🎥 LIVE – TRI-STATE SHOWCASE FINALE Game 5 of 5 Cincinnati Jr Cyclones (Black) 14U AA 🆚 Oakland Jr Grizzlies (Gold) 14U AA 📍 Team Toledo Ice House 🕘 Monday – 9:00 AM (We think. Time is a social construct at this point.) President’s Day. Nobody knows what day it is. The hotel waffle maker has seen things. Let’s close this showcase the right way. ⸻ 🧭 WHERE ARE WE? Toledo. Still. Same rink. Same glass. Same coffee that tastes like it was brewed during warmups on Friday. It’s President’s Day. Five games in three days. Everyone’s legs are heavy. Everyone’s voices are gone. Someone’s kid forgot a skate guard somewhere in Ohio. And we’re finishing with the Grizzlies. ⸻ 🐻 SCOUTING REPORT – OAKLAND GOLD Rating: 86.60 Record: 23-17-5 145 goals for, 114 against. They tied the Tri-State Spartans 3-3. We opened our season against the Spartans and took that wake-up call that changed how we played the rest of the year. They’ve: • Lost to Toledo • Split with Fox Motors • Beat Pittsburgh Vengeance 5-3 • Handled some Michigan squads pretty confidently They’re physical. They play straight lines. They don’t back down. They’re close to our rating, so this one? This one is a toss-up. Which means chaos. Beautiful chaos. ⸻ 🎙 BROADCAST SITUATION REPORT Andrew is at actual work. Yes. Employment. The thing that funds this hockey addiction. So Hopp is solo. Let’s pause for a moment and acknowledge the danger. Left alone with a microphone, Hopp can: • Go silent for three straight shifts • Narrate a dump-in like it’s the Stanley Cup Final • Or start mumbling about something unrelated entirely With Andrew off at real-life adult responsibilities, this is officially Jose’s time to shine. The legendary XBot 9000 will be deployed. Not “standing by.” Not “maybe.” Fully activated. If you’ve ever seen a kid unwrap the one thing they circled in the Christmas catalog… that’s Jose with the XBot. He’s been waiting for this. Polishing it. Updating firmware. Probably whispering encouraging words to it in the hotel lobby. And honestly? When Andrew’s 47-wire, NASA-grade broadcast rig isn’t in the building, the XBot becomes the greatest invention since sliced bread. Simple. Clean. Point it at the ice and let it eat. Jose will be running the show from the command center Todd may be dialed in on speakerphone with a five-second delay just shouting “SHOOT” randomly. Two Minutes for Chirping may become: Thirty Seconds of Technical Difficulties. We ride. ⸻ 😵💫 TEAM STATUS – MONDAY MORNING EDITION Everyone is cooked. You can tell by the way the kids stretch. It’s less dynamic warm-up and more “I am 14 going on 47.” Extra coffee may decide this game. If Prime Energy makes an appearance in the locker room, we will not confirm nor deny. ⸻ 🧊 GOALIE CORNER Michelle and Lynn have held down the goalie corner like seasoned NHL crease coaches all weekend. Water bottles filled. Towels ready. The sacred goalie head nod between periods. By now they’ve seen enough rubber to start charging admission. ⸻ 🧔 HOCKEY DAD ENERGY CHECK Billy - One more missed call and a blood vessel might actually file a complaint. Grant is still at the glass, staring with that look of: “Did that really just happen?” Every parent here has: • Spent $60 on rink food • Said “keep your feet moving” at least 47 times • Pretended not to calculate the cost per minute of ice time ⸻ 🔥 PLAYER NOTES – PRESIDENTS’ DAY EDITION Neeko is still fully committed to slap-shotting everything. Pass? Slap shot. Clear? Slap shot. Warm-up? Probably slap shot. Braxton is still chirping gravity itself. Jackson is still looking for hits even if the opponent has left the zone. Beans? We assume he’s present. If not, someone text him. At this stage of the weekend, you don’t overthink. You just compete. ⸻ 🏒 WHAT THIS GAME IS It’s not about standings. It’s not about rankings. It’s about: • Finishing strong • Competing through fatigue • Showing what three days of hard hockey builds You don’t grow playing soft schedules. You grow playing teams like this. ⸻ ☕ KEYS TO THE GAME 1. Short shifts. Nobody hero skates on Monday morning. 2. Stay disciplined. No lazy stick penalties. 3. Keep it simple. 4. One more good effort before everyone collapses in the car. ⸻ 🧡 BIGGER PICTURE This showcase? Loaded with strong teams from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan. The season? Worth every mile. Metro League Tournament next weekend — top seed. St. Louis in March. Tryouts looming. 16U around the corner. This group’s been tight. Parents have bonded. Kids have grown. We’ve gotten every penny’s worth of hockey. ⸻ 🎬 FINAL THOUGHT Game 5 of 5. 9 a.m. President’s Day. Coffee level: critical. Voices: gone. Legs: questionable. Heart: still there. Let’s finish this thing. If Hopp goes silent, just assume something exciting is happening. Let’s close out Toledo the right way. 🐻🥅🔥