lessons and a mite pick-up and squirt pick-up today. Five and a half hours on the ice was not my idea of a week to rest and get ready for the start of a long season.... Guess you could call this week my little training camp.

Mike Housmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06651397850730211461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-599690637912841824.post-71398746174786714822008-08-18T13:21:00.003-04:002008-08-18T14:19:59.990-04:00

So my squirt team finished our first two games of the season with a sweep of the Hampton Roads Whalers. We lost all 3 games last season to the Whalers, so sweeping the two games to start the season was a great start. The second game was much different from the first. You could tell that the kids were a little high on themselves from the blow-out that was the first game. As much as you try to tell

Mike Housmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06651397850730211461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-599690637912841824.post-1778276526453169382008-08-16T23:22:00.005-04:002008-08-18T14:19:13.708-04:00

Well our first game of the season was a complete surprise. After looking at how Hampton Roads had played so far over the summer I expected a close game to even a blow out for the Whalers. After watching many of the Whaler players walk into the rink, I began to think that our team might have a chance as they seem to be a very small team. Let's say my original feelings on the game were completely

Mike Housmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06651397850730211461noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-599690637912841824.post-85965402888381665402008-08-16T00:54:00.004-04:002008-08-16T01:53:13.000-04:00

I have been reading Puck Daddy's blog on yahoo.com and he has posed the question " 5 Ways I would change the NHL" to a couple people and their have been some great suggestions, some interesting suggestions, and some insane ones. I decided to take a crack at it and come up with my 5 ways I would change the NHL:1) Promote players personalities. Hockey players portray the most bland personalities

Mike Housmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06651397850730211461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-599690637912841824.post-13280856326852916202008-08-15T22:44:00.000-04:002008-08-15T22:55:33.805-04:00

Well this is the night before the season starts for the East Coast Eagles Squirt AA team and I am real excited to get it underway. Last season was very successful, even with the troubles of forming the team. We took a group of first years, many of which were left off RYHA rosters, who really wanted to work hard and improve and the hard work is paying off this season. We look to have a very

Mike Housmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06651397850730211461noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-599690637912841824.post-5250112974699665842008-08-15T22:40:00.001-04:002008-08-15T23:30:01.982-04:00

So this will be my first entry for my newly created blog for both my adventures of trying to coach two East Coast Eagles travel hockey teams (Squirt and Bantam) along with updates on Quick Release Hockey Academy (Raleigh area hockey school I own), my adventures in selling Life Insurance (my day job), and any other random hockey thoughts (most likely about the Washington Capitals).

Mike Housmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06651397850730211461noreply@blogger.com0