Razzmatazz
Registered User
- Feb 2, 2010
- 391
- 0
One of my first organized hockey games ever I carried the puck into the zone and left it at the point for my center. He blasted it into the goal. If was probably the worst thing that possibly could have happened, since I tried a half dozen drop passes after that and almost all of them ended up being turnovers
I play very competitively and i don't apologize for it. I do try to be respectful of other people's health and knees, and I don't run around pretending to be Jarkko Rutuu, but I will will dive for a sweep check on defense, I will go hard into the corner on the forecheck, I will take a slapshot even if you are standing in front of me, and Willl battle hard for the puck. I think everyone should be prepared for this in an organized league. If you're just looking to skate around and have some light fun, go to open hockey. Everyone can just go their own speed at open and they don't have to worry about it hurting their "team".
As a guy that's been playing various beer leagues for the last 5 years (since I taught myself to skate). I just have a few general tips.
1. ****. Seriously. Most of the advice I hear is garbage. Except for a couple of people on my team who obviously understand the game, I tune out anything that sounds like advice. Worry about your own game.
2. Stop taking long shifts. This pisses me off more than anything. There's nothing more irritating than listen to teammates in the locker room talk about how much energy you have and how you're always hustling... yeah, it's because I'm out there for 50 ****ing seconds at a time. We had a guy last year that got to the rink late, took his first shift halfway into first period and stayed out there for two and a half minutes. If the other team hadn't finally scored he might still be out there now. I'm also sick of skating back to the bench after a short shift and seeing people waive me back out there because they don't have energy yet. Are you serious? With three lines you should be chomping at the bit to get out there.
3. Please learn to do the following before you attempt to play ice hockey at any level
1. stop
2. stop and take a quick step (usually a backwards crossover) in the other direction
3. skate backwards and pivot
4. crossovers, backwards and frontwards. Crossovers should be strong
If you are in a league with experienced players, meant for experienced players, absolutely.
The one exception is a league intended for beginners...one reason I was able to start playing was because there was a league that required NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY. Actually playing hockey is a HUGE motivator for improvement...you can take so many classes, but the lack of organized games can take away some of the enthusiasm and commitment to improve...had that not been available, I probably wouldn't be playing today.
Not that you shouldn't take classes, you definitely need to, I took a learning skating class meant for hockey players at the same time I signed up for the league, and that's where I learned and was able to practice and improve my skating. Without the games every week, though, I probably wouldn't have made the effort to get the most out of the class that I did.