Our season starts again Saturday, September 11th at Hazel Park from 4-5:30 PM.
And helmets off again for our two hard working Michigan FAR Flyers fundraiser Co-Chairpersons - Colleen Kucharski and Todd Kelpin. They teamed up again this year with Anthony and Brit and many others to help raise over $6,000 at our sixth annual June fundraiser at the Royal Oak Ice Arena.
And before the ink was even dry on that total, added another $2,000 shortly afterwards when they received two checks at the Troy Arena from the Tyler Teasdale Scholarship Fund and a matching amount from the Troy Hockey Youth Association.
Scott Wiedelman and family deserve a big assist on this one. If you didn't see the article and group picture in the Michigan Hockey Online July 26th issue, there's a link to it on www.michiganfarflyers.org.
And thanks again to our family members, players, and hockey team supporters the Michigan FAR Flyers will have over $8,000 to help them prepare for and attend our April 2011 special hockey tournaments in Minnesota and Massachusetts.
If you are looking for anything to do this fall and winter, check our game schedule on the above web site and come on out and watch a game. Sitting on your hands is not allowed in the stands, so bring a cushion.
And speaking of web sites, the sentence below is from a web site from a special needs hockey team in Ontario. I think it says a lot about special hockey today.
"On Friday we, Kawartha Komets, defeated the Kitchener Rangers handily after losing out to the Michigan FAR Flyers in Thursday's opening game."
What they were referring to were the results of two of their games from the 2010 Special Hockey International (SHI) Tournament in Orangeville, Ontario.
Those of you who have followed the Michigan FAR Flyers from the early days in the Birmingham Studio Rink and our first trip to the 2003 SHI Tournament in Whitby, Ontario have seen a lot of hockey.
In Whitby our two teams got our first taste of what special hockey was all about.
We (coaches, family members, volunteers, and players) watched from the benches, the stands, and on the ice as these seasoned special hockey teams gave us a feel of what real hockey was all about.
I can't recall what our two teams' combined record was for that first SHI tournament in 2003, but I do remember the team I helped coached that weekend ended up with a 0-4 record.
And that is an easy one to remember. The team picture from that tournament captures one of our players giving the old "0" sign on one hand and "4" fingers on the other.
Now it's not all about winning. Our players have heard me say it many times. That I'd rather see us get beat in a close game, then to win a lopsided one. And I only hope they feel the same way.
Our two teams now go to these tournaments knowing what to expect. They hope to play in close games. It doesn't always happen. Sometimes the teams we are matched up against are not our equals.
The SHI Tournament organizers are making progress in assuring closer match ups. This past year our two teams came back with a combined record of 5-1.
All six of our games were against Canadian teams. And a couple were lopsided. Our teams have improved. We've picked up some good players and we've played a lot of hockey the past couple of years.
The Canadian teams like to play the US teams. And we like playing the Canadian teams. I know there will be a number of teams in Canada hoping they will get another shot at us.
I'm sure the coaches, family members, volunteers, and players of the Kawartha Komets will be mentioning the Michigan FAR Flyers a few more times during their season. And I know the Brampton Battalions can't wait for their next rematch against their high flying buddies from Michigan.
And from my viewpoint that's what it's all about.
Coach Ben