Girls U12 BLUE

Picture Day!!!

Good evening u12 Blue. Thanks for a great season of hockey. Girls did a very good job in the top girls u12 division in the state. We missed the playoffs only because the few forfeits we had which cost us in the standings. Improvement across the board and hopefully your daughters had fun.

We have on ice team photos on Wednesday at 7:20 at Phillips followed by a skate. Please get to the rink if at all possible. Also keep an eye peeled for emails going out tomorrow about our tryout schedule for next season.

Next seasons u14 will be host evaluations Monday March 23rd at 7:20pm. U12 will host evaluations on Wednesday March 25th at 7:20pm. We will also host a Zoom call for each age group to let parents know what to expect for next season. Schedule will be sent out soon. I’d strongly recommend participating in the Zoom discussions if you plan on playing with AHA next season.

Lastly, let me know if you’d be interested in a year end gathering for this group. We can easily out together a gathering at a local establishment on a weekend afternoon.

Thanks again for a great hockey season.

-Kevin Cormier

Waltham game tomorrow is a GO!!!

Anyone available to play is welcome to what’s likely our last game of the season tomorrow at 11:40am in Waltham. Please update availability if you’re going.

Daylight savings tonight so plan accordingly. Sunset at 7:30pm tomorrow night. Bring on spring and summer!!

Good Morning u12 Blue!!

Big game tomorrow at Connell Rink in Weymouth at 9:35am vs the mystery Fore River Selects, never heard of this squad but they are ahead of us in the standings. If you haven't updated your availability yet, please do so.

Monday night we have a special guest coming to our practice at 7:20pm. Martha Fenton, Phillips girls head coach, will be stopping by with a few of her players to run a practice. Crossbar will be updated shortly with the correct info. Swing by if you are able.

Our season is winding down to say the least. Our March 7th game against Danvers will likely be cancelled as most everyone will be at the tier 1 & 2 States in Marlboro. We are going to try and sneak our Sunday March 8th game against Waltham in if possible. More to follow as the weekend approaches.

-Kevin Cormier

USA vs Canada Gold Medal Game - Watch gathering at Otto!!!

Last minute notice but the USA Olympic women's hockey team will be playing Canada tomorrow at 1:10pm for the gold medal. Otto Pizza has been nice enough to host a watch party for our girls to gather and watch the game. Feel free to swing by and cheer on Hillary Knight & Co.

Otto will not have the usual servers for each table. The bar will be open, hint hint moms of AHA, and any food order will have to be ordered at the register and then brought out to the seats. We definitely need a few parents in attendance vs dropping your daughter off at Otto. Come have a refreshment, watch the game and hang out with wonderful people of Andover Hockey.

If you care to make an afternoon of hockey out of your Thursday, the AHS girls varsity team has a home game at 2:50pm at Breakaway vs Winchester. Feel free to watch the USA v Canada game then head to Breakaway for their last home game of the season. Thanks.

-Kevin Cormier

Busy week for the U12 Blue!

Good morning. We have a 7:40 practice this evening and everyone is welcome to attend Wednesday's 7:20 skills with Courtney Sheary. Our play down game Friday is 6:20pm at Essex Aggie vs Danvers. We also have a Saturday 5:30pm game in Woburn at O'Brien Rink against Belmont. Perhaps a quick bite to eat after the game is in order at one of the local Woburn saloons after the game.

Please update if you'll be available to skate in the Danvers and/or Belmont game this weekend. Thank you.

-Kevin

Danvers game rescheduled to Friday February 13 6:20 at Essex Aggie!!!

Good Morning U12 Blue. We've moved our play down game against Danvers from tomorrow at Phillips to Friday Feb 13th 6:20pm at the rink at Essex Aggie. Winner heads to the State Tournament the weekend of March 20-23 in Falmouth.

I understand our schedule has been a moving target recently with cancelled and rescheduled games, Phillips taking back ice, and the Middlesex League's schedule. We only have a month or so left in the season. Moving forward all of the U12 is welcome to skate at our Wednesday skills with either Erika Hammer or Courtney Sheary. We should have consistent Monday practices and skills the rest of the way in February and into March. Please make an effort to get to the rink.

Also, we'll be getting info about next season out via email over the next few weeks. On paper, we have the numbers to host teams across all ages again but we will need your support in order to make that happen. If you plan on skating with AHA again next year, please let me know. We're open to any feedback about this year and next, or if you have any ideas as to how to improve what we are doing, please share. Any questions, let me know. Thank you.

-Kevin Cormier

Great win against Cape Ann!!

Next up is Danvers Saturday 1:20 at Phillips. Please update your availability soon as we are trying to figure out if we’ll have enough players for the game. If not, we may be able to reschedule the game for Friday evening 2/13 at Essex Aggie. Please let us know what you can and can’t do.

Everyone is welcome to attend Eriks Hammer’s skate tomorrow night at 7:20. We are in the home stretch and only have a month or so left in the season so get your ice time in. Thanks.

-Kevin

Play Down game vs Cape Ann - Monday Feb 2nd 6:30pm

Good morning U12 Blue!! We are going to use our scheduled Monday 6:30pm ice time for a play down game vs Cape Ann. Winner of this game has the pleasure of playing Danvers to see who will get into the State Tournament for District 2. Please update your availability for the play down game in Crossbar.

Sunday we have a game at 12:50pm in Arlington at Ed Burns Arena, best popcorn in the Middlesex League. Please update if you are able to play Sunday and pray for this storm to stay out in the ocean and spare us another foot of snow.

-Kevin

December Games & Practices

Good Morning,

Hard to believe it's December but here we are. We have the luxury of 3 home games this month, however, I know there will be many conflicts with club schedules and holiday plans. Please take a moment and fill out your availability for this month's games. Just as a heads up, when we cancel or have to reschedule a game due to lack of players, it's not only difficult to schedule, but it is also very expensive to cancel if needed. Please do what you can to make the game scheduled work.

Tonight's practice is 6:10 with the u14. We have a practice next Monday the 8th with the PeeWee 2 team at 7:20. We are going to mix it up and scrimmage them. It'll be fun and the boys will be surprised when the U12 rolls all over them. Our December 15th practice will be with the u8 & u10 teams. I'm sure we will try and do something fun with the younger kids. We'll be off from December 23rd with games starting up again on January 3rd.

If anyone has any ideas about some sort of Christmas gathering and/or exchanging gifts, please let me know. Thanks.

-Kevin

Saturday 4:30 in Watertown vs Milton

Hope everyone is well and getting ready for Thanksgiving. Please fill out your availability for this weekend's game against Milton. Just a reminder we have no games Thanksgiving weekend and start fresh in December with a pair of home games at Phillips.

Given the Holidays are around the corner, if anyone has some ideas about either a fun activity or a group gathering, please let either Brian or I know. For planning purposes, we will not have any games or practices between Christmas and New Years.

Lastly, we ask that parents stay out of the locker room for the 15 or 20 minutes before and after games or practices. We want to avoid any awkward scenarios while the girls are getting dressed. Thank you.

-Kevin

Arlington game cancelled!

Tomorrow's game against Arlington has been cancelled. We'll make it up at a later date. 6:30 practice on Monday and then a 4:30pm game at Ryan Arena on Saturday. Please update availability if you haven't already.

If anyone is interested, we can set up an informal team bite to eat on the ride home from Watertown on Saturday. Thanks.

-Kevin

Busy week!

Hats off to the girls for a very well played game against Danvers this past weekend. Even the Danvers coach was very impressed with our kids effort and the score did not reflect the product on the ice. The kids played terrific and it's a bummer they came up short on the scoresheet. Please keep in mind we are playing some of the best girls hockey teams in Massachusetts and our kids are playing a level of hockey most local club teams wouldn't compete with.

We have a 7:40 practice tonight at Phillips with a pair of games this weekend. Please update your availability for Saturday 1:20 at Phillips and Sunday 11:40am in Arlington. The Arlington game is actually a make up from a weekend we did not have enough players so please make an effort to attend. If anyone needs a ride, let me know. Thank you.

-Kevin

Andover Hockey Nights at the Boston Fleet!!

We have secured group tickets for an Andover Hockey Night at 2 Boston Fleet games this season. First game is the season opener against Montreal on Sunday November 23. Second game is March 21st against Seattle, welcome back Hillary Knight & Cayla Barnes. Both games are at the Tsongas Center in Lowell.

Please follow this link https://www.gofevo.com/group/AndoverYout... to secure tickets for the games. If we are able to sell more than 75 tickets to each game, we can partake in a meet and greet or team photo after the games.

The season opener on November 23 is sure to sell out soon. The link provided will give us access to tickets in the same section. Let's get as many Andover kids as we can into the building. Any questions let me know. Thank you.

-Kevin Cormier

Saturday's 1:20 game at Philips rescheduled!!

Good morning. Our game Saturday against Arlington has been postponed. The Arlington team has a bunch of girls playing in the RI Sting tournament this weekend and is unable to field a team. Good news is we'll see them on Nov 1st at Phillips. Enjoy the long weekend and we'll see you on Monday night 7:40pm for practice.

-Kevin

This week's schedule...

7:40pm practice tonight and an 8:10am game Saturday in Stoneham against Belmont. Should be a barn burner. Please let us know if you'll be in attendance for this week's ice times.

Just a heads up, we've had some interest from girls from outside of Andover to join our team. Don't be surprised to see a new face or two at upcoming practices. Thank you.

-Kevin

Boston Fleet Reps will be at Andover Farmer's Market on Saturday

Mouth guards & Neck Protectors

Just a heads up every player will need a mouth guard neck protector per USA Hockey rules for each game this season. It’s up to each individual if they prefer one with or without a tether to the face mask. The refs let it slide this weekend but that won’t be the norm moving forward. Thanks to coach Dan for the heads up.

Game scheduled update

Just a heads up our September 28th game in Walpole has been cancelled. Between conflicts and a Patriots home game, we've pulled the plug on that game. Keep an eye peeled as we will try and make up the game in October.

We do have 2 games this weekend, Saturday 2:30 at Phillips and Sunday 9:20am in Stoneham. Please update your availability for each game so we know who is attending. Thank you.

-Kevin

Uniforms are here!!

I can't believe it but we have uniforms for all our players. We don't have socks yet so please dig up you Blue or yellow socks from years past and bring them for our game Sunday 1pm vs Milton at Ryan Arena in Watertown.

Also, we've turned on the availability tab on our team page so please let us know if you'll be in attendance for the game Sunday. Thank you.

-Kevin

U12 BLUE Welcome!!

Well here we are at the start of another season. U12 Blue will be a competitive team skating in the top division of the Middlesex League. The schedule is already loaded on the AHA website with practices scheduled through November and games through mid October.

Brian Cronin will be our Head Coach this season with Dan Tamasanis, Steve Winsor and myself helping out. Given most of our players also play with local club teams, please make sure to use the attendance feature and let the coaches know your availability for practices and games. There will be games when we have a full bench, and others where we have some call ups.

Note our Monday night practices will rotate between the 6:30 and 7:40 ice sheets at Phillips. We've done this to try and accommodate everyone's busy schedules as conflicts are inevitable.

The annual wait for our new jerseys and socks is on as TSR is in the process of printing our new sweaters. Our first game is Sunday 1pm Ryan Arena in Watertown. Please bring last seasons yellow jerseys in case we don't receive the new ones in time. If you don't have an AHA jersey from last year, let me know as we have a few extras.

This should be a really fun year given the group of girls and families. If you have any questions, please let me know. Thank you.

-Kevin Cormier