On December 17th the Polar Palace, where Drew's hockey team is based, hosted a Hockey Jamboree. There are three teams in Drew's Cross-Ice age group - Red, White, and Blue. Drew is on the Red team.The kids would be playing in five games during the course of the day, with games starting at 8:00am and lasting until 4:00pm. The games started every 30 minutes. Drew's team had games scheduled at 8:00am, 9:30am, 10:00am, 1:30pm, and 3:00pm. Unfortunately the opponent for the 8:00am game failed to show, meaning that getting up at 6:00am to get ready and make the drive to the arena was unnecessary. Had we known ahead of time, we could have got an extra hour of sleep or so and went for the 9:30am game instead. Oh well.. life goes on!

    Since the opponent for the first game, Bay County, didn't show, Drew's team spent the 30 minutes on the ice scrimmaging amongst themselves. I didn't take any pictures of this scrimmage. After the "game" was finished, Drew took off his skates to relax for a while before his next game got underway.

    The second game of the day was against Troy, and they were probably the best team that we saw all day long. Their kids didn't look very big, but they were fast. Drew managed to score one goal in this game, but it wasn't enough to keep his team in the game. They wound up losing this game 20-11 (remember, there are only 3 or 4 players on the ice at a time, and no goalies). I guess considering that this was their first real experience with this type of game action that they didn't do too bad.

Lapeer - Red vs. Troy
	Drew attempting to put his mouth-guard back into his mouth during the warm-up time before the game starts.
	Drew skating around the rink during warm-ups.
	Drew skating with the puck.
	Drew taking a shot during the game.
	Drew skating with the puck during the game against Troy.
	Drew watching the action unfold across the ice.
	Drew clearing the puck away from the net.
	Drew trying to get the puck into the net with the opposition all over him.
	Drew going after the puck.
	Drew skating towards the action.
	Drew in line with his teammates during the post-game handshake.

    The third game of the day was against Midland #2. I don't know why, but the Lapeer - Red team didn't look like they were quite into this game. They wound up losing this one 17-5.

Lapeer - Red vs. Midland #2
	Drew trying to get into position for a pass from his teammate.
	Drew making an attempt to defend the net.
	Drew skating with the puck.

    Since we had a break between games three and four, we decided to head out for breakfast/lunch. We got Drew out of his hockey gear and headed out of the Polar Palace. We drove into Davison to eat at Big Boy. Most of us ate the breakfast bar, but I have to say I was a tad bit disappointed in it. The Fenton Big Boy definitely has a much better buffet for breakfast!

    Back at the Polar Palace, Drew got dressed for his game against Saginaw - Causley, the opponent for the fourth game of the day. This was the best game of the day for the Lapeer - Red team. Drew managed to net another goal, and they pulled out their only victory of the day 13-3.

Lapeer - Red vs. Saginaw - Causley
	Drew trying to get the puck to a teammate during the face-off.
	Drew attempting to protect the net against an opposing player.
	Drew making his way down the ice.

    The fifth and final game of the day was supposed to be against Bay County, the no-show team from their first game of the day. Thankfully the tournament organizers were able to get another team for the boys to play against. Unfortunately for me I don't know who the opponent was... Ultimately it doesn't matter, as the Lapeer - Red team lost a heartbreaker of a game, this time by a 12-11 score.

Lapeer - Red vs. ???
	Drew protecting the net while playing defense.
	Drew moving behind the net to clear the puck away.
	Drew heading to the corner to get the puck once again.

    Although it was a long day of hockey, Drew had a great time. I did a bad job as a hockey dad, though, as he definitely needed his skates sharpened. Drew is looking forward to doing this all over again, as well as facing some other teams. No matter what seems to happen out on the ice, it never fails that he comes off of it with a gigantic smile on his face!