More Florida Hockey

Our sojourn in Florida continues, as does the hockey watching. And it’s not just the grandsons we’re watching. Tonight (I’m writing this on Wednesday, Dec. 27 - early deadline due to the holiday) we are heading into Tampa proper to watch the two Florida NHL teams compete against each other. I’m speaking of the Tampa Bay Lightning versus the Sunrise City Florida Panthers. Sunrise City is near Fort Lauderdale and Miami. We expect to see some fine hockey played. (And even as I write this, we’re watching the televised World Juniors Hockey Championship games.)

Last week our middle grandson had a four on four jamboree-type hockey tournament. The teams were mostly a mish-mash of players of the same age (14U) who came together to compete, although there were a couple of actual teams. The competition consisted of one 12-minute period only. There was no checking, no boarding, no icing, and no penalty box for offenders. Instead, the injured team was allowed a penalty shot, with the rest of the players hot on the shooters’ heels. It was fast-moving and a lot of fun to watch.

Jace’s team lost two games, tied one, and won two. I believe they took fourth place overall. In any case, our boy competed hard and even scored a goal. We sat right behind the net his team shot into every game. It was an amazing coincidence, so we got to see him working hard up close. A lot of the boys on his team were his Flames teammates from last year (he now plays for the Icestorm), so we knew several of the other parents there. It was nice catching up with them.

We have had a few nicer days here, where the temperature actually got into the low 70s. We took advantage of one of those days to go golfing. The course we went to was new to all of us, so no one had an unfair advantage. Teeing off ahead of us was a huge group from Toronto, Canada. They were practicing, with their coaches, before competing in an international juniors’ competition in Innsbrook here in Florida. Of course, they were all teeing off from the farthest back tee boxes, while we chose closer, easier ones. Only the grandsons used the child/senior tee boxes.

I will brag up our daughter. She hasn’t golfed in some time, but had a fantastic day. She shot par on the front nine. I was only six strokes worse, but then I allowed myself a couple mulligans, and free drops from the couple water hazards my ball dove into. In other words, I cheated, but my score will never be officially posted anywhere! The back nine wasn’t as nice. Dennis says we shouldn’t have stopped for lunch. I think it shifted our centers of gravity. The boys had mostly great drives also, but didn’t do the back nine. (We didn’t see any alligators on the course this year, as we did before. Maybe that’s why we went to a new course?)

Our Christmas Day feast consisted of a standing rib roast, mashed potatoes, oven-roasted brussel sprouts (Dennis abstained - go figure), mac & cheese, and a huge six-layer sinfully rich chocolate cake. The cake was purchased, not home-made, and we still have half of it left to finish off. And it will get finished off. We were joined that day by the other set of grandparents. We always enjoy seeing them when we’re here in Florida.

The roast was prepared according to Chef John’s method: let it set out long enough to get to room temperature first. Heat the oven to 500°. Season the roast (Kim used black truffle pepper she found at Sam’s Club) and place in a roasting pan. Roast for five minutes per pound, then turn off the heat. Leave in the oven for two hours WITHOUT opening the oven door. Kim tied her oven shut with Christmas ribbon to prevent anyone peeking and ruining the roast. Then you let it sit, covered with foil, for ten minutes before slicing. It was done perfectly. We may do another one for New Years - someone said they’re still on sale.