Well it's been over a month since my last entry, so I'm sure I've lost a couple readers. But the write ups will be coming much more frequently as I will have plenty to write about for the rest of the season. I have decided to play again this season and will be suiting up for the Detroit Hitmen in the All American Hockey League. It's the same league I played in last year for Battle Creek and I will be playing for the same coach I played for last season as well. Matt Wiedenhoeft is behind the bench of the Hitmen and I am excited to get out there and start up the season. At the very latest I will in a Hitmen uniform by November 20th. I can't wait to get out there and play for Weezy again, as I have previously stated I loved playing for him last year and I'm sure this year will be no different.
The Hitmen have had a rough start to the season going 0-5-0, but are making changes to turn things around and be a winning hockey club by Christmas. When I arrive in Detroit I will be reunited with Charles Harvey and Brett Aimone, who I have played with the past 2 seasons both in Battle Creek and Valley Forge. I'll also see Brad Bohlinger again who was in Battle Creek for a bit with me last year also.
But before I get ahead of myself telling you how awesome it'll be in Detroit I cannot forget to mention how great of a season the Neponset Valley River Rats U18 team is having. At last update we were 12-0-1 and taking the country by storm. We finished our regular season this afternoon with a record of 19-1-2. By far the best season we have ever had. Myself and head coach Scott McDougall are very happy with what we have gotten out of this group. We've been tough on them this season, but only because we know what we can get out of them every night. Next weekend we will enter our state playoffs with a 10-0-2 record in the league and play a round robin style tournament against the top 4 teams in the Mass Select League. The finals are Sunday and the winner goes to Nationals in April. There's not much more to be said about that... Everyone in the league wants to go to Nationals, we've been the favorite since August 30th.
We'll see what we can get out of them next Friday-Sunday. And I'll be sure to keep you posted. Also for those of you on twitter you can follow me at http://twitter.com/JonHutcheon
-Hutch-
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Updates....
Well since the last time I wrote plenty has happened. Most importantly the River Rats are still rolling thru the league with a record of 12-0-1. We've had 4 league games the past 2 weekends and remain undefeated, that mark will be put to the test this Sunday against my former Midget team the Central Mass Outlaws. Last weekend (my birthday weekend) the boys put on two very impressive displays beating the Valley Jr. Warriors 6-1 on Saturday and then giving me a nice birthday present by beating the Dual State Huskies 14-0. For those who need to re-read that it does say 14. This past weekend we played a very solid District 10 Bulldogs team that challenged us and we scraped by with a 5-4 win, we will most likely be seeing them again in the state playoffs. And then disposed of the South Shore Dynamos at home on Sunday 7-3. We keep telling the boys that they have to come out to play hard every game, teams in the area know we are ranked in the top 5 in the country and are really gunning for us.
This has been the best start for us since I started coaching 3 years ago and in the previous seasons we have had 4 draft picks and about 20 kids go to Division 1 colleges, so you can imagine how talented this group is. As coaches we want the kids to succeed and move onto the colleges of their choice, but at the same time a trip to Nationals would be nice. And a National Championship would be even better, both for the team and for us as coaches in the hockey world.
As all of you know I signed with the Evansville IceMen back in August. What you don't know is that I have asked for my release and will be officially released October 17th, one week into training camp. It's been a rocky road to get to this point and I was very excited to be an IceMan this season and play in front of the fans and be a part of that family. But hockey is a business and myself and the organization never saw eye to eye on the contract negotiations that were ongoing. So as a 4th year guy I knew I had to get out of there. What's next for me is a mystery even to myself.
For the first time in 5 years I won't be at a professional hockey training camp to start the season and it is a very weird feeling. At this point in my career I am trying to figure out if I want to continue to play or if the time has come to hang em up and move on. Hockey has always been fun and a game for me and I want to make sure it stays that way. I won't play just for the status of being a hockey player or any other reason, other than it is fun and what I want to do.
I have been working hockey clinics lately with the River Rat organization with their Mites-Bantam teams and I love getting out there with the young guys and teaching them. At that age the score doesn't matter, no one cares what your plus/minus was and no one is going to call you into the GM's office to talk about your contract and that you're not living up to your money. It is a game and that is what hockey is supposed to be. From Mites all the way up to the professional ranks.
So if I do decide to play this year it will be because I want to have fun, have a smile on my face and obviously win a championship.
Til next time....
Hutch
This has been the best start for us since I started coaching 3 years ago and in the previous seasons we have had 4 draft picks and about 20 kids go to Division 1 colleges, so you can imagine how talented this group is. As coaches we want the kids to succeed and move onto the colleges of their choice, but at the same time a trip to Nationals would be nice. And a National Championship would be even better, both for the team and for us as coaches in the hockey world.
As all of you know I signed with the Evansville IceMen back in August. What you don't know is that I have asked for my release and will be officially released October 17th, one week into training camp. It's been a rocky road to get to this point and I was very excited to be an IceMan this season and play in front of the fans and be a part of that family. But hockey is a business and myself and the organization never saw eye to eye on the contract negotiations that were ongoing. So as a 4th year guy I knew I had to get out of there. What's next for me is a mystery even to myself.
For the first time in 5 years I won't be at a professional hockey training camp to start the season and it is a very weird feeling. At this point in my career I am trying to figure out if I want to continue to play or if the time has come to hang em up and move on. Hockey has always been fun and a game for me and I want to make sure it stays that way. I won't play just for the status of being a hockey player or any other reason, other than it is fun and what I want to do.
I have been working hockey clinics lately with the River Rat organization with their Mites-Bantam teams and I love getting out there with the young guys and teaching them. At that age the score doesn't matter, no one cares what your plus/minus was and no one is going to call you into the GM's office to talk about your contract and that you're not living up to your money. It is a game and that is what hockey is supposed to be. From Mites all the way up to the professional ranks.
So if I do decide to play this year it will be because I want to have fun, have a smile on my face and obviously win a championship.
Til next time....
Hutch
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Labor Day Weekend
So while everyone was throwing and attending end of the summer parties, I was in a rink all weekend. The 2009-10 Neponset Valley River Rats Tier 1 Midget AAA season has begun. It started last Monday with practices and continued thru this Monday. We have a whole new team this year with only 4 guys back from last season. Myself and my buddy Scott McDougall brought in the best hockey players born in 1991-1993 we could find and we found some great talent. Guys on our team are committed to Wisconsin, Princeton, Brown and Union; with more guys who will be committing soon.
We had 2 good practices then played a league game Wednesday and a scrimmage game Thursday. Wednesday we beat the Western Mass Blades 12-0 at home. Then we played the South Shore Kings of the Eastern Junior Hockey League on Thursday at home and beat them 4-3. The Kings are a junior A team that are being looked at as the best team in their league. It was a great game to coach and we came back from a 3-1 deficit halfway thru the game. After those 2 games we were onto the Tier 1 Faceoff in Marlboro, MA. We beat the Phantom Fireworks 6-0 in a mercy rule shortened game Friday, they had been moved up a division due to a team backing out last minute and their goalie played great. On Friday we played the Boston Little Bruins, who knocked us out of the tournament in the semi finals last year. We beat them 4-2 and it felt good to get a little revenge. That night we had to play the Cape Cod Whalers in a tournament/league game so it was a very important game. After being up the entire game and taking it to them all night we blew a 3-0 lead within the last 5 minutes of the game and ended up tying 3-3. It was a tough one to swallow, but luckily we bounced back on Sunday. We started off with a 4-2 win over the Western NY Selects and finished round robin play with a 3-2 win over the New Jersey Colonials. Finishing 4-0-1 record in the tourney ranked us first in our bracket and gave us a semi final matchup against the always strong Mid-Fairfield Black team.
Two years ago in the tournament Mid-Fairfield gave us one of our worst losses by mercy ruling us 7-1. It was something we made sure to tell the boys about before the game and as fate would have it we won the game by the same 7-1 score ending the game by mercy rule. The win set up a rematch against the Whalers and we wanted to win badly. We have never won the tournament, winning it would set us up nicely for a number 1 ranking in the country and also avenge our previous tie.
It's funny I've played in alot of big games and I've never been very nervous. But when you're coaching and can't get out there to control the play and all you can do is tell guys when to change up or offer advice it's a totally different feeling. You can do everything you can to get the guys ready, but then it's up to them. The first period we were all over them but couldn't score and were down 2-0 after the 1st. We were able to get 1 in the 2nd and hold them off the board to end the 2nd period down 2-1. Then the 3rd period was all us. We scored a short handed goal to tie it up with about 13 minutes left and then took it to them hard. We finally scored the eventual game winner on a bomb from defenseman Kyle Quick with about 5 minutes left and were able to hold on for the win.
So as it stands now we are 8-0-1 with a couple weeks off so guys can move into prep school and deal with school activities the first few weekends. I'll be sure to keep you updated when the national rankings come out.
We had 2 good practices then played a league game Wednesday and a scrimmage game Thursday. Wednesday we beat the Western Mass Blades 12-0 at home. Then we played the South Shore Kings of the Eastern Junior Hockey League on Thursday at home and beat them 4-3. The Kings are a junior A team that are being looked at as the best team in their league. It was a great game to coach and we came back from a 3-1 deficit halfway thru the game. After those 2 games we were onto the Tier 1 Faceoff in Marlboro, MA. We beat the Phantom Fireworks 6-0 in a mercy rule shortened game Friday, they had been moved up a division due to a team backing out last minute and their goalie played great. On Friday we played the Boston Little Bruins, who knocked us out of the tournament in the semi finals last year. We beat them 4-2 and it felt good to get a little revenge. That night we had to play the Cape Cod Whalers in a tournament/league game so it was a very important game. After being up the entire game and taking it to them all night we blew a 3-0 lead within the last 5 minutes of the game and ended up tying 3-3. It was a tough one to swallow, but luckily we bounced back on Sunday. We started off with a 4-2 win over the Western NY Selects and finished round robin play with a 3-2 win over the New Jersey Colonials. Finishing 4-0-1 record in the tourney ranked us first in our bracket and gave us a semi final matchup against the always strong Mid-Fairfield Black team.
Two years ago in the tournament Mid-Fairfield gave us one of our worst losses by mercy ruling us 7-1. It was something we made sure to tell the boys about before the game and as fate would have it we won the game by the same 7-1 score ending the game by mercy rule. The win set up a rematch against the Whalers and we wanted to win badly. We have never won the tournament, winning it would set us up nicely for a number 1 ranking in the country and also avenge our previous tie.
It's funny I've played in alot of big games and I've never been very nervous. But when you're coaching and can't get out there to control the play and all you can do is tell guys when to change up or offer advice it's a totally different feeling. You can do everything you can to get the guys ready, but then it's up to them. The first period we were all over them but couldn't score and were down 2-0 after the 1st. We were able to get 1 in the 2nd and hold them off the board to end the 2nd period down 2-1. Then the 3rd period was all us. We scored a short handed goal to tie it up with about 13 minutes left and then took it to them hard. We finally scored the eventual game winner on a bomb from defenseman Kyle Quick with about 5 minutes left and were able to hold on for the win.
So as it stands now we are 8-0-1 with a couple weeks off so guys can move into prep school and deal with school activities the first few weekends. I'll be sure to keep you updated when the national rankings come out.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Concerts and Championships
Well I promised to give you a write up about Countryfest 2 weeks ago and never got around to it. In the mean time I also found my way to the Bruce Springsteen concert this past Saturday. Two Saturdays, 6 bands and artists; pretty good couple of Saturdays if you ask me. At Countryfest I missed Lady Antebellum because I was in the parking lot with a few hockey guys that I hadn't seen in a while, but I heard I didn't miss too much. Either way I wish I had gotten the chance to see them. Miranda Lambert and Montgomery Gentry put on good shows also with tons of energy and good songs. Miranda doesn't know it yet, but she's my future ex wife for sure! Sugarland was on before Kenny and for a minute there I thought they had stolen the show. I had heard they were incredible live, but those words don't do them any justice. They had Gillette Stadium rocking and I swear the ground was shaking during some songs. Jennifer Nettles has an amazingly powerful voice and a killer body to go with it.
But then came the big one, Kenny Chesney. He opened the show by coming up thru the ground on a swing seat at the 50 yard line singing "Live Those Songs Again" and rode the seat all the way to the endzone where the stage was, the guy knows how to put on a great show. This was my second time seeing him and he was better this time than the first. Just the energy he puts into his shows is unmatched. I've seen alot of the big country bands and artists over the past few years (Gretchen Wilson, Dierks Bentley, Big and Rich x2, Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts x3, Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton, and Taylor Swift) but no one comes close to Kenny. He has this amazing talent of having 70,000 people going crazy with his country rock, then in the matter of seconds he slows it down to some love and reflection songs and has 70,000 feel like an intimate 700, then he's back at it finishing the show rocking out with songs about Boston and everything that reminds you about growing up. It was truly amazing.
Then this past Saturday I had the pleasure of heading to Comcast Center in Mansfield, MA to see the Boss. At first I was hesitant to go, but then I remembered songs like "Dancin' in the Dark, Glory Days and Born in the USA. I knew I had to go. My dad was telling me stories that he was one of the greats of his time and now I know why. He was great live and played for almost 3 hours. He rocked it every minute he was on stage.
But now to the big topic. Championship. I was thinking about it on my way to the gym tonight and realized that the first few years of my professional career that the months leading up to training camp I just wanted to make the team and have a good year personally. But now, turning 25 next month, I don't know how many more years are left in my career and I want to win a championship. I want to lead Evansville to a Champions Cup, get a ring, have a huge party, be on the ice with 20 brothers celebrating in front of 2000 people at Swonder Arena. Only a select few players each year can say they were tops in their league. And that is my goal this year. Set the personal goals aside, obviously I still have personal goals, but now my personal goals lead to a team goal. Being the last one standing in April or May. Win our last game.
-Hutch-
But then came the big one, Kenny Chesney. He opened the show by coming up thru the ground on a swing seat at the 50 yard line singing "Live Those Songs Again" and rode the seat all the way to the endzone where the stage was, the guy knows how to put on a great show. This was my second time seeing him and he was better this time than the first. Just the energy he puts into his shows is unmatched. I've seen alot of the big country bands and artists over the past few years (Gretchen Wilson, Dierks Bentley, Big and Rich x2, Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts x3, Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton, and Taylor Swift) but no one comes close to Kenny. He has this amazing talent of having 70,000 people going crazy with his country rock, then in the matter of seconds he slows it down to some love and reflection songs and has 70,000 feel like an intimate 700, then he's back at it finishing the show rocking out with songs about Boston and everything that reminds you about growing up. It was truly amazing.
Then this past Saturday I had the pleasure of heading to Comcast Center in Mansfield, MA to see the Boss. At first I was hesitant to go, but then I remembered songs like "Dancin' in the Dark, Glory Days and Born in the USA. I knew I had to go. My dad was telling me stories that he was one of the greats of his time and now I know why. He was great live and played for almost 3 hours. He rocked it every minute he was on stage.
But now to the big topic. Championship. I was thinking about it on my way to the gym tonight and realized that the first few years of my professional career that the months leading up to training camp I just wanted to make the team and have a good year personally. But now, turning 25 next month, I don't know how many more years are left in my career and I want to win a championship. I want to lead Evansville to a Champions Cup, get a ring, have a huge party, be on the ice with 20 brothers celebrating in front of 2000 people at Swonder Arena. Only a select few players each year can say they were tops in their league. And that is my goal this year. Set the personal goals aside, obviously I still have personal goals, but now my personal goals lead to a team goal. Being the last one standing in April or May. Win our last game.
-Hutch-
Friday, August 14, 2009
Country Fest!!!
The best weekend in New England is upon us, tomorrow 70,000 country fans will embark on Gillette stadium for Kenny Chesney's Country Fest. It's one of the best times of the summer, this year the concert sold out in 15 minutes. Can you imagine that many tickets selling that quickly? That's insane. I'll be one of the fans in attendance and be partying in the parking lot before it starts. Country music is huge among the hockey players in this area and we also are some of the best partiers so you know it'll be a great time.
Kenny Chesney will be the last on stage, but before that will be Miranda Lambert, Sugarland, Montgomery Gentry and Lady Antebellum. It's an all day event and like I said will be an absolute blast. I will try to upload some pictures onto the blog on Sunday and will write a blog with all the highlights of the event when I do that.
Hutch
Kenny Chesney will be the last on stage, but before that will be Miranda Lambert, Sugarland, Montgomery Gentry and Lady Antebellum. It's an all day event and like I said will be an absolute blast. I will try to upload some pictures onto the blog on Sunday and will write a blog with all the highlights of the event when I do that.
Hutch
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