How do int/adv players REALLY feel about n00bs on the ice?

[Jarick]

How often is that situation going to come about though? Where a guy misses a hard shot near the goalies head multiple times and then feels the need to scale his shot back out of fear of hurting the goalie?

I also don't really think that applies at all to beginners, who have trouble lifting the shot AND getting velocity on it.

 

[HockeyStickHomicide]

-Also to add, it's a great deal harder for goalies to know where a newer players shot is going. I can usually read a shot coming off a experienced players stick, while noobs do all kinds of wonky stuff to let a shot go. So its not that easy to tell if they are going high, low in the first place, esp. when they are close to you. Most noobs will shoot only close because their velocity and accuracy are lacking. Its pretty much a guessing game whats going to happen.

 

[bozak911]

I accidentally hit one of our beginning league goalies in the grill during a game (not warm-ups). No intention at all to go that high, but I was trying a new stick.

He was also in net for the next pickup game. I apologized profusely for hitting him in the head. His response?

"It's okay. I knew it was completely unintentional. If it were intentional, I would have gone all Hextall on you."

In the middle of summer, we had a pickup game where a guy I had not played with before showed up. He was taking shots on the goalie as he was squared up with a different shooter and he was trying off angle shots while the goalie was lined up for a different shooter. I knew that wasn't okay, so I just started stripping the puck from him as I would skate by him.

After a while, he was all "WTF?" Then I explained the "rules" about goalies in warmups and how he was being an asshat. He got it and was relatively nice about things after that.

 

[keysersoze98]

Last thing I need is a concussion because you think your playing for the stanley cup. Its pickup hockey.

I'm with you and I'm not a goalie. If I catch a goalie up high in the head or neck area, even in an adult league game, I give him a pad tap and "Sorry." every time.

 

[keysersoze98]

One thing I hate, that it seems mostly new players do in an adult league game, is clearing guys from in front of the net after a whistle. I understand it if a guy is wacking at the goalie (which I raaaaaaarely ever do) but I get it a lot from guys when I'm just standing there waiting for a rebound that doesn't come. The whistle blows the they're coming at me like a rugby scrum. They watch too much TV and think because guys in the NHL do it after the whistle that they should too.

Most of the time, I probably know their goalie better than they do so I'm not real sure who they think they are protecting them from anyway.

 

[Jarick]

I'm with you on that and I actually think it's ridiculous they do that stuff in the NHL after every single whistle.

 

[keysersoze98]

I'm with you on that and I actually think it's ridiculous they do that stuff in the NHL after every single whistle.

I agree with you there too. Ridiculous in the NHL. Even more ridiculous when adult hacks see NHL players do it and think they have to do it also.

Now, where does this rank with the 2 above? 12 year old Johnny does it in a PeeWee game for no reason, so I give him a penalty for it and his coach whines "HE WAS CLEARING THE FRONT OF HIS NET!" to me. That's a tough one!

 

[SaintTavares]

I'm with you and I'm not a goalie. If I catch a goalie up high in the head or neck area, even in an adult league game, I give him a pad tap and "Sorry." every time.

Once again, not trying to be a jerk, but it's a contact game, where your job is to try to stop a rubber puck being shot at you. You wear a mask for a reason, and if a skater chooses to shoot high, theres not much to do about that.

 

[HockeyStickHomicide]

where your job is to try to stop a rubber puck being shot at you.

No, actually my job is logistics. I play hockey for fun.

Starting to figure this out yet? We'll give you another few minutes.

 

[Blackhawks26]

It doesn't bother me, we all started like that before.

 

[keysersoze98]

Once again, not trying to be a jerk, but it's a contact game, where your job is to try to stop a rubber puck being shot at you. You wear a mask for a reason, and if a skater chooses to shoot high, theres not much to do about that.

It's adult league, not the NHL...not even college or HS hockey or a B minor squirt game. It's for fun and nothing more to me. If I hurt a goalie with a high shot, I'd feel bad about it. When I hit a goalie up high and don't hurt him, I also feel bad about it.

No, actually my job is logistics. I play hockey for fun.

You win.

 

[SaintTavares]

No, actually my job is logistics. I play hockey for fun.

Starting to figure this out yet? We'll give you another few minutes.

Yea, it sounds like you're having a lot of fun complaining about getting hit with a puck. You must be a blast to have at the rink.

 

[SauceHockey]

Like everyone said don't act like a tool especialy with dun stuff like drop in where scores mean nothing

 

[zeeto]

One thing I hate, that it seems mostly new players do in an adult league game, is clearing guys from in front of the net after a whistle. I understand it if a guy is wacking at the goalie (which I raaaaaaarely ever do) but I get it a lot from guys when I'm just standing there waiting for a rebound that doesn't come. The whistle blows the they're coming at me like a rugby scrum. They watch too much TV and think because guys in the NHL do it after the whistle that they should too.

Most of the time, I probably know their goalie better than they do so I'm not real sure who they think they are protecting them from anyway.

This drives me nuts. I just started back up, after a 10 break from playing, so my skating is real rusty. I played in the summer league, in this area, which is supposed to be the beginner league but really isn't. I kept setting up in front if the net because the guys I was playing with said I had a knack for finding the open areas (not sure if it was just a nice way to say my skating is horrible still ). So after the 3rd or 4th deflection, the goalie covered up and I had one of the guys on D start pushing me into their goalie saying "get away from our goalie, back up, back up", all while his stick is caught in his goalies' mitt which is causing me to start toppling. So another guy comes over and starts pushing me into the first guy. I just laughed as I skated off. If you don't want me near your goalie don't push me into him.

 

[#66]

It depends on the noob. If a player knows his limitations and moves the puck thats different than the player that can't skate but still wants to stickhandle through everyone.

 

[RandV]

You nailed it. My skating skills improved the fastest playing against better players, but my puck skills got better when I played with folks my level or lower.

This really describes my experience. I don't know exactly how the A-E division groupings work, but I started playing a few years ago in Calgary in a pure beginners league, which I guess is E level, but after a year moved back to Vancouver and joined a new random skill level team. We started off pretty good, playing C-D level I guess, but as we started needing replacements we got better players on the team moving up the ranks, so for the past year I've been playing in my leagues top division... maybe not quite A level but at least B I would guess.

Now I'm a 'good' type of beginner, and playing at this level I'm not sure how much my skating has improved but I've certainly adapted to well to the faster paced game. My puck handling skills on the other hand have really stagnated. I've only been playing full time for one team due to finances, but I've recently started getting some additional ice time in with a beginner-intermediate level drop in group, and while playing at both levels are fun it really helps me out being able to have a bit more room to skate and handle the puck. I'm going to be joining one of their low div teams half time as well for this winter season, so we'll see if that can translate into more points at the higher level.

 

[izzy3]

For me if I see somebody improve I don't really care how bad they play. If they skate themselves free and put their stick on the ice, I'll fire that pass. I was once that guy making all those mistakes, and only improved, because some of the better guys passed me, helped me. We have a gal now though, and she couldn't skate for the life of her. That's OK on your first few outings.

BUT IT'S BEEN 4 MONTHS SHE FIRST SHOWED UP AND SHE FRIGGIN STILL CAN'T SKATE!

And I mean she can't even stride forward, she'll fall on her face. She basically rolls forward below walking speed and tries to balance herself with her stick. I can't respect her. I mean why doesn't she go to public skate ot rollerskating or something, so at least she can skate forward? Oh, all she does during warmup is taking SLAPSHOTS!

 

[TickleMeYandle]

BUT IT'S BEEN 4 MONTHS SHE FIRST SHOWED UP AND SHE FRIGGIN STILL CAN'T SKATE!

And I mean she can't even stride forward, she'll fall on her face. She basically rolls forward below walking speed and tries to balance herself with her stick. I can't respect her. I mean why doesn't she go to public skate ot rollerskating or something, so at least she can skate forward? Oh, all she does during warmup is taking SLAPSHOTS!

Whew...I'm relieve that it's not me you're talking about! I can definitely skate forward! Still working on getting better at backwards and getting comfortable at crossovers, but I don't need my stick to balance.

I agree, if I were just learning to skate I would definitely want to do public session or something. Maybe for the first few times I'd be wobbly during a game, but I honestly can say that if I couldn't skate at all, I would be pretty terrified to be out there with sticks and puck and people flying all around me. It would scare me not to be able to get out of the way.

 

[epo]

No, actually my job is logistics. I play hockey for fun.

Starting to figure this out yet? We'll give you another few minutes.

 

[Beezeral]

Yea, it sounds like you're having a lot of fun complaining about getting hit with a puck. You must be a blast to have at the rink.

wouldnt shock me if neither of you have ever played goalie in your life

 

[JoeCool16]

Oh, all she does during warmup is taking SLAPSHOTS!

Lol, I couldn't take slapshots when I started because I'd lose balance and topple over, not being much of a skater at the time. I agree she should go to public skating. It isn't much fun, but it really is essential to just keep skating as much as you can during the learning process. During a game isn't the right time to learn crossovers/stopping etc.

 

[TickleMeYandle]

It isn't much fun, but it really is essential to just keep skating as much as you can during the learning process. During a game isn't the right time to learn crossovers/stopping etc.

I agree. I try to get in as much practice time as possible between games, and in games I stick with what I know that I can do reliably.

that said, what is the best way for an adult beginner to learn some of the fairly basic - but not necessarily intuitive - skating skills?

It's easy for kids - my daughter took a hockey 1 class where they did basic forward skating and a little bit of backwards. She's signed up to start hockey 2 where they are doing crossovers, etc. The whole class is focused on basic skating skills.

For adults, there really isn't that option. At least, not unless you're into figure skating. There is a LTS class which would be OK if I didn't know how to skate at all, but the skills I need to learn (hockey stops, crossovers) aren't taught in those classes. If I took the figure skating class, they probably would want me to work in figure skates, not my hockey gear. Plus I've had run-ins with the FS director, she's not really fond of hockey players or speedskaters.

So I'm watching videos on Youtube, reading books on skating, etc. - but when it comes down to actually getting to learn the skills, it would be helpful to have someone there to pinpoint what I'm doing wrong, what I'm doing right, etc. We do skating drills in the various classes I take, but there are usually too many people there to have a coach come over and give constructive criticism.

basically, this means just trial and error on my part. Which is OK, except it makes everything take 50X longer than if I had someone saying "you need to lean more" or "put your weight on the ball of your foot" and the like.

Private lessons may fix the issue, but I don't know about that for someone who is just playing for fun. I know that the more I'm on the ice, the better I'll get at things - but it's not like I'll just magically pick up backwards crossovers on my own, without at least a little bit of guidance.

 

[JoeCool16]

Private lessons may fix the issue, but I don't know about that for someone who is just playing for fun. I know that the more I'm on the ice, the better I'll get at things - but it's not like I'll just magically pick up backwards crossovers on my own, without at least a little bit of guidance.

Have you tried looking to see if your rink has beginner clinics for adult hockey players? I know there are a few in the Lower Mainland of BC where I live, and they are usually great. There is a bit of strategy, some passing, but a lot of it from my experience is working on hockey-relating skating. They definitely put us through the paces and I came out a much better skater after taking a few of these classes.

Oh, and in my case, they definitely had us doing backwards crossovers

 

[TickleMeYandle]

I do a couple of clinic type things - a developmental league one day a week and then the "instructional league" another day.

For the most part, what I find is that while they do have us doing drills to practice the skills, most of it is NOT geared towards actually teaching people how to do the moves necessary. It's more "here's a drill - I want you to do a crossover when you get here, then skate this far, do another crossover here." But there are some of us who are still needing to be told the actual mechanics of HOW to get the crossover to work before we can run drills that require them.

I remember one of the classes about the 2nd week of the season for the D-league. The coach set up some tires or cones and said 'OK, now I want you to take a couple of strides, pivot, and then continue backwards to this tire. Then do a couple of crossovers to get to the boards, then a couple of backwards crossovers to get out to the next tire. Pivot, grab the puck, take it to the end and take a shot on the net."

About 4 of us turned and looked at each other and said "Backwards. He wants us to go backwards. How exactly do you do that?"

Pretty much all of us had tuned out about 15 seconds into the explanation because we quite simply didn't know how to go backwards! We needed to be told how to stand, where the weight should be on the blade, how to push, what edge to use, etc. before we could even begin to do the drill.

There is one coach that I've worked with who is excellent for this sort of thing - when we were learning how to transition forwards to backwards, he actually explained it and showed us - he said "put the weight on this part of the blade" and we started doing little circles in place, just by changing where the weight was on the blade. Then he had us take a couple of forward strides and then do the same thing. Then it was on to actually getting some speed up, then doing the pivot. Everyone got it, because we knew HOW to get it. It wasn't just "well, you just kind of turn around really fast" but an actual explanation. Unfortunately, I can't really go to his classes all that often now that the starting time has been pushed back.

With the crossovers, I was having trouble getting them at all. Once I really started to focus on PUSHING the leg under the other one rather than just balancing on it, it got a lot easier. I'm still not great at them (and can only just barely do them the other direction) but it made all the difference in the world to be USING that blade to go somewhere rather than just gliding on it and hoping the other foot would fall into place over it. If I had been told by someone "hey, why don't you try actually pushing that blade under your body instead of flopping over like a teeter totter" I could have cut the learning time in half, easily.

 

[JoeCool16]

For the most part, what I find is that while they do have us doing drills to practice the skills, most of it is NOT geared towards actually teaching people how to do the moves necessary. It's more "here's a drill - I want you to do a crossover when you get here, then skate this far, do another crossover here." But there are some of us who are still needing to be told the actual mechanics of HOW to get the crossover to work before we can run drills that require them.

Oh, well that's weak, if it 's a beginner's class. Are you in the Greater Vancouver area? Probably not, but if you are and you can get to Surrey they do great classes at the fleetwood arena.

A typical drill would be doing crossovers around each faceoff circle. You go once around, move to the next circle and go the other way.

You can also do the drills backwards, or practice transitioning so that you do the circles but always keep your chest towards the other goal.... it's great, it really helps your skating.

And they build up to crossing over backwards. First it's skating backwards in the circles doing C-cuts with one foot, and then a bridging drill focusing on the other foot's motion, and then finally full crossovers.