Raleigh here we come!

We were ready for the big time. We were ready to take the show on the road. The Carolina Hurricanes were having an Inline Hockey Tournament. Our team was decent, the boys were growing tired of playing Fayetteville, it was perfect. There would be teams from North and South Carolina, we thought it would be great to see how our boys measured up.

Off to Raleigh we went, kids and parents alike all chomping at the bit. We actually fared pretty well. We beat a few and lost a few. Jordan really stood out, scoring at will against everybody. One game he scored a few in regulation then won the game on the last shot of the shootout, incredibly exciting. Devan played very strong defense against boys 2-3 years older than him. The most memorable moment of his tourney came against a team called the biscuit bangers based out of the Gretzky Center in Raleigh. They were a very good team (eventual champs) and they were physically dominating us. Taking extra runs at both Jordan and Devan. One player in particular was really giving the boys a hard time. He was a year older than Jordan and quite a bit bigger. Donovan was his name. Anyway, late in the game he put a good lick on Devan, Dev got up and chased him all the way to the other end of the rink. They were going at it pretty good in the corner and suddenly Devan grabs Donovan by the Jersey and swings him around. They are now face to face and Devan is challenging him to a fight. Remember this kid is 3 years older and way way bigger. Devan could care less, he had (had) enough, he was going to settle it one way or the other. It would not have been pretty, thank god for big brothers as Jordan stepped in to quell the uprising. To this day Devan has backed down from no one. I think that day he decided he owned the rink, period! It helped that Jordan always kept an eye on his little brother, although he would never admit to it.

The boys hated the biscuit bangers, particularly Donovan. He was their arch-nemesis. Ironically, later on, Jordan and Pat Donovan would become good friends and teammates. Small world. All in all it was a very successful trip to Raleigh and it set the stage for bigger and better things to come. Look out world, here come the Howlett boys.