3/2/24 Practice Summary and Last Practice Party Summary

And that's a wrap! Although the traveling Dare Devils have a couple of tournaments over the next several weeks, today marked the last practice of the season. It's sad to see the season coming to an end but it is inspiring to see all of the progress our players have made throughout the year. Coach Myles made sure that this practice left the players worn out but also excited to put in the offseason work to come back strong next season.

During the first half of practice, Coaches Myles, Billy, Steve Toledo, Eric, et all ran the players through some intense drills. This was followed by a spirited 45 minute inter-squad scrimmage with star goalie Aria Berlin in one net and the shooter tutor in the other goal. Aria continued her streak of stellar play by standing on her head throughout the game. The gifted Jimmy McTernan felt Aria's wrath today as she stopped him on at least 5 breakaways throughout the scrimmage. There was one sequence where Jimmy back-checked to break up a 2 on 0 breakaway, turned up ice, deked past 3 defenders and found himself one v. one with Aria. Aria stopped the first shot with a right pad save and stopped the rebound attempt while on her back. Although Aria bested Jimmy today, Jimmy maintained his ever-present smile throughout the scrimmage - great sportsmanship, Jimmy!

But don't fear, there was ultimately some offensive fireworks as the scrimmage progressed. Shea Passikoff scored 3 goals and had an assist, Will Milazzo scored two goals (one being a beautiful snipe in the top corner opening of the shooter tutor), Riley Chiselko Seickel scored two goals, both going top shelf (when commended on the goals, Riley offered that he practices his shooting on a daily basis, and it shows), Danny Giger scored a goal and celebrated with a well-choreographed dance, Patrick Hung had one goal and Reese Citro had an assist. The highlight of the game to me was watching Vincent Racamato fly all over the ice. He made several beautiful moves and tried to score on the shooter tutor on a few occasions but could not sneak one past the tutor. Seeing that his shot couldn't solve the tutor, Vincent literally took matters into his own hands and picked up the puck and threw it into one of the shooter tutor openings. Although the goal didn't count, it was entertaining to see. Great work, Vinny! I also want to highlight the play of Theodore Howard and Orion Lee. Both had several offensive attempts today and both of their games have shown significant progression over the past month. Keep up the great work guys!

Practice was followed by an end of season pizza and dessert party in the lobby/party rooms. A great time was had by all of the players, coaches and families. Thank you to everyone who volunteered to make this party such a wonderful event. A special thank you also goes out to the coaches and junior coaches that have volunteered throughout the season. We've had record numbers of coaches in attendance this year and your philanthropic work allows our players to continue to build their skillsets and to flourish. Thank you for all of your efforts as your contributions have a meaningful impact on the lives of our players.

Lastly, thank you Frank Ingram for continuing to document our events. It's special to be able to see pictures of players doing what they do. Today's practice gallery can be found here. The party pictures can be found here. Thanks again, Frank!