12/21/24 Practice and Holiday Party Summary
It's a Holiday miracle! It's always a good omen when you wake up to a blanket of snow on the ground on the day of the Dare Devils annual Holiday Party! All signs were pointing to a great day and it was confirmed when we arrived at the arena and saw all of the NJ State Troopers in uniform (both hockey and official dress) and ready to hop on the ice with the squad.
Practice commenced with the normal free skate and Coach Myles let the players mingle and pass the puck around with the police officers for the first third of the practice. A special thank you goes out to the NJ State Troopers for taking time out of their busy days to skate with the team this morning. Thank you for your support today and thank you for your efforts to protect and serve on a daily basis!
After the opening free skate, the coaches divided the Dare Devils into two teams and we played a spirited scrimmage. All of the players performed extremely well during the game but it was really a battle between star netminder Matty Brighton and the Tutor Shooter. There were a few goals scored (highlighted by a Micayla Shields snipe through a Tutor Shooter opening) but the goalies stole the show and kept the game a low scoring affair.
Just as practice was about to conclude, the sound of sleigh bells could be heard from the locker room area, and then Santa Claus emerged and made his way onto the ice, along with a couple of his deputy elves. As usual, Santa was gracious with the team and agreed to pose for a group picture at center ice with the Dare Devils and the NJ State Troopers.
After practice, the players and coaches retreated to the locker rooms and quickly changed out of their gear and headed to the party room for the festivities. There was plenty of good breakfast food, strong coffee, a wide selection of desserts, and photo opportunities with Santa. Lastly, all of the players were given Dare Devils branded skate guards and toiletry bags. One of our unsung heroes, Coach Terence, put in a lot of work in securing the holiday gifts. In addition to being our Associate Head Coach, Coach T is also our official equipment manager and he puts in countless hours throughout the year ensuring that all of our players are properly outfitted. Thank you, Coach T - your efforts do not go unnoticed! In addition, we also owe a special thank you to Rich McDermott and NJ Lenders Corp for once again making our Holiday Party such a special event for our players by organizing the visit with Santa and providing us with goodies and medals to give to the players!
An additional heartfelt thank you goes out to Ms. Grace and her gang of helpers for organizing the party, decorating, cleaning up and making sure order was maintained throughout. The party was awesome and your efforts made this a memorable day for all of the players and families!
Frank (and friends) captured all of today's events and the full gallery will eventually be found here (Frank Ingrams gallery). Thank you, Frank and friends!
Next week (Saturday, 12/28), we will have a special holiday break practice 9am to 10:30am. It will be more of a free skate but we will have several coaches on hand to assist any players in need of extra help.
Happy Holidays, Dare Devils!