HOCKEY SNACKS ON THE GO

Driving from arena to arena, place to place and hockey game to hockey game can be wearing and expensive, but if you are planned for ahead of time, you can make the snack choices, delicious, fun and stocked up before you leave! Playing hockey creates hungry kids and snacks help between meal stops! Here are a few that I have found very useful in all our hockey travels!

 As a mom of two boys that play hockey, I make certain to 'stock up' on those items I know they love, and those items that port well when traveling from deck hockey to ice hockey! What snacks are easily portable? I knew you would want to know what hockey moms stash in their bags, and here is a quick list to help you out!


 Mio - this will help out any bottle of water! You can give your kids sports Mio which replaces lost electrolytes and all you need is a bottle of water, very instant, and very tasty!


 Pringle Cans. This cans are easy because the lids snap right back on, making the can so portable and easy to tote! My boys love their own cans and their own flavors, I also like the snack because it is baked, not fried!


 Welch's Fruit Snacks - I love these because these tote so easily in their hockey bags, and the bags can take a beating and still be edible! I love because these port well in my bag as well!


 As a mom, I get hungry too and the best way I have found to curb my appetite and get great nutrition, meet my newest obsession: the Balance Bars! Chewy, Chocolate and delicious down to the last bite!






 These are my opinions as a mom that totes hungry boys and herself from game to game, your opinions may differ! Affiliate links posted.

HOCKEY MOMS FIX UP QUICK

A guest post by Jamberry Nail Consultant Jamie.. Hockey Moms Fix Up Quick

Who's happy that hockey is back?? With over 250 designs, you're sure to find the right combo to root your favorite team on - professional or not! Pair your team colors with our hockey wrap and you are all set! If you have a favorite hockey team, we are sure to have colors that you can deck your nails out in, quickly!

  Jamberry Nails are the perfect pick me up for moms on the go - they're inexpensive, easy and quick to apply, and you can do it whenever you have a spare moment! You can put these on quicker than you can believe and look completely pulled together!

If you like hosting parties to get free stuff, but it's too hard to schedule, find time to clean, cook, and invite everyone over; have an online/Facebook party. I am now offering "live" online shows. I put an event on facebook, you invite all of your friends, and we choose a date to do your "live" show. I like to host them later in the evening and on weekends because everyone's kids are in bed and you can sit in your jammies and enjoy a night of laughing with your friends without having to leave your house. We play games for prizes, I answer questions, show videos and pictures, and do lots of fun stuff during the two weeks of your online show. If this sounds like your kind of party, let me know and we can schedule you today!

HockeyShot Extreme Passing Kit -

He shoots and he scores.... and the hockey buzzer sounds, score, score, score, and so the playing goes on and on and on because this great HockeyShot Extreme Passing Kit makes practicing a breeze as it rebounds the puck and glides it back and forth .

My boys get home from school and either are off to practice or create practice for hockey.  If they are not going to practice, or practicing, they are playing knee hockey, hockey on Wii U, or just smacking a puck around, it never stops! I absolutely support their playing passion and drive.  We have been looking for every means possible to allow them the best possible ways to practice and tune up their skills(outside of rink time).
What we have been fortunate enough to try out recently is the Hockey Shot Extreme Passing Kit.  The boys have logged hours of fun and my husband has been playing with them too. What this HockeyShot Extreme Passing Kit provides is a way for your kids to improve their stick handling, shooting skills and passing.

THE PASSER:
The Passer is the Green Item, attached to the hockey pad that allows the hockey puck to be passed back to your stick.  This has heavy duty bands attached to it and it rebounds each time a puck hits it.  The Passer can be removed and affixed to other synthetic hockey materials which further increases its usability.  When you detach the Passer, the Extreme Passing Kit is then just a means for your hockey puck to glide across as it has no where to rebound a hockey puck.

This is such a simple tool but it helps my hockey boys in tuning up their skills in passing.  The Passer on this measure 2' wide and it provides puck rebounds to the person playing, it is nothing short of amazing.  The HockeyShot Extreme Passing Kit provides improvement in stick handling, shooting skills and passing.  The system is a great way to practice "hockey one-timers."

My boys have been playing on it endlessly, obsessively because it is helping them giving and receiving passes, a crucial part of any hockey game.  The Passer can be removed and the shooting pad can be used just for shooting from one end to the other.  It is a large surface that the puck will just along effortlessly, and the hockey sticks won't be destroyed from hitting floor surfaces not created for the stick.  This is helping my boys practice and will eventually lead to making a difference in their game.  Practice makes perfect!

The puck glides smoothly along the hockey shooting pad.







Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

HOCKEY VALENTINE'S DAY BOX

My husband and my son came up with a great Valentine's Hockey Box for my son's valentine's!  It is so exciting to watch them draft up their ideas and then execute them, but honestly, there was not much cost in the creative process, but there was plenty of Valentine Love!

I love when my boys do projects with their dad instead of me: a) it is a great break for me and b) boys think so differently about things from setting up to the finished project that I love to see what they can come up with.

My youngest was asked to create a Valentine's Box and as you know his whole life is hockey, hockey, hockey, so this was a no brainer: "dad I want a hockey arena."  They immediately set to work, crafting a list of what they would need and then skimming it down to what they would actually need to purchase.

In the end, it was a simply box from my boots, shelving paper, markers, a glue gun, a ruler, scissors and some stickers as well as time well spent that offered up a great looking hockey rink!

This box is just waiting to Score some great valentine's from all his friends and his dad has already scored big with time well spent! Nothing like a great project to bring the boys of winter together!



this is not a sponsored post, this is just my opinion and yours may differ

Fight Hockey Funk With A Charcoal Sack

These last few weeks sure have been a stinker of a time for my boys and their hockey funk!  I am not sure if it’s the ice and the water and all the spit from the ice or if it’s just the water, against equipment, but my goodness, the smell is beyond anything a human being should ever have to inhale! If you are looking for ways to bust odor, you gotta read this review! Charcoal is a great technology and it helps make this product effective.  

I kid you not that seeking a solution to smell are probably every hockey mom and dad’s one big TO DO item.  Hockey clothes cannot get laundered all the time, sometimes games are stacked back to back, or night to night and by the time we get home it is so late that I simply can’t do laundry.  Charcoal technology is what makes the product I tried out a bit different from all the other products I have been trying out lately. 

FLAT-D

We have used a reusable Universal Deodorizer bag that is made out of charcoal cloth.  The premises behind this bag are that charcoal will easily absorb and remove odor.  Here is how it works:  Take the smelly item, we put in hockey gloves which rock smell beyond anything I can describe.  Hands sweat and the gloves absorb the sweat and then smell.  Putting my son’s hands back in those gloves makes me sick because his little hands come out smelling like puke.  What we do is put his gloves right into the charcoal bag, and the Universal Deodorizer bag absorbs the sweat and the odor. 

The pouch itself works great when it is Brand spanking new, but as you use it, it does deteriorate over time and use.  The charcoal acts like a sponge and gets filled up with odor molecules, once this happens, it no longer takes away odors.  Initially, the strong rest of smells get killed off.  There are things you have to bear in mind however in order to keep you bag alive as long as possible and sometimes because I am human, I forget. 

The bag will be most effective the first month of use.  You can put anything you like in the bag from hockey socks to hockey gloves.  As a new purchase the bag offers a great turnaround time of about 8 hours till fresh, but as the bag gets used, is exposed to air it decreases in its ability to fight off stink.  Also, I found that heavy odors were not killed in 8 hours, they were lighter, but they were not eliminated. 

The bag is not big enough to put more than an item at a time.  You need to put the items in flat as possible.  If you put you hockey socks in they should not go in as a ball, rather they should lay flat in the bag in order to have maximum exposure to the charcoal cloth.  Make sure you draw the pouch tight.  If air from the outside gets to the opening, it is less effective.  

You need to know that after you are done using the bag, you have to put it back into the plastic pouch so that the pouch does not continue to collect odors from the air and lose its absorbing qualities.  IF you want to ‘regenerate’ your bag a bit, give it a bit more life, you can use the heat of your dryer.  The dryer heat burns off and pulls away some of the odor molecules and this will provide you with about 90% more performance of the material. The cost on this bag is $29.95, and it did work for a good period of time, but remember that the hockey smell is a strong, smell that really just seems to need beat up over and over again! 

This is perfect for smelly shoes used to go back and forth to hockey, hockey socks, hockey neck guards, gloves and more. 

Don’t expect the product to work endlessly as it does have a life expectancy and various extraneous factors affect the end result of less smell.  You can expect a bit of relief from that hockey funk that there are truly no words for!

FLAT-D INNOVATIONS, INC.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Travel Bags For All Your Hockey Needs

Summer may seem like an eon away, but before you know it the clouds will be giving way to clear, sunny skies and you will be off traveling with summer hockey!  In an attempt to get ahead of it, Initials Inc., has some fun travel bags that will make it fast, fun and easy to get ready for hockey traveling, and attending those events. These bags are great for boys, and girls as well as mom's and dad's.

What is so special about these bags for all you hockey moms?  Personalization-- it's free!  You can get your last name or team number on the bags, which makes bag identification a breeze.

This is a guest post by Initials Inc representative, Jenneifer Jones

HOCKEY DAYS ~ A BOOK BY HOWARD SHAPIRO

As I read through the book, Hockey Days, by Howard Shapiro, I began to quickly recall my children's first games, their practices, their fears and it all seems like it is just flying by, even though we are right in the midst of it.  Howard has done a wonderful job telling a story of  a hockey player coming into his own with the support of his family!  I am feel so lucky to be able to review and work with all the wonderful folks I get to with this Hockey Mom Reviews Blog!

Tom is most excited as his DekHockey game is that night, the first one of the season, and at the same time Tom is a bit nervous.  As he was eating his dinner, the doorbell rang and his dad received a package that would bond he and his dad even more than boys and sports!

The package that arrived at the door contained a special hat that Tom's dad had worn when he played hockey, a hat that made him feel more confidant when he played hockey and it was the same hat his grandfather had worn when he played pond hockey.

This one hat would be the piece of glue that will further bond Tom and his dad, beyond any sports talk, beyond any chatter of the games, a union of the hat and the kinship under which it was worn brings about a 'warm' story.

The book is  a wonderful read while it discusses sportsmanship, friendship and pride in play, along with the tale of a wonderful supportive father/son relationship.  Hockey is not just a sport, it is a union, a brotherhood.  This book celebrates family, hockey and those special things that only family can provide.

If you have a child in hockey, boy or girl, this is a must read. My 9 year old is reading the book over and over and loves to hear the story because it is so similar to his own experiences with players.   It is very heartwarming.



Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

JUST A THOUGHT ~ AS EMAILED IN

I talk to so many parents all the time while our kids are playing and what I am finding most out most is that the parents don't care if they kids win or lose, they are most concerned that they children are listening to their coaches and learning.  Here are a few scenarios I have been emailed with, one was especially bothersome as the coach seems to be coaching with the wrong coaching theme.  I have also been reading a lot of books to review for you, and the overriding theme is about puck hogging and coaches that really don't really work with the kids.

As a parent it is so hard to sit back and watch a coach, have a child on the team, and just make sure they play them on 'D' all the time, to make sure their kid gets the most ice time.  It is frustrating to watch a 3rd tier player, jump on a first tier line, and puck hog and the kids get very disheartened. Kids start asking questions about the lines and their ice time and parents begin questioning it too.  What is worse is when in a locker room, assistant coaches are disagreeing with the post-game discussion that the head coach is having with the kids because it is anything but positive.  Kids need encouraged and while bad playing can be addressed, adding negative tones to it discourages a team that is already down.

Puck hogging does not start with the child, it comes from the parenting, and the incorrect encouragement to completely foster and hone in on the puck.  Hockey is a team sport, not a sport with any letter 'i' in it.  The team can succeed together or not at all.  This is another presiding item I am contacted about daily, this is its own whole discussion/article, however a puck hog on a team can make a team just falter because the kids feel that no matter what they each try to contribute it falls to the way side.  To the parent that screams crazily through the glass when a team is already ahead by 13 points, encouraging their kids to score again and again and seal their fate, well, I think that is already sealed, 13 points ahead in 3rd period.  To that parent(as I was asked to write about) I would say, I think that humility, humbleness and integrity should be shown at this point and why 'smear their loss in their face', this is a U10 team what is the sense.  There is really not much more to say.


See if this scenario is familiar on your team:
A coach, that has been coaching for a while, has a great group of kids, all mostly new to ice hockey, but that coach feels his son deserves the most playing time.  Initially, the lines are all tiered properly with first tier playing other first tiers and 3rd tier paired up against their mates, but suddenly, the coach moves his son from 3rd tier to first, and begins to play him on all lines, sitting your child out for 3 shifts letting your child play every 4th shift and his son playing every shift, but one?  Does this sound familiar?  Or, once the coaches son comes off each shift, he is the only one that the coach actually 'coaches'?  Or, the boy hits the ice and plays every one's position, not just his own, and gets the puck not from skill but because sharing is not what is on his first ladder of ambition, being a hot shot is? (just got this scenario emailed to me)

Do you have a team where when the coaches child takes a penalty it is always excused and excuses are made for why he took a penalty?  Have you had a coach that has their kid hit, push, shove, trip and get assessed the penalty and then try and make someone else on the team serve it because their child takes a wild temper tantrum if they have to be benched? (this one is wild.. and gutsy.. I think the person who got the penalty should serve it why is everyone having to bow down to a child's temper tantrum, you took it, you earned it, you serve it!)

Oh yes, this goes on every day, and it can get rather involved.  So the question is more what to do?  I think it is worse when the parents in the locker room directly tell the coach that their kid puck hogs and the coach just acts as if he does not hear and goes on with the devaluing of the players because they lost the game.

Does your coach come off the ice and find nice things to say to the kids even though they lost or is the coach accusatory, blameful and lets the kids know they did not do a good enough job, not searching for any daylight at the end of the tunnel?  Do the kids tell celebrate the loss with the goalie and make him feel better? I know how do you celebrate a loss?  Our one coach, a few years back, would not matter what have the kids tap the goalie, thank him and make him feel good, and then slide in what needed said about what could have been done.

I have been emailed by so many parents about all the items I stated.  I publish this as more of a ... please take note .. than an actual article, but this all happens on the ice and in the locker rooms.  If, as parents we are there to support our kids, then we need to make sure that all the kids are supported, no matter if the game was good, bad or ugly.  The coaches needed reminded as well and what suggestions could you leave for the person that sent in about the coach that always gives his kid the shifts? I will publish with some answers, but keep on sending me your emails, while I feel bad seeing all this going on, it is hockey, it is competitive and this is the reality of it.  I look forward to hearing from some of you to help others deal with this. Perhaps you can suggest how you have handled these same situations.

I am always looking forward to your feedback.

Gotta go because it's time to drop that puck at one of my children's games!




These are all emailed concerns looking for discussion.  Some of this is my opinion, and yours can differ.   'Elvis has now left the building'!