Turkey Tourney is Back

The ever popular & successful event is back and better than ever!

Last year's event was a blast as players from C & D league joined up to play in a 3 on 3 tournament the day before Thanksgiving. This year, the event will be much of the same but it will be held the day AFTER Thanksgiving. You can shop for great holiday deals during the day, then play some hockey and socialize in the evening.

Here are the details
When: Friday, November 28, 2008 from 6PM - Midnight (or whenever people choose to leave)
Where: The Buccaneers Arena
How: 3 on 3 Cross Ice
Cost: $45

Info:
Register as an individual and teams will be formed
4 games guaranteed
Free pizza
Drink specials will be available

Space is limited to first 48 Players and 8 goalies, so register today. The ONLY way to register is to call Derek Hickey of the Des Moines Bucs at 515-278-2827 ext 2107. Spots will only be held by calling and and reserving your spot with a CC#.

Honoring Hockey Moms

Hockey moms have the toughest job. Being a youth coach, I see what they do and how well they do it, not to mention, I'm married to one.

There was a great article written about hockey moms on the Iowa Chops website. Click here to view.
It stated "The hockey moms environment consists of cold arenas, uncomfortable bleachers, bad coffee, and an outfit that often mistakes her for a mountain climber." How true that is.

Then Sarah Palin came into the spotlight and took the hockey mom theme to a whole new level. Her popularity made those who were not hockey moms wonder what all that meant and it became more popular. Great exposure I believe and maybe it would encourage more parents to get their kids into hockey (which is always a good thing).

Then I heard an ad on AM1700 that they were having a "Hottest Hockey Mom" Contest. This I had to look in to. After reading the website, it stated :

1700 The Champ and the Iowa Chops are looking for Iowa's Hottest Hockey Mom!

Upload a photo and tell us what's special about your hockey mom. She could win a cool prize package including

VIP tickets to an Iowa Chops game

Prizes from JT's Slap Shot Hockey Shop

A Spa Treatment from The Spa at the Firehouse or The Spa at West Glen

A 3 month membership to Aspen Athletic Club

and a bunch of other stuff.
We've picked the finalists for you to vote.

Winner to be announced on Wednesday, November 6.

My issue was not with the contest, or the idea behind it, but not much thought seemed to be put into it. First, the Iowa Chops website stated upload a photo of your hockey mom and tell us whats special about your hockey mom. When you check out the link to vote, all you see is 4 pictures of moms with no description of "how they are special" See Here

It also says that there will be 5 finalists to vote on. On the site, it only shows 4. Were these the only 4 candidates submitted? I was interested to see who else was submitted and their stories, but no such luck.

Now, I'm all for putting Hockey Moms up for awards and recognizing them through contests, but there are too many great moms out there and this just seemed to be done very poorly. The final thing that I thought that was not the most "honoring" of hockey moms was the audio that came along with it.

I happen to know the hockey mom that had the most votes and she is a great hockey mom. Unfortunately, since nothing was written about her, those that don't know her, don't get the whole picture...or for that matter, they don't get to know the other moms. Every hockey mom has a story and every one is hard working, dedicated & a supporter of hockey, so to see a contest not accurately honoring them, that is sad.

Here are a few cool things truly honoring the hockey mom

http://www.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?&id=21776

http://www.hockeymoms.com/member/index.php?section_id=105&left=219&right=234