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Thanks for the Memories (WARNING: Long)

Re: Thanks for the Memories (WARNING: Long)

Wonderful Post, Thank you for typing it out.

Long or not it was time well spent to read it.
 
Re: Thanks for the Memories (WARNING: Long)

Thank you for sharing your son with us...I don't know you or him, but your passion for the game and embracing of it is what makes me love college hockey and those that follow it.
 
Re: Thanks for the Memories (WARNING: Long)

Bob,
You have rekindled wonderful memories of four incredible years that our family enjoyed, following my son's ECAC college carreer over fifteen years ago.

I can assure you, the memories and relationships that you now have from these past four years will last a lifetime.

Your post has made my memories a lot clearer today.
From one proud father to another I thank you for this gift.

NorthernLite
 
Re: Thanks for the Memories (WARNING: Long)

It's been a pleasure to have you not only around as one of the more "famous" parents in college hockey but taking part in and being active in the discussions here on the board.

While Mike isn't going to be playing at St. Lawrence anymore, remember this Bob, you're now the parent of a college hockey alum which gives you the green light to be as opinionated as you want to be and go unchecked. ;)

In all seriousness Bob, we appreciate your presence here as one of the big names in hockey media and for taking your time out here to just be one of the guys.
 
Re: Thanks for the Memories (WARNING: Long)

4four4 said:
USCHO should ask you the permission to publish this post on their front page. Excellent job.
Click to expand...

I agree 100%. Bob, your post says it all for hockey parents, whether they be the parents of Junior, NCAA or ACHA players. I hope you won't mind that I'm going to post your thoughts on my blog.

For the past 8 years I have seen the tears from moms and dads who realize their son's hockey careers are coming to an end. So many have become friends, and after a couple of years they still don't know what to do with their Fridays and Saturdays! :)

As JJfP says, don't be a stranger, even though your son has graduated.
 
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Re: Thanks for the Memories (WARNING: Long)

Fabulous post, Bob. It has truly been a pleasure to meet you and talk with you at any games we were at. Mike brought many great moments to the SLU fan base, and although the team had their share of ups and downs through the 4 years, we are all very fortunate to have such classy and dedicated young men representing the school. Best of luck to all of the McKenzie clan in all of their future endeavors, and hopefully we will be able to catch up at an SLU game sometime down the road.
 
Re: Thanks for the Memories (WARNING: Long)

Excellent post, and a very nice story. Sounds like an unforgettable experience, i'm sure many on here (including me) would love to be able to share similar experiences. Best of luck to your son and your family.
 
Re: Thanks for the Memories (WARNING: Long)

Great post, Bob. I may not have been cheering for the Saints when they visited the Houston Field House, but, finally, I learned this season how much of a class act that Joe Marsh is and what a great program is being run up in Canton. Best of luck to Mike (and all the other SLU seniors) as they continue their careers.

Gurtholfin said:
It was brought home to me this past season when Blake Geoffrion got his first(I believe) collegiate hat trick. Danny Geoffrion happened to be sitting next to me that night and after two goals, he was sitting a little closer to the edge of his chair and almost willing the puck to go into the net. When the third goal went in, you could see how pleased and proud he was. He got right on the phone to report it to family members far and wide.
Click to expand...

I think my favorite single moment from this past season was our captain, John Kennedy, Jr. scoring an empty-netter against Quinnipiac on February 19th. It was his first career goal and his father, who I have seen at every game this season, was standing behind my section. The crowd's reaction was fantastic and John Kennedy, Sr. was so excited, high-fiving everyone in reach. It's moments like that which make me love this game.

Again, thanks for the great post, and I'm glad you could enjoy the ECAC for 4 seasons.
 
Re: Thanks for the Memories (WARNING: Long)

Thanks for the post, Bob. We don't get enough of those positive comments and thoughts on this site. You've been so much fun to watch and listen to over the years...please stay close to the college game...it needs you!

And if any of you think the post was good, get his book. http://www.amazon.com/Hockey-Dad-Co...=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269979785&sr=8-2. (I can do the shameless plug...Bob has too much class to do it himself!)

Parent of a player or not, if you love the game of hockey, you'll read this book in a matter of a couple of days...great mix of humor, reality, stress, honesty, and nostalgia. Easily the best book I've read in a long time. Was required reading for my child's team's parents...made for a VERY fun year!

Thanks again, Bob. Don't be a stranger!
 
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Re: Thanks for the Memories (WARNING: Long)

Great post, thanks a lot for sharing your experiences here. Amazing to hear it from the point of view of a parent and hockey personality like yourself.
 
Re: Thanks for the Memories (WARNING: Long)

Wow. What a great post! Bob, like several others have said, just because your son is graduating doesn't mean you have to step out of the picture. Next Wednesday I'm leaving for my 12th Frozen Four, and I KNOW I'm going to enjoy the heck out of it, because, yes, I'm a Maine fan first, but a fan of the game a close second, and as such I thoroughly enjoy going to the FF and meeting fans from all over. Fans like you are what make that happen.
 
Re: Thanks for the Memories (WARNING: Long)

Well done.

This is also a special to college hockey news.
 
Re: Thanks for the Memories (WARNING: Long)

For those of you who don't know Bob, or his son Mike, I wanted to add a few comments and questions:

Comments:

Bob, and really his entire family, are huge fans of the game. The neat thing was how much he loves the game and his son does too. Mike was one of the most competitive players I have ever seen. He competed like few others.

One thing SLU does well is look at the character of the players they recruit; this leads not only to getting great kids, but also great parents since the apples don't fall far from the tree.

Bob mentions the first road trip, but not the first home game which came before that where Mike scored a big, beautiful goal against RIT. I don't think think there was any doubt from that point on that he could and would play...a lot!;) 100+ points later...:D

The last five minutes of that Clarkson game in the first round of the ECAC playoffs is a game every SLU fan will remember for a while (not just Bob). Mike, double-shifted himself (which he was known to do;) ) and made a great play drawing the defenders to him, passing the puck to Rick Carden for a one timer from the circle that tied the game. Then Mike paid a big price in front of the net to put in the game winner with a minute left. Against any team that is awesome, against Clarkson it is priceless. He forgot to mention that though Mike didn't score the goal in OT in game 1 of that series, he earned it.

Aside from the Clarkson series to close out his career at Appleton, one game I remember was Mike making a move to spark a come from behind win at UNH on a Sunday afternoon at the Whit...an incredible toe-drag and shot.

What is most incredible to me is that Bob was at pretty much every game. How he did that while balancing his Hockey Night and TSN obligations is hard to comprehend, but I am guessing that level of passion and commitment is why he has such great kids and the story of raising a college hockey player in the hot bed of hockey has never been told better than in this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Hockey-Dad-Co...?ie=UTF8&s=digital-text&qid=1269979665&sr=8-1

I read this book cover to cover in about 3 hours and really enjoyed it.

The truth is I have known lots of hockey parents (and hope to be one myself) but really got the best perspective ever from Bob and his book.

Truly, it was a pleasure having the McKenzies as part of the SLU hockey family. Not just for watching Mike on the ice, but for the passion and insight of his dad too.


Questions:

Why the hell didn't you convince Brendan Smith and some of those other St. Mike's kids to attend SLU with Mike?? Cogliano, Smith and company would have looked great in Scarlet and Brown!;) :D
 
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Re: Thanks for the Memories (WARNING: Long)

Sure wish the folks at ESPN who low-budget the tournament and in my mind, dismiss it as a nuisence rather than a great college sport would read that post with some objectivity. If they gave 1/4 of the attention to college hockey like they do the BB tournamnent, college hockey would become more visiable and popular to many college sport fans.

Thanks for a great post!
 
Re: Thanks for the Memories (WARNING: Long)

Great post, Bob.

I've had conversations with several of the Cornell parents and they express the same feelings you did. It's nice to know the same sentiments grow at other ECAC schools. It speaks good for the Conference as a whole.

Good luck to you and Mike.
 
Re: Thanks for the Memories (WARNING: Long)

WOW. Great read.

You are rightfully proud of your son and I am sure he feels the same of you.
 
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