Starting hockey at the age of 20

[Finpower]

Hey I'm 20 years old and just started to play hockey. I'm pretty athletic and have played other sports, even though I have very little experience in hockey. My goal is to make it to one of the top amateur leagues in Finland. Just wondering if this is realistic. I just want to have fun but I still wonder what is my ultimate potential.

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[Fremitus Borealis]

For anybody starting hockey after the age of like 6, the single biggest hurdle to overcome is skating. People who have been skating since kindergarten age almost always have an advantage. So if you're just starting out, I would work on skating as much as possible (including taking any power skating lessons or classes available in your area). I've seen guys at pickup hockey who, during warmups, are doing all these insane looking dangle moves (while standing still) and you're like, "Oh great, one of these guys..." And then when the puck drops, they all of a sudden look like they've never played before, because they can't skate very well.

I don't know anything about the top amateur leagues in Finland, but if you've already got experience in other sports, are reasonably athletic, and work really hard on your skating, my hunch is "making it" to one of these leagues is at least theoretically possible within a few years.

 

[Arselona]

I guess top amateur league in Finland would be filled with quite serious/dedicated players with years of experience from competetive junior hockey. Reaching that level might be an unrealistic goal for an adult newbie.

 

[puckpilot]

Anything is possible if you have the time and dedication, but realistically, how much time do you have to dedicate it hockey?

You're going to have to catch up to players who have probably 10 plus years of experience on you. It's going to take more than once a week on the ice to do that.

And that's just to develop your individual skills. If you can't think the game at a high level, you're not going anywhere. I've seen people who have started later in life who have great individual skills. They do great against the scrubs at pickup, but as soon as they meet someone who can match their individual skill, they don't do a anywhere near as well.

I play with some guys who were junior players. They're in their 50s and the way they move with the puck and shoot, it's all so gosh darn smooth and natural. They're not even trying and they're still better than everyone.

Again you're going to have to work mighty hard to even have a chance.

 

[JoeCool16]

Good goal, but since you're not getting paid and are doing it for fun, I guess it doesn't really matter if you get the carrot on the stick. Top rec league divisions around me still make their own teams, so maybe if you get skating down and promise to always bring the beer, they'll give you a spot. I'm pretty sure that's how Dion Phaneuf is still playing.

 

[goalie29]

Skating will be the first thing. If you didn't start skating when you were a kid, it is going to be very difficult to catch up. I've played with and taught many adult learners, and only one ever approached anything like real fluidity on skates. And they spent a crazy number of hours in lessons and practicing over years to get that way.

Same with hockey skills. Like the poster earlier in the thread, I play with some older guys who were higher level players as teens/20s. Their skills are effortless and smooth. You can pick out the adult learners in the group in an instant. The experienced guys also see the game faster than the beginners, and make plays without thinking. Those are likely the sort of players you would be competing with, so lots of work ahead to catch up!

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

Go to skate and shoots as much as you can and focus on your skating fundamentals. It's tough, but where there's a will there's a way.

I started late and never really mastered stopping of all things. Wish I'd spent more time just going blue line to center, stop. red line to blue line, stop. Do the same things again and again and again until it's in your DNA and you got a shot.

 

[BruinDust]

Skating will be the first thing. If you didn't start skating when you were a kid, it is going to be very difficult to catch up. I've played with and taught many adult learners, and only one ever approached anything like real fluidity on skates. And they spent a crazy number of hours in lessons and practicing over years to get that way.

Same with hockey skills. Like the poster earlier in the thread, I play with some older guys who were higher level players as teens/20s. Their skills are effortless and smooth. You can pick out the adult learners in the group in an instant. The experienced guys also see the game faster than the beginners, and make plays without thinking. Those are likely the sort of players you would be competing with, so lots of work ahead to catch up!

Yup, the skating and ability to read the play/make quick and correct decisions will likely take some time to catch up to the rest of the pack of more experienced players.

Although playing other sports should help. I have a friend who just picked up hockey last two years and he was a amateur-level competitive soccer/euro football player before and he took to ice hockey very well in terms of his ability to make plays, decision making, finding soft spots, etc. I think there must be some correlation between the two sports. He practically had surpassed all of the other adult beginners in this particular group almost from day 1.

 

[Finpower]

The most important thing for me is to have fun. I don't care that much how good I will be, but I will try to be the best player I can be. I have now been going on the ice for a week. I would like to clarify that I had some previous experience from skating as I could move on the ice and skate backwards a little bit, but not much more. When i got on the ice the first time Hockey stop was my first skill to learn and I think I'm getting pretty confident with stopping on my left side. Stopping with my right side still feels very unsure. Also I have been doing forward crossover drills and I have gotten petty comfortable doing it with my strong side. My weak side is a bit weak on this one too.

I think my next step is to improve my weak side and then move on to skating backwards. Having really much fun learning to skate! Hopefully next year I would be ready to play some actual hockey when I get my skating down

 

[Howie Hodge]

So if you bust your keester and reach the desired level, you should have what, a good two week career !? Tall order my friend...

Such a great game, just go out, have some fun, and let the chips fall where they may!

 

[Mitts]

Hey I'm 20 years old and just started to play hockey. I'm pretty athletic and have played other sports, even though I have very little experience in hockey. My goal is to make it to one of the top amateur leagues in Finland. Just wondering if this is realistic. I just want to have fun but I still wonder what is my ultimate potential.

I believe it is possible, go hard man, look to improve everyday and believe in yourself. i quit around your age as well, I started late too, a little younger at 17, I quit because I didn't think I could do it, but I can tell you with age I have no doubt I could have done it, if I believed. I'm 46 now, hindsight s 20/20, so do not give up, you'd be amazed what you can do if you don't put limits on yourself. Don't listen to people who say you can't do it, believe in you and look to improve constantly, bust your ass to get there.

 

[TGWL]

Never say never, but changes are probably very slim to none. It's not what you want to hear and your motivation shouldn't allow you to give up, but that's such a late age to get into a competitive sport and hang players who have been developing since a single age digit. Go out and have fun. I don't know how your development has been going but fall in love with skating and shooting the puck as much as you can.