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

[Jarick]

It isn't that I'll never pass, more that if I have to thread the needle (which I can't do) and they have to handle a hot pass (which they struggle with) and then beat a defender (which they never do)...then I'll be selfish. But if I'm playing up, a lot of those guys can catch passes with the butt end of the stick and skate on one leg, so I'll give them the grenades and watch them go to work.

 

[SaintMorose]

The skill side of being a good teammate is over-rated it's much more about character

-Skate instead of coasting
-Look for open teammates and make an attempt to move the puck around
-Keep shift time reasonable (In open/outdoor hockey watch the guys who come on the ice ahead and after you)
-Talk to your team!

anything from: Make someone laugh; let people know if you see an open lane or an opponent they don't (it's a rink not a library yell and scream); if you feel like you flubbed something ask someone about what you could do to play it better; if someone offers advice (and they aren't a jerk aboot it) listen

-Show respect for everyone on the ice (and twice that for the goalies)

If you try to do these things and someone doesn't want you out there -.- problem lies with them.

In league games it's not too much different you'll be expected to take shorter shifts and quicker movement of the puck. I'll cringe though every time simple plays like chipping the puck out of our end are consistently not made... but if you're fulfilling all the non-skill parts of being a good teammate I'll hit you when I can with a pass (even if you might miss it) and I'll cheer you on when you do make things happen.

Being a good hockey player is a lot like being a good person only you dangle better

This thread really makes you think about all the little things you learn.
Great lists on respecting the tendies sherwood and raven I feel like they should be "stickied" somewhere for new players.

 

[RandV]

In league games it's not too much different you'll be expected to take shorter shifts and quicker movement of the puck. I'll cringe though every time simple plays like chipping the puck out of our end are consistently not made... but if you're fulfilling all the non-skill parts of being a good teammate I'll hit you when I can with a pass (even if you might miss it) and I'll cheer you on when you do make things happen.

Haha yeah you really gotta be patient for this one, I know from experience. When a guy is starting out in a level above him this can be one of the hardest things to do, because making the simple play or not it's still usually a 1 on 1 confrontation between winger and opposing dman. Generally at any decent rec league level the newer guys get shuffled onto the wing and you always have experienced players on defense, so for a 1 on 1 play it's going to be a huge mismatch in ability and experience.

I think it took me about a year before I was able to reliably get the puck out of our zone when it got fired up my side of the boards.

 

[Jarick]

Solid posts SaintAnton and RandV.

I don't mind if you're not a great hockey player so long as you at least cover a guy in the D zone and take him out of the play. If you chip the puck out of the zone or even ice it after a long shift, that's great.

Normally when I see new players who are good athletes and/or played pond hockey, they struggle at first with the defensive zone play. By the end of a season though, they have it figured out. But players who are over the heads will tend to struggle year after year.

 

[WolfgangPuck]

Solid posts SaintAnton and RandV.

I don't mind if you're not a great hockey player so long as you at least cover a guy in the D zone and take him out of the play. If you chip the puck out of the zone or even ice it after a long shift, that's great.

Normally when I see new players who are good athletes and/or played pond hockey, they struggle at first with the defensive zone play. By the end of a season though, they have it figured out. But players who are over the heads will tend to struggle year after year.

I like this.
As your offense skills develop , you can always help the team with good defense skills.
Its not that hard to learn to protect your zone, chase after loose pucks, poke check.

 

[Clarkington III]

I like them a lot on my team in pickup and more dislike than like on my team for beer league games, but in either case, only if they are clearly trying/working hard and they are more often than not making a smart or simple play.

In pickup, it makes it more fun to get a goal when it is a team goal from a little cycle or a nice play or hustle to a puck and then being in a good spot for a pass to get a goal. I know they like it and I like being part of the setup more than I like scoring an individual goal.

In beer league, I don't mind it so much if the work ethic is there. Back check hard, play you zones/lanes. Stand in front of the net or get into good pockets of space in the offensive zone to score goals, etc. On the other hand, it is frustrating when plays that should be made or consistently are made at that level are not at a consistent rate because of a lower skill level.

For me, it just boils down to trying hard, trying to think the game (even asking questions about plays is a really good indication of where your head is at), and not trying over and over to make plays that clearly you should not be trying to make. That's not to say not to try something, but be smart enough to know when to stop trying something. Have fun with it but be smart.

 

[Clarkington III]

Solid posts SaintAnton and RandV.

I don't mind if you're not a great hockey player so long as you at least cover a guy in the D zone and take him out of the play. If you chip the puck out of the zone or even ice it after a long shift, that's great.

Normally when I see new players who are good athletes and/or played pond hockey, they struggle at first with the defensive zone play. By the end of a season though, they have it figured out. But players who are over the heads will tend to struggle year after year.

I read this after my initial reply. This also times 1000.

 

[mistrhanky]

So, I just got back from a lunchtime skate. The first time I tried this(different day) the skill level was way out of my barely D level skillset. Nobody was douchy about it, but I didn't see the puck much. It was like having a really great ticket to watch a game.

This time I found a crowd that is a bit lower in level, though much better than me, and these guys were really great. After a few shifts(light crowd, 7 per side) they could see my level and I got a lot of good advice. In particular, I am old(43), 6'4", 240, with big, slow size 14 skate feet. But a lot of the advice I got was really good and tailored to how to get the most out of my skill level and size, until I could improve my skating and stickhandling level. I am not very good, but I do bust my ass out there and I think once they saw that, guys went out of there way to feed me some passes(though I mishandled a lot of them) and gave me a little room to skate it.

I think that a lot of guys in my situation will start towards a loose puck or a puck carrier, see that they won't get there in time to make a play and ease up on it. I have found though that the situation often changes by the time I get to my destination and what was once a non-play for me, is suddenly in play. Even the best guys can mishandle a puck and if I back off then all I can do is sit there and watch the play I could have made if I had hustled. It seems to me that showing heart, energy and willingness to crash here and there garners a lot of respect. So, overall, I will probably make that a regular part of my rotation and continue to take my classes and hopefully it all translates to better play for me.

 

[sanityplease]

I really respect those who work to learn & improve their skills.

On the other hand, the guy who misses marshmallow passes from 20 feet, 9 times out of 10(for two years I've been playing in this league), never passes himself & hogs the ice time, frustrates me a bit.

Skate hard (as per your skill level/conditioning), play your position, use your teammates & try to improve. Even the pros had to learn to skate once.

 

[JR97]

There's a noob on my team this season. He's been doing drop-ins for about a year and this is his second season in league play. Decent skills for a noob and he's got good athletic ability.

His skills are actually good enough that he sometimes thinks he's better than he is. He even asked to move back to D so he could get more ice time. Which is fine in some situations given the overall skill level of the league but I'd had enough of his dumb turnovers in our own zone so I basically told him "You don't need to try and win the game on every shift. Just make the best play for the moment and make a difference." ie chip the puck up and out if we're getting pinned in our end. Chip the puck deep if there isn't room to carry the puck in or isn't someone to pass to it who can get it in.

I think it made a difference because instead of coming the to bench *****ing that he didn't score or get a scoring chance he's now coming to the bench saying stuff like "we didn't give up any shots on that shift" or "we maintained some good possession". Our/his first season last summer we were in the bottom 3rd and knocked out in the 1st round. Our fall season is now winding down and we were undefeated and play for the championship friday night. He still makes dumb plays every now and then but his approach to the game as 3 periods has really made him more effective. He's a good example of a noob that actually listened.

 

[Jarick]

We have two guys that were on our team six years ago back for this year. One of them looked like a giraffe on skates, tall, gangly, awkward, etc. Since he left the team he's played a few seasons, hasn't taken any lessons or worked AT ALL, but he's actually been really solid and reliable. Sure he could use some softer hands and better agility, but he's been fairly speedy going up ice and makes good decisions.

His thing is he's always had a great attitude, people like him, and nobody gets down on him when he does mess up because he knows his limitations and usually doesn't make the same dumb mistakes over and over.

The other guy...well he was a pretty solid player and is still solid, maybe even better, but he's kind of got a bad attitude when we're losing and it's a bit grating. Great clutch scorer though.

 

[TickleMeYandle]

I started this post a while back and thought I'd give an update.

I'm skating in 2 leagues right now, plus attending another instructional class/league and doing stick time once per week. So that's 4 times a week that I'm on the ice.

I know that I've made lots of progress in several areas. I've been told by several players and coaches that my skating is a million times better than when I first started. I do feel more secure on the ice, although the things I can do in class/during stick time don't always happen during game situations - for example, I've got transitions and right over left crossovers down like nobody's business during practice. During a game...they just don't happen. I know that eventually muscle memory will make them accessible during game situations, but until then I just have to practice a bit!

I've done some drop-in games and was asked how long I've been playing, the guy was surprised when I told him since April. He remarked that I was where I'm supposed to be on the ice, and that I was holding my own out there. I may not be perfect, but I am generally where I'm supposed to be and give 100%. As the skill increases, I expect to do more and be more effective.

In the beginning, I hardly touched the puck. If I got it, I flung it away in a panic. Now I look around and try to make good decisions. I still don't always think to skate with it as a first choice, just because I know I'm slow and likely to lose it. I've started to get SOG, and I've had about 5 assists this season. I had NO assists last season, and maybe only one SOG ever. So I'm moving towards the position of being a contributor rather than a pylon!

I've not run into many people who are mean or anything towards me as a n00b. In one game (organized pick-up) that I played, I'm pretty sure someone asked the other team to take it easy on me, since it was clear that I didn't stand a chance against him. Halfway through the first period, he backed off a little bit - didn't let me score any easy goals, but I did get to touch the puck and skate with it a little bit. There is one person I've played with that annoyed me a bit - it was an unimportant friendly game, the other team was up 10-3 - and yet every single time I got the puck, she'd come over and take it before I even made two strides with it. We were just subbing in for whatever position the person who came off had been playing, but no matter what position I was at the time, or what position she was playing, she would come take it from me. I felt like just saying "OK, I GET IT! YOU'RE BETTER THAN ME! JUST TAKE THE PUCK AND I'LL GO SIT ON THE BENCH." That's been the exception though, not the norm at all. For the most part everyone has been encouraging and that has been wonderful.

 

[ganave]

-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.

Figure I'd jump in as a noob goalie...

I love it when the more experienced skaters in class are taking shots on the net. Sometimes I'll ask for a specific sequence like glove, blocker, 5 hole or two man breakaways or something.

Noob skaters are a different thing. Most of them are great, they'll work on something specific like wrist shots and getting some lift on them.

However, there will be some who skate up and try a slapshot at 5 feet out from the top of the crease in practice. At that point I don't really bother with anything aside from protecting myself. If I have time in the drill I'll skate out and do a quick poke check at the puck, but if not I'm more concerned with not getting injured. They usually wind up crashing the net.

About ducking headshots. A nice tip that I got from gsbb was that you can safely duck pucks that are at head-level. Obviously it is nice to get a glove on it to control the puck, but frankly I'd rather have the puck behind the net than trying to deal with an unpredictable rebound.

 

[LeifUK]

Over the last 9 months everyone with one exception has been at worst tolerant, which is fine, and at best really helpful, which is great. Some make really useful comments, positive criticism which is helpful. So overall a very good experience. I’ve been knocked flying a few times, by accident, and sometimes they look so guilty I feel sorry for them.

Oddly enough I bumped into the exception this evening. He was watching our session, said hello afterwards, and gave me some very constructive criticism.

 

[MullerBrotenVerbeek]

As mentioned, when a complete beginner shows up to open hockey no one cares, and usually they try to go out of their way to pass him the puck and go easy on him when playing defense UNLESS it's a guy who takes 5 minute shifts the whole time. No one likes that guy.

 

[mitchmagic]

Watch your stick. Biggest issue I have is an inexperienced player who's wildly swinging their stick because someone blows by them or just indiscriminately slashing sticks and hands.