Hey all, not so much a beginner chronicle, as I had some years of hockey under my belt before quitting for a long time and coming back, so more like a born-again chronicle.
I played religiously until I was 13 years old. Ball hockey up to 12 hours a day every day in summers, rolley hockey every year, ice hockey every year. Then, when I moved, I quit. I continued to follow the sport, especially the NHL, but I didn't get back into actually playing until last winter (after a 14 year haitus).
At first, I was surprised to find out that I could barely skate. How embarassing, I thought; maybe I should have skated a couple times before playing. I look like I fool out here, I thought. Luckily, my work shipped me back to British Columbia for a week to take care of some business back home. I did a few drop-in skates when back there, and started to remember the basics. Still, I could barely stop and felt unbalanced and uncertain of myself out there.
That first year was pretty hard. My team was poor at first, and our goalie never gave us a chance to stay in any games. Many players in the league are good; quite a few with former junior backgrounds, and some who played in university. I was out of place defensively. I couldn't take a pass. I was shooting with both my hands about a foot apart because it was such an unnatural movement. If I ever had the puck, I'd immediately turn it over. But, slowly, I started to feel better on my skates. Towards the end of the year, we got a really good player back from injury on our team and we started to win games. He played on my line and offset my badness. I scored a goal with a game left in the regular season. I don't think I had any assists all year.
When playoffs came, my positioning slightly improved. Offensively, I was driving the net, defensively I was covering the points. I scored 2 goals, and got a couple of assists. We started to win. In the semi-finals, we won an upset in spectacular fashion: tying the game with 6 seconds left and the goalie pulled. In the finals, we won the first game convincingly, before losing the final 2 games to place second in the league.
That was last year, and this year I was determined to get back to the skill level I had as a kid. At the beginning of the year, I took power skating classes. I actually didn't learn anything from them -- No, I remembered things. Suddenly, fundamentals that I just DID as a kid, I thought about. Stopping on a dime, crossovers, pivoting. After just two classes, I was significantly better at skating and the best in the, albeit a beginner's, class. But I skated more on my own and improved a lot more. My speed came naturally, and that improved every part of my game. Skating, I forgot, was so supremely important in hockey both offensively and defensively.
So far this year, I have played in every game and skated on my own 2-3 times a week or more, often playing pickup hockey with whoever is at the rink. I've played in net for my team several times (I had always played goalie) and have gone 2-3. Not great, but my team is suffering a lot of injuries and we aren't winning. When playing out, I have over 10 points including a few goals.
I shortened my stick to shoulder height and my stickhandling drastically improved to where my hands are as good as they were as a kid. I've worked on my shot -- something that took some practice considering I had only ever used fibreglass/wood sticks and never composites. But the shot came quick, and while I am still adjusting it since cutting my stick down, my wrist shot is very good now. My snapshot is alright, my slapshot is improving and my backhand is improving.
Just the speed I've gained since power skating has helped a lot, and having my hands where they were as a kid is amazing. I can actually dangle people now, and handle/protect the puck with ease.
The thing that amazes me the most is how quickly I'm improving. Being an adult, it is much easier to self-evaluate, and truly think about little things that can improve my game. As such, progress comes much faster. Instead of hours of trying things out like as a kid, I am thinking about my game and improving fast.
The part that impresses me the most is my on-ice vision is better than it ever was as a kid. I am anticipating plays, and always have my head up.
I feel great this year, and hope to continue improving as my physical conditioning gets better (I just quit smoking, again) and my shooting improves. I think the thing that helped me the most was really sitting down and thinking about how I skate. Skating is huge, and if you have a step on everyone, or at least aren't a step behind, improves every other part of your game.
