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  • #16
    Re: So who taught you how to skate...

    Originally posted by Federal League View Post
    When I was three, my dad started taking me to public skating at the Janas Rink in Lowell. They had milk crates there that little kids could use to help keep their balance. The next winter, he signed me up for learn to skate classes in my hometown and bought me my first stick. Since sticks and pucks weren't allowed either at class or at public skating, he took me to a pond down the street and taught me how to stickhandle. When I was five, I moved up to the advanced skating class, and when I was six, I played on my first mite team. My dad built a rink in our backyard when I was seven or eight, and he kept it going until we moved when I was 12. I played up to midgets and JV in high school, but never made varsity. I still play pick-up pond hockey with my friends at home, and I play three or four hours a week for a hockey "class" at BU.
    Is Barb Pinch still the hockey teacher at BU? She was awesome.

    I loved that class so much. I got so much better (from atrocious to sucky) in the year I took it, and it was just so much fun. Plus, there's something special about playing on the WBA ice, no matter how terrible it is.
    I love BC people - without them, everyone would want to move to Boston. They keep the numbers down. - Bill Simmons

    Boston University: 2009 National Champions

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    • #17
      Re: So who taught you how to skate...

      Originally posted by ScoobyDoo View Post
      Taught myself. First on roller skates (the old school kind) believe it or not and then on ice skates. Backwards for sure being a Minnesotan.
      same here. my catholic grade school in PA had a 'first tuesday skating night' where we got to dark skate with girls to songs like 'take it on the run' and 'we are the champions' first hundred times i played hockey was on roller skates too where i emulated syl apps and pierre larouche (ie, lost ).
      a legend and an out of work bum look a lot alike, daddy.

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      • #18
        Re: So who taught you how to skate...

        Originally posted by 25 N Countin' View Post
        Is Barb Pinch still the hockey teacher at BU? She was awesome.

        I loved that class so much. I got so much better (from atrocious to sucky) in the year I took it, and it was just so much fun. Plus, there's something special about playing on the WBA ice, no matter how terrible it is.
        No, Andrea Mohns-Brilla runs it now. I'm not really sure what the beginner's class is like, but the advanced class is all scrimmage from Day 1, which is awesome. It's great getting to play at WBA two or three times a week.
        Places I've seen a college hockey game: Agganis Arena, Alfond Arena, Bright Center, Consol Energy Center, Conte Forum, DCU Center, Fenway Park, Gutterson Fieldhouse, Houston Field House, Lawler Arena, Madison Square Garden, Matthews Arena, Mullins Center, Schneider Arena, Scottrade Center, Sears Centre, Tampa Bay Times Forum, TD Bank Sports Center, TD Garden, Tsongas Center, Tully Forum, Verizon Center, Verizon Wireless Arena, Walter Brown Arena, Wells Fargo Center, Whittemore Center

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        • #19
          Re: So who taught you how to skate...

          I was taught when I was 3 or 4 years old by my uncle. He was a forward for the Sioux back in the 70's, so he could get us into the old REA every now and then to skate with some other former players and their families. He never actually played in the old REA though...his playing days were in the Winter Sports Garden (The Barn).
          I like chocolate milk and Kate Beckinsale and Lauren Graham and Brooke Burke and Elisha Cuthbert and Eva Longoria.

          Fighting Sioux Hockey

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          • #20
            Re: So who taught you how to skate...

            TBD. I've been doing something not even closely resembling skating on and off for 40+ years, but at some point before my bones turn to powder I'd love to actually have lessons. Crossovers can't be that hard, right?
            Cornell University
            National Champion 1967, 1970
            ECAC Champion 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1973, 1980, 1986, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2005, 2010
            Ivy League Champion 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2020

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            • #21
              Re: So who taught you how to skate...

              Originally posted by Kepler View Post
              TBD. I've been doing something not even closely resembling skating on and off for 40+ years, but at some point before my bones turn to powder I'd love to actually have lessons. Crossovers can't be that hard, right?
              put
              one
              foot
              in front
              of
              the other

              and soon you'll be skating 'cross the flooo-ooooor-rrrr.

              ******* width="480" height="385">****** name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/f9jeh4mA5us&hl=en_US&fs=1&">****** name="allowFullScreen" value="true">****** name="allowscriptaccess" value="always">****** src="http://www.youtube.com/v/f9jeh4mA5us&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385">
              a legend and an out of work bum look a lot alike, daddy.

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              • #22
                Re: So who taught you how to skate...

                I skated once or twice every year since high school, and then this past winter I made skating part of my workout / gym route, skating at "Jackson's Landing" in Durham -- the public rink, built from the old boards at Snively. I also skated a few times at the JFK in Manchester.

                I went from being comically awkward to being able to cross over, forward and backwards, through the course of the winter. Most of what I learned was from trial and error, and quite a few bruises on my ***. I asked the more experienced skaters for tips, and about mid-winter two friends of mine (who play goalie and forward in a local league) started skating with me, and really working with me. Skating went from a leisure activity to a workout, where I'd leave sweating bullets 3 days a week.

                At the end of Spring Break in March, I took the next step, and bought a cup and helmet, and went to 'open stick and puck' (the stick, a gift from the two friends). Stick and Puck ended, and the pick-up game began, short one player. Kaija and Ben loaned me extra gear, and 4 assists and a goal later, my first organized (term used loosely) hockey game was over, and though I could barely walk the next day, I was hooked

                Fortunately, there are a couple arenas open during the summer, so this summer is about building up endurance (I was dead after an hour and a half of skating) and honing the backwards skating ability . . . can't wait for Landing to open in November!
                I haven't been on here in a year...
                Now I'm a dad. Holy crap.

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                • #23
                  Re: So who taught you how to skate...

                  Originally posted by brianvf View Post
                  I was taught when I was 3 or 4 years old by my uncle. He was a forward for the Sioux back in the 70's, so he could get us into the old REA every now and then to skate with some other former players and their families. He never actually played in the old REA though...his playing days were in the Winter Sports Garden (The Barn).
                  I thought I could skate until as a Freshman I took the UND ice skating class at the old REA. Some guys wanted me on their IM hockey team but said I needed to learn to skate first. I was kind of insulted but enrolled anyway.

                  The class was taught by one of the assistant coaches of the Sioux hockey team, he went on to coach in the NHL. Class progressed from basic starting/stopping thru forward/backward crossovers to more advance techniques. By end of class he had us doing figure eights on one foot while facing one direction, with no hockey sticks to lean on for balance. Well spent tuition money.

                  Also while skating on Sioux ice I made some interesting observations about WCHA hockey. As the season progressed the amount of blood on the ice varied. Games against Wisconsin seemed to have the most blood.
                  Last edited by SoCalSiouxFan; 06-10-2010, 05:21 PM.
                  "For me, college hockey was obviously the best step I could have taken to get to the next level." - Jonathan Toews, North Dakota/Chicago Blackhawks

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                  • #24
                    Re: So who taught you how to skate...

                    My Mother, who never did any other athletic thing in her life, went way out of the way to get me and my 3 siblings on outside ice in Maryland when I was young. Looking back at it, it really must of been a lot of work to find 4 sets of skates, and safe ice. But she was from Minnesota, and us kids needed to learn to skate.
                    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX


                    The reason for the talent in the west? Because MN didn't rely on Canada.

                    Originally posted by MN Pond Hockey
                    Menards could have sold a lot of rope

                    this morning in Grand Forks if North Dakota had trees.

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                    • #25
                      Re: So who taught you how to skate...

                      Originally posted by Kepler View Post
                      TBD. I've been doing something not even closely resembling skating on and off for 40+ years, but at some point before my bones turn to powder I'd love to actually have lessons. Crossovers can't be that hard, right?
                      They arent THAT hard, you just have to learn to be fearless (not afraid to fall and look stupid) and practice, practice, practice.
                      I found that once I accepted the fact that Im going to fall sometimes (even the best skaters in the world fall sometimes) and put the fear of falling and embarassing myself out of my mind, skating became much easier. Honestly though, if you go to public skate, most people are pretty terrible skaters anyways, so its not like anyone is going to laugh at you or make fun of you.
                      A Badger living in Buckeye country.
                      Originally posted by MadCityRich
                      He blossomed after he left the U, and they still named a city in Minnesota after him?
                      Originally posted by ExileOnDaytonStreet
                      Sieve, Minnesota? Never heard of it.
                      Originally posted by Timothy A
                      I know my distain of anything and everything related to IL or MN is totally insane, but that's me; you can't change the genetics.
                      "The state of North Dakota may not exist. It's like South Dakota's Canadian girlfriend." -- Stephen Colbert

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                      • #26
                        Re: So who taught you how to skate...

                        I roller skated infrequently as a kid until I won a pair of rollerblades at a New Years party at my friends rink. I rollerbladed often (took to it VERY quickly) after that and I remember watching NHL hockey on tv and thinking that it couldn't be too hard but never tried ice skating. Fast forward 10 years with progressively less roller skating every year and out of sheer happenstance I went to St. Cloud for college (meteorology), went to my first college game vs. UND and have been hooked on the game since. Still wanted to try skating but just had that something inside that kept me from the rink to try.

                        In the spring of my last year of college I purchased some skates (and a stick) on ebay to give myself that push to give it a shot. Much to my dismay they closed the rink down for the summer shortly after I got my skates so I never got my shot there. Graduation came and went and I moved down to West Metro MPLS for work and found a rink to hit up an open skate. Brought my girlfriend on my first visit (she couldn't skate well, so I figured I wouldn't be alone), laced them up, stepped out on the ice and started skating like I had been doing it for years. Forwards, backwards and even light stopping. Needless to say my girlfriend called me an athletic freak of nature because of that. Started going to an open skate once or twice a week, shoveled my first pond for the outdoor experience that whole winter and used what I saw on tv and at SCSU games as my lessons. Monkey see, monkey do, per se.

                        This past summer my office moved just down the road from Braemar Arena (which conveniently had year passes and open skates over my lunch hour!) so I spent my second winter skating every other day trying to do what I saw and developed some simple drills for myself until I could skate forwards, backwards, cross over, hockey stop to the left and right, quick start etc until it became almost a second nature. Later on, I ended up meeting a guy who played 4 years at Wisconsin, 6 in the pros (mainly NHL farm system and in Europe) who has been helping me refine the process. I then volunteered for the MN special "Stingers" hockey team to gain a different aspect on the game because now I am helping others to learn the game.

                        2 seasons in and I am currently doing the search to complete my set of gear so that I can start in the JMS (Just My Speed) Pickup Hockey Program. I can generally keep up with my buddy (who played through high school and is a level 3, potentially 4, in the program). He thinks I can get into the 2nd level of the program right off the bat, which is pretty exciting. I still have a bunch to learn but with skating generally out of the way I can now focus my efforts on positioning and strategy.
                        I survived the SCSU E. Coli scare of 2005.

                        Inventor of the "Mine!" chant.

                        Signs, Signs every game there's signs:
                        I ♥ Lamp!!
                        Got Nodl?
                        Bow down to Bobby!
                        Ooooohhhh! Not just Spanish for rice!

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                        • #27
                          Re: So who taught you how to skate...

                          My father took me to the MacKay ice rink in Englewood, NJ when I was somewhere around 3 yrs old. I had a pair of the double runners and got pulled around until I started taking steps and eventually skating. The place has been there forever; it's got a roof over it but the walls are just chain-link fences with tarps over them to try and keep the wind out. I played some house league there and then moved on to a travel team, then I continued playing in middle and high school. I've done some intramurals at NU and now I currently ref there.
                          Celebrating 20 Years of TheDogHouse

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                          • #28
                            Re: So who taught you how to skate...

                            My uncle taught me when I was about 2 1/2 or 3 at a rink in Montclair, NJ down the street from my house. The day before my 3rd birthday I tried to climb the steps in my skates and wound up with stitches (clearly he was a responsible uncle...)! When I was a kid I figure skated until I was about 9, then lost interest (because, frankly, it's boring and girly and I was always something of a tomboy).

                            I picked skating up again in college (Barb Pinch taught the first two years I did it, and I agree, she was awesome!), and took the hockey classes senior year - mostly the beginner one, but sometimes I would go to the scrimmage class, too. Between that and local clinics/pick-ups, and a women's team out at Hockeytown, senior year I was playing hockey 7 days a week, which I really miss!
                            "You miss 100% of the shots you never take." - Wayne Gretzky

                            Photography

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                            • #29
                              Re: So who taught you how to skate...

                              My dad taught me when I was about 3 at an outdoor rink in South St Paul he had played in high school back in the day and it was the thing to do there. Also I remember going to the Art Miller/Doug Woog hockey school but have no clue how old I was maybe like 7 or 8 at the time.


                              I remember playing some youth games at the old Mariucci arena and we would pretend to be the Gopher players it was pretty awesome for a young kid. I was hooked on College Hockey after that.
                              Originally posted by CavalryNate
                              Disrespecting the Gophers is like disowning your mother the first time you get a girlfriend.
                              sigpic

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                              • #30
                                Re: So who taught you how to skate...

                                My dad taught me how to skate when I was 5 on an outdoor rink a block from my house. On winter days I went home from school, grabbed something to eat and went to the rink and skated for 2 hours until they closed the rink for dinner between 6 and 7, then went back after dinner for 2 more hours. The "warming house" was a shack with a 55-gallon barrel converted to a wood-burning stove. I started playing hockey right away and played through high school and then intramural at UND.
                                Believe it. Earn it. Raise it.

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