Posted: 5/2/07
Huff skates with the best
 Randy Huff keeps the biscuit out of the basket at Lake Placid, New York. |
By Steve Morris
"Hockey is our lifestyle, that is what we chose," said the mother of a local hockey goalie.
Randy Huff, son of Jodi and Peter Huff of Harris, has been playing hockey since he was four and half years old. Since then, the 5th grader (and his family) have lived and breathed hockey. Jodi Hoff said she has carted her son to more than 300 hockey games.
This Easter marked a big step in Randy's hockey journey because the family began traveling longer distances for tournaments. During Easter weekend, Huff traveled with the Minnesota Pride hockey team to Lake Placid, New York to play against some of the best competition from around the country and Canada in the Cam/Am Tournament.
"It was fun," Randy Huff said sheepishly.
Huff made the team after open tryouts in September held by Minnesota Made Hockey. At the Cam/am tournament, Huff helped guide the team to a second place overall finish in the tournament, before falling to Vermont 2-1.
The team, which is made up of kids from around the state, practiced around eight times before playing in the tournament.
The Minnesota Pride was Huff this off-season. He will spend nearly the whole summer skating with elite club teams in the state and taking private goalie lessons. Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be taken up with hockey practice until the end of the summer, his mother said.
Now that the Minnesota Pride team is done, Huff will play on the Minnesota Bladz team until the end of August. This week, Huff and family will travel with the the Bladz to Toronto to play in a tournament. In all, the 5th grader at Sunrise Elementary School in North Branch spends around 15 hours a week practicing his game.
Through it all, Jodi Hoff has gained numerous friends and feels connected to the Minnesota hockey scene. The Huff's best friends the past seven years have been because Randy played with their son.
The high school game is years away, but it is already in the back of Jodi Huff's mind. She said she is undecided on where her son will play high school hockey. Wherever he plays, Jodi is hoping for some money to help fund college.
"Hopefully we can get a scholarship," she said.
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