Who here actually plays hockey?

[burd]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

You played Wisconsin HS hockey. You didn't play real HS hockey.

Mostly southern Manitoba, Grafton, Devils Lake, GF N.Dak. But as I said, not real good.

[thecomicbookguy]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

I played from age 6 through high school, stopped for a while, and have played off and on since then, last playing (a lot) at the '09 Posters' game. I've played hockey with Shawn Walsh. He's a terrible skater. (And no, it's not the one you're thinking of.)

Also, I've played every position in the Posters' games - I played net in '03.

So, as far as anyone knows, I coulda been a contenda! Who knows how many Hobey's, scoring titles, and NC's I might have had?

Well, at most, 4 of each.

I know when I lived in LA some of the rinks had learn to play hockey clinics for very beginner type of people. It was usually an hour of drills followed by a scrimmage once per week. I'm guessing if you look at rinks in the area you may find something like this. Most beginner adult leagues are pretty tolerant to people being really bad and new to playing, but I would get at least a couple of drop-ins in before your first game.

My sister (legal_hit) joined a "learn to play hockey" class in NH that fed into a beginner's league - the instructors from the class actually coached the teams to help players get used to line changes and basic strategy. I ended up playing with them for a number of "seasons". It was a lot of fun.

I've used the Paul Coffey pattern since it was produced by Bending Branches. When Sherwood picked up the pattern, I followed -- and have been using Sherwood sticks ever since.

Me too. I picked one up in high school, and have been a fan ever since. At my level of play, I see no reason to spend a lot of money on a stick.

Played center through HS in the stone age. Leather skates and goalie pads; Wood rinks and sticks; no shields; big breezers with suspenders; cold air; natural ice sometimes. Loved it but was strictly average.

I probably used similar pads when I played goalie for two years in high school - I had to borrow the school's pads. Old, leather, and HEAVY. Ugh. We also played on an outdoor rink. With no roof. And this was the mid-90s.

[Koho]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

This doesn't qualify as "mutually horsing around." About all that needs to be said is that it isn't mutual.

Those of us who ran our group would definitely be willing to intervene in that situation, regardless of whether the two players involved were friends off the ice. Fortunately this was rare for us...

It seems like you're pretty frustrated with your group. Maybe playing exclusively in the neighboring town for a time would be a good thing. Who knows, it might provide your local group with a wake-up call.

Obviously you love the game, as do I. But when it stops being fun, maybe it's time to try something different.

I wouldn't say it has stopped being fun, there are just frustrating parts. I play on another night in another town, which provides a good break. These are more skilled players who know more about positioning and setting up plays. We have been short players, but I am reluctant to invite anyone from my other group because 1. I like seeing completely different players and 2. A lot of the players in my group would be underskilled or just don't know enough about what they are doing and since I am already on the fringe with this group, don't want to risk my participation with this group if I bring in a guy they don't like.

I also can't leave this group, because I run it and it would fall apart if I left. (also, the other town games are pretty late, so I can't afford to give up the sleep more than one night.)

[Koho]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

Sticks - I wonder if anyone can guess what I use? The one I like is no longer made and I only have a few left. Not looking forward to switching. I will stick (no pun intended) with wood though. We don't take slap shots so loading on the stick isn't a big issue. Composites just don't feel right when I pick them up (and cost too much).

[Koho]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

One last long post.

Some people have been going a little far lately. We had one guy leave early because of frustration with the physicalness of a player on the other team. (That guy has half-checked me before, despite it being a no-contact group.) So I finally announced in the locker-room afterwards that everyone needs to lighten up. I gave the example of 2 guys going into the boards for a puck, that they should stop and play it with their sticks, not charge into the boards. Or if a guy is stickhandling with his head down, the defender should step out of his way, not stand there and let him crash. (That happended in the last game too, and the guy went down hard.) I even said, even if it is two guys who like to horse around, I want them to cut back because that can just escalate in their play with other players. I am hoping this will help with the guys who conciensly have used their body. I also said again that they need to mix up the colors more so everyone plays with each other, not always against the same players. (Can't afford to buy a bunch of jersey's myself.)

The other problem is 2 of the guys I know the best. They are decent players but still skate with heads down and shoot most of the time. They are very competative. They make up for slightly reduced skills by flying all over the place at a higher speed than most are playing. As a result they are bumping into others with shoulders etc. (as opposed to outright checking, interference) and their sticks are often high as they are flying around. (They spin around with sticks high, or rather than lift the blade of an opposing player a foot off the ice, lift it with enough force and high enough, that a few times I've seen them rip the stick out of the players hand.) Since that is the way they "just play", they get defensive if you tell them to tone it down. They don't realize how different their play is from others. They also know that if they don't play at that higher speed and a little more physical, they won't compete as well as the top few players. (Another problem is that I am one of the better stickhandlers, so I think they perceive it as me trying to improve my advantage.) (The guy who left early was one of these players and so even though the other guy does have a history of checking, I am sure some of it was in retaliation for this guys hard-charging play.)

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

[jen]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

It is nice to see that boys have hockey-related drama too. I thought it was a girl thing.

[unh_hockey]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

It is nice to see that boys have hockey-related drama too. I thought it was a girl thing.

I reffed ice hockey at UNH for 2+ years, and the worst drama teams by far were the all women teams. Forget frat kids, few of the ex- UNH womens team were so much worse to other girls than anyone else. Since they were considerably better than the average female player, all these chicks would do was harass the other team. Even in games were teams like PIKE, and the Lax team were killing the other guys, they would show a little more respect. Heck, I even reffed someone who played on the unh mens team in 2001 ( ed caron somehow was eligible) and he held back and didn't do that kind of crap. Actually, he was extremely respectful of the officials and other team.

One instance with a womens team was so bad, the game was called; myself and the other ref just watched these girls starting **** with each other in utter disbelief. One girl on the losing team put another girl in a leg lock after she lost a face off. Throwing them in the penalty box, talking to them all did nothing. The matter was so bad, both teams were thrown out and the supervisors called a special meeting to address such issues.

The best had to have been when a sorority chick told me to **** myself when I was near the line change area. Gave them a nice two minute unsportsmanlike penalty and promised that she would be gone if it happened again.

I am not hating on women or anything, but in my experiences women are by far harder to ref than the boys were. Again don't throw a ton of negative rep my way, I am just recounting years and years of experience in the stripes.

[BUT09]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

I am not hating on women or anything, but in my experiences women are by far harder to ref than the boys were. Again don't throw a ton of negative rep my way, I am just recounting years and years of experience in the stripes.

I think it depends on the team, and the situation. I play on a women's travel B/C team, and most of the time, we make a concerted effort to play a clean, sportsmanlike game. But there are certain teams that we play that you just know ahead of time the game is going to get really nasty - I don't envy the refs at all for those.

And I've played on co-ed house league teams with guys who are testosterone-filled *******s a thousand times worse than any woman I've ever played with or against.

[jen]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

thread resurrection. has anyone else tried Sani Sport? Got it done last week, and have played 2-3 times since then and my equipment STILL smells good (not great, but way better than it did) - other places (or doing it myself) always resulted in nice smelling gear - until I skated in it again, then it was just as bad as before. Definitely recommend it if you can find one near you.

[Nick Papagiorgio]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

By the time my stuff starts to stink, I usually end up buying something new because I have a sickness with buying hockey equipment (don't get my wife started, she just goes with it). I have somehow been kept off the board on hockey equipment purchases for the entirety of 2010 with the exception of two sticks, which really don't count since those break too often. It's an amazing show of restraint for a guy like me!

Nice thread resurrection Jen. I see you've been taking notes from the the king of thread resurrection .

Got a game tonight. Last week we had an old dude on the other team break his ankle with 30 seconds left in the game. Not fun.

[BUT09]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

thread resurrection. has anyone else tried Sani Sport? Got it done last week, and have played 2-3 times since then and my equipment STILL smells good (not great, but way better than it did) - other places (or doing it myself) always resulted in nice smelling gear - until I skated in it again, then it was just as bad as before. Definitely recommend it if you can find one near you.

My usual method is a spraying a mixture of 1/2 water, 1/2 vodka, and a dash of tea tree oil. Kills all the bacteria. Mostly because I am too lazy to drag all my gear to a place that has sani-sport or any of the other means of disinfecting it.

My summer league team is so beyond atrocious it isn't even funny. We're 1-9 with 64 goals against, and only 15 goals for.

...Yeah. But, we have fun, and lots of beer, which is the point of summer hockey, isn't it?

[Nick Papagiorgio]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

I had a perfectly nice goal banked off the back of the goalie's pad from behind the goal line called back last night. I am upset about it. But, I did throw a puck into the net 3 weeks ago that was inexplicably allowed so I guess I'm even now.

The difference was that this goal totally changed the game, would have put us up 2-1 and after my shift the next line gave up 4 goals in 2 minutes. We lost by 1 after our comeback fell short. Stupid refs were terrible last night and I hope they both die of gonorrhea.

[unh_hockey]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

I had a perfectly nice goal banked off the back of the goalie's pad from behind the goal line called back last night. I am upset about it. But, I did throw a puck into the net 3 weeks ago that was inexplicably allowed so I guess I'm even now.

The difference was that this goal totally changed the game, would have put us up 2-1 and after my shift the next line gave up 4 goals in 2 minutes. We lost by 1 after our comeback fell short. Stupid refs were terrible last night and I hope they both die of gonorrhea.

why didn't your boys get back on the bench after giving up consecutive goals?

[BUT09]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

why didn't your boys get back on the bench after giving up consecutive goals?

That was my question, too! Even if a shift has only been out 10 seconds, we change after every goal. It just helps to regroup.

[Nick Papagiorgio]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

why didn't your boys get back on the bench after giving up consecutive goals?

IDK... Happened so fast they weren't tired, just terrible breakdowns... it was our top line so we left them out to try to get them back. Average team just sniped 4 straight shots on our very good goalie, it was a nightmare.

When you consider my goal was called back and they ran our goalie as they threw a rainbow shot past him into the open net and the refs allowed it, it was basically a win turned into a loss.

I'll say this, since repainting the lines last week, the ice on Rink 3 in Marlboro is perfect. They are putting in a 6th rink there, too. Crazy.