Move Over Crosby

Look out Sidney Crosby, there's a new kid in town. Cade finished off the hockey season in style at his tournament in Ithaca this past weekend, scoring his first ever goal in one game and recording his first ever shut out as a goalie in another. He followed that up with his second goal the game after that. The Canandaigua Knights Mite A team won the tournament championship convincingly. Cade's first goal came after a few weeks of near misses. He finally discovered that going to the net when his teammates have the puck yields numerous opportunities. He had several one-timers sail wide passed the goal post. My heart would jump out of my chest each time. I wanted him to score so bad I could taste it. Then it happened, in the second game of the tournament, the stars aligned. He was skated toward the goal behind the Ithaca defender when his teammate Michael picked up a loss puck in the far left corner and through it toward the front of the net. Cade picked up the puck on his backhand and slid the puck past the Ithaca goalie. I think I must have jumped 12 feet in the air, which was about a foot lower than Cade jumped. I could see his smile ear-to-ear through his mask, half-way across the ice. When he came back to the bench, he told me that after scoring the goal, he had so much more energy. Later that evening I asked him if he was still happy about scoring. He smiled big and said it was like a tickle in his stomach.

Unfortunately, I had to leave the tournament Sunday morning, so I missed his shut out and second goal. He didn't get credit for the second one because of the crowd in front of the net. One of his teammates shot into the crowd and the puck ended up in the net. Cade said it hit his stick on the way through and changed directions. Even though it wasn't as spectacular as his first goal, he's now a goal scorer and goal scorers find a way to make the puck hit the back of the net. Way to go little buddy!