Hockey Obsessions

Keegan likes hockey. He likes to watch it on TV; he yells "goal" and "Go Wild!" and "Yay, Hockey!!!" Then we took him to a Gopher women's hockey game. It was $8 a ticket, general admission. I figured we could probably sit right up against the glass and if Keegan hated it we could leave and not be out $400 in tickets (GO WILD). Below is a pic of Kee at the game.



Yes, he is wearing a Wild jersey, yes they do make hockey jerseys in 2T. Okay I guess that probably isn't that surprising. Keegan loved the game. He talked about it for weeks afterward. So finally we decided it was time to get him skates. We got him a pair of the cheapest skates we could find (the guy at the store tried talking us into $80 hockey skates for a toddler and that didn't fly). Last weekend it was time to go to open skate at the Super Rink and do some skating. See picture below.



Keegan was a little nervous about skating. He did okay. Then he wanted gma and gpa to hold him while he watched mommy and daddy skate. He really enjoyed that, he clapped for us and gave us high fives when we did laps; he liked it.

Despite his nervousness skating as we left the rink he proudly exclaimed "I PLAYED HOCKEY!!!!" He was convinced that he played hockey. He also said that Mommy played hockey, which I never knew I had done so I guess I am cooler than I know.

Okay, so fast-forward to this last week. Keegan proudly proclaims that those are "My hockey skates" every time he sees the box his skates are in. All of the sudden Lyle gets a glint in his eye and leaves, saying he'll be right back. In a few minutes Lyle is back with a broken hockey stick that he has cut down to Keegan size. OMG, Keegan flew through the roof. To our surprise he ran up and took it from Lyle exclaiming "My hockey stick!!!" We didn't know he knew what a hockey stick was.

Then he immediately got a ball and started knocking the "puck" around upstairs with his new hockey stick. He would intermittently yell "I score" and "GO WILD!". It was hilarious. See the video below.



Of course, he kept saying "I play hockey!" Then he wanted to take his hockey stick to bed with him. Now that's dedication. I think we are in trouble. I am trying to resign myself right now with spending many many hours watching hockey. I suppose he might outgrow it. Then again, he steals the remote when I put on Little Einsteins, and tries to find hockey. I am like "Keegan what are you doing?", he responds, "I watch hockey!" Yep, he could grow out of it. Just in case though, I did some research. He can join Mites at 4 years of age and he can start skating lessons in about a year. Until then he will have to live with his mini-hockey stick and open skating.

Although he is good at thinking outside the box. When we came out of Adventure Park today everything was covered in ice and the temperature had dropped considerably. As we slide our way to the car Keegan looked at me and very seriously said "Mama, I need my hockey skates!" I suppose they might have worked, but I don't think the ice was quite thick enough.