Game 8 - Mustangs vs Warriors

Yesterday evening Andrew and the Strongsville Mustangs played their first game of the season against the Winterhurst Warriors in Lakewood, OH. Unfortunately the Warriors jumped out to a 3-0 in the first period and added a quick fourth goal in the second period. However, the resilient Mustangs battled back with two goals of their own to make it final score of 2-4. Andrew (#97) notched a couple assists and had three shots on goal. Here are a few quick highlights.

Game 7 - Mustangs vs Maple Leafs

Yesterday Andrew and the Strongsville Mustangs played against the Geauga Maple Leafs at The Pond of Chagrin Falls. The Mustangs looked really good. They skated hard and handled the puck well ... all of which led to a 3-1 victory. Andrew had three shots on goal but was denied; but still contributed through his "Holmstrom-like" peskiness in front of the opposing net minder. The Mustangs now have 6 points with a 2-3-2 record in the B-league conference standings.

Game 6 - Mustangs vs Penguins

This morning Andrew and the Strongsville Mustangs played the Canton-Akron Penguins (in Canton) for the first time this season. We got off to a bad start when one of our own players scored a goalie for the other team. However, we quickly rebounded with two more goals while giving up just one more against the Penguins. And then the Mustangs scored the winning goal of the game ... but the referees missed it! So, despite scoring 4 of the 5 goals in the game, the final score was 2-2 giving both teams 1 point in the B-league conference standings. Andrew played a solid game, but had no goals or assists.

Game 5 - Mustangs vs Cyclones

This morning Andrew and the Strongsville Mustangs played their second home game of the season taking on the undefeated Tri-County Cyclones. We lost to the Cyclones in Game 1 of the season and we were out for revenge. Although we were able to grind out a 0-0 tie into the third period, we couldn't generate any offensive rhythm. And despite excellent goalie play, we had two defensive lapses late in the game which led to a final score of 0-2. The 1-3-1 Mustangs play their next game tomorrow at North Canton.

Game 4 - Mustangs vs Flyers

The Strongsville Mustangs played their fourth game of the season Sunday night versus the Parma Flyers. We tied the Flyers in our first meeting this year, but fell short to the undefeated Flyers in this game 4-6. Andrew grinded out a good, physical game in front of the net helping a couple of his teammates score goals. However, the Mustangs came up short. Their record is now 1-2-1. Next two games coming up this weekend.

Game 3 - Mustangs vs Raiders

The Strongsville Mustangs played their third game game of the season last night versus the Shaker Heights Raiders. It was an away game and unfortunately we forgot Andrew's away jersey; so I had to tape up his practice jersey for the game. Despite the cheesy look, Andrew had a nice diving shot on goal to start the game. He also had a nice end-to-end drive with the puck and he laid down a nice body check against a Raider (neither of which I caught on film, though). After giving up the first goal of the game, the Mustangs stormed back with two goals - both from players who hadn't scored goals yet this year. It was a nail-biter to the end, but the Mustangs held on to win the game - their first win of the season! The Mustangs now have a record of 1-1-1 for 3 points which should be enough for a second place tie in the B-league standings. Next is another away game tonight against Parma.

Game 2 - Mustangs vs Flyers

The Strongsville Mustangs played their second game game of the season - their first home game - against the Parma Flyers today. It was an intense match-up that finished in a 0-0 tie. The Mustangs had only nine skaters, so they worked hard - and their goalie made some nice saves. Andrew played a good game and he had a few shots on goal but couldn't get the score. Next game is in two weeks against Shaker Heights.

Game 1 - Mustangs vs Cyclones

The Strongsville Mustangs played their first game game of the season this morning; it was an away game against the Tri-County Cyclones at Kent State University. The Mustangs got off to a 1-0 start on a goal from Becka (#71), however, shortly thereafter we lost our same star center for 10 minutes on a misconduct penalty. That allowed the Cyclones to get back in the game and eventually win 3-1. Andrew (#97) had 3 shots on goal but came up short. Two more practices this week before our next game on Saturday (home against Shaker Heights).

Ready for the Hockey Season!

Andrew and the Strongsville Mustangs PW3 team finished their last practice this evening before their first official game of the season. It was a grueling three weeks of practice since their last preseason game so hopefully the Mustangs are tuned up and ready to play. Their first game is an away game this Sunday against the Tri-County Cyclones at Kent State. Our goalie is back off of injured reserve and we hope to have a twelfth skater coming off an injury as well. As an added bonus, Andrew received his official individual and team photographs tonight. Shown here to the right is the Mustang's starting Right Winger Andrew Frederick #97.

Hockey Preseason Game 5

Today the Strongsville Mustangs faced off against the Elyria Panthers. After giving up a quick goal to the Panthers, the Mustangs charged back with a tying goal from Gower - his first of the year. After that, the intense physical play of the game wore on the Mustangs (as evidenced by the bodies flying in the highlight reel - namely Andrew #97). In fact, there was even a fight between the Mustang goalie and one of the Panthers (who blatantly ran into him). Offsetting penalties were called and Andrew had to sit in the box on behalf of our goalie. The final score was 1-7. The Mustangs final preseason game has been rescheduled from tomorrow until next Sunday which will provide for some much needed practice again this week.

Hockey Preseason Game 4

Well, not much to say about the Strongsville Mustangs (PW3) preseason game versus the Tri-State Cyclones (PW2) yesterday other than we got smoked. After a quick goal to start the game, and three more in the first period, the Cyclones proved to be too much for the Mustangs. The final score was 0-7. Andrew has his official away jersey now, but for some reason his home jersey has been delayed (even though most of the other kids have theirs now). So we painted his number (#97) on his practice jersey and wrote his name in permanent marker above it for a decidedly old school look. Andrew has another home game today and an away game on Monday. Pictures are next weekend, so hopefully he'll have his home jersey by then. Regular season games start in November.

Hockey Preseason Game 3

The Strongsville Mustangs make some nice improvements in their third preseason game against the Parma Flyers; but in the end, they came up short of the victory. After giving up a quick goal to Parma, the Mustangs stormed back with two late goals with less than 2 minutes in the first period - both goals scored by Andrew (again, wearing #93 borrowed from Golubski ... actual jerseys are supposed to be in this week). The second period was a battle with both teams exchanging leads, but the Mustangs finished the second period with a 4-3 lead on two additional goals scored by Strongsville star center Becka (#71). Some questionable penalties hurt the Mustangs again in the third period as they gave up 2 short-handed goals to the Flyers and ended up losing 6-4. The team continues to make nice progress with two more preseason games to make improvements before the regular season begins. Becka leads the team with 4 goals; Andrew is second with 3 goals.

Hockey Preseason Game 2

Andrew had his second preseason hockey game tonight (he wore a taped #97 practice jersey as we are still waiting for the official jerseys to come in). It was an away game at Cleveland Heights. It was a tight 0-0 game after one period until the Tigers scored two goals on the Mustangs in the second period. But that would be the extent of the scoring for the night. Penalties hurt the two-line Strongsville Mustangs who were pretty tired by the end of the game playing against the three-line Tigers. Andrew had a solid game with at least one shot on goal in the 0-2 loss.

Hockey Preseason Game 1

Strongsville (PW3) played Shaker Heights (my title is wrong in the video) yesterday in the Mustangs first pre-season game of the year and their first real test in game action. The first period was competitive with Shaker Heights leading 1-0 at the end. In the second period, Andrew scored the Mustangs first goal of the season - a nice cleanup goal in front of the net. Unfortunately penalties killed the Mustangs as they gave up three short-handed goals and had no power-plays of their own. Despite falling behind 1-4, the Mustangs had a nice comeback push to finish the game 3-5. Some of the kids didn't have their official jersey's yet, including Andrew, so he had to borrow a jersey from "Golubski" (#93). You can also spot Andrew (aka, the Mule) in the video by the orange at the bottom of his hockey stick and his red/white/black socks.

Hockey Practice

I haven't posted much video of Andrew's hockey in a while - even though his Strongsville Youth Hockey Club (SYHC) Pee Wee team has been practicing almost every other day for the past 6 weeks or so. Tonight was his last practice before the "preseason" games begin (first one is this Saturday). So here are a couple quick clips I grabbed (on my cell phone, hence the poor quality). He has made a lot of good progress - as has the entire team - but they still have a lot of work ahead of them.

Hockey Practice

Just a couple brief video clips of Andrew's "Top Shelf" hockey practice this morning. One more week left for this session. After this, he is enrolled in 8 power skating and stick skills sessions throughout the summer since time will be limited.

Memorial Day Weekend

The Hollywood Four had another busy Memorial Day Weekend. Most of our fun centered around Lake Frogerick, including the re-launch of "Kevin" (our floating trampoline), but also included Hockey practice; Irish Dancing at the Akron Feis on Saturday; and Irish Dancing at Cleveland Feis on Sunday. Andrew and Dad went to see Iron Man 2 Saturday morning (seen vintage H4 Iron Man) before Andrew went to a birthday sleepover Saturday night (he got very sun burned playing in his friend's pool). Sunday evening we grilled and Monday morning we worked around the house. Now we're just waiting for the thunderstorms to roll in.

Red Team vs Cyclones

Today Andrew (#46) and the House Red Team played their second real full-ice, scrimmage against another (non intra-squad) team - the Tri-County Cyclones. The Red Team got off to a 1-0 start but tired legs gave in during the second and third periods. In the end, they lost 5-2. Andrew played first line Defense the first period and second line Forward the remaining two periods. He had one open shot that he whiffed and one wrap-around shot that hit the post. Like the last game, he had a bunch of nice defensive stops; and his plus/minus remains zero since none of the goals scored were during his shifts. Here are the Hollywood Four highlights:

Red Team vs Squirts 2

Today Andrew (#46) and the House Red Team had their first real full-ice, scrimmage against another (non intra-squad) team - the Strongsville Squirts 2. It was a good test for the Red Team since the Squirts 2 are a club team that have already seen game action. Playing the full-ice wore the Red Team down making it a defensive battle. In the end, they lost 3-0. Andrew played first line Forward the first period and then first line Defense most of the remainder of the game. He had one scoring chance (whiffed) and a bunch of nice defensive stops and clears; and his plus/minus was 0 for the game. Here are the Hollywood Four highlights:

Mr. Hockey

Andrew's Red Team scrimmaged again during House Hockey yesterday morning. Even though things didn't start off well (we forgot his skates so he had to use a pair of blue-colored rentals), Mr. Hockey scored two goals and had at least one assist that were caught here on film by the Hollywood Four cameraman.