Who here actually plays hockey?

[unh_hockey]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

I break about one a year through general wear and tear, though since the league I'm currently in doesn't allow any slap shots (defined as the stick coming above the waist on the backswing), they may last longer. Not that I ever took that many slap shots to begin with, but I normally would get off a couple one-timers a season when the puck found its way to my wheelhouse.

what kind do you get? man if I was breaking my bauer vapor 40s every year, i'd be in the poor house.

are you guys in a pretty competative league?

 

[unofan]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

what kind do you get? man if I was breaking my bauer vapor 40s every year, i'd be in the poor house.

are you guys in a pretty competative league?

They're Bauers, but they were old, originally got em back in 2006 and who knows what year they were actually amde - they were leftovers from a college team after the players graduated (it paid to be friends with the equipment guy). Had 3 of em at one point, down to 1 now. I've bought two sticks on top of those, each probably in the $70 range - last one was a Sherwood, one before that was an Easton. I usually go for previous years models that are on the clearance rack. Still have the Sherwood. And a really old $20 wood one as the ultimate backup of last resort.

I was playing 2-3 times a week for awhile. Not ultra-competitive, but the usual chippiness showed up. Lost one to a gap near the Zamboni door, which was a bit unlucky. One broke during warm-ups before a game. Third one can't remember how it happened. So I've broken 3 of em in 5 years, though I didn't play at all for one of those years after moving.

 

[SteveP]

They're Bauers, but they were old, originally got em back in 2006 and who knows what year they were actually amde - they were leftovers from a college team after the players graduated (it paid to be friends with the equipment guy). Had 3 of em at one point, down to 1 now. I've bought two sticks on top of those, each probably in the $70 range - last one was a Sherwood, one before that was an Easton. I usually go for previous years models that are on the clearance rack. Still have the Sherwood. And a really old $20 wood one as the ultimate backup of last resort.

I was playing 2-3 times a week for awhile. Not ultra-competitive, but the usual chippiness showed up. Lost one to a gap near the Zamboni door, which was a bit unlucky. One broke during warm-ups before a game. Third one can't remember how it happened. So I've broken 3 of em in 5 years, though I didn't play at all for one of those years after moving.

I have a Bauer Composite shaft, wood blade that my brother gave me in 2000. Still use it as my backup!

 

[unh_hockey]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

i think the wooden twigs are more suseptable to breaking. I snagged a vapor 40 which was 200+ back in its day, and its still doing okay. Decent ones seem to always be on clearence since stores usually don't get them all out during the normal hockey season. 50 dollars today will buy you something 100+ would have a few years ago.

 

[St. Clown]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

I still haven't broken a stick, but I don't wind up for one timers in pick up leagues. actually I don't like slap shots at all, but I play forward and don't need to score goals with them.

I don't wind up my shots for slappers; a one-timer for me is a snap shot where the stick won't go above the top of my skate's blade holder. Truth be told, I've never really learned how to take a decent slap shot and I'm all right with that - it just dribbles towards net. I do, however, get some pretty good bend on my stick with a wrist shot. At the risk of sounding like a braggart, I've sent people to the bench when they've taken a shot to the shin pads. I even sent con1977 to the ER when I got him in the skate - it hit on the tongue - during the 2007 posters' game. I've since apologized.

what kind do you get? man if I was breaking my bauer vapor 40s every year, i'd be in the poor house.

are you guys in a pretty competative league?

My sticks are/were Vapor 40, 102 flex, PM9 blade pattern. $95 online, and bought the pair of them back in August. This is the first of the two that I've broken. Before that I used the Vapor XXV, and still would if I could have found my flex and blade pattern. I like the old 25's feel better than the 40's. As it stands, my flex/blade appear to be either really popular or rare as it's tough to find them in stock except in the current year's models.

Since I couldn't find a Vapor 40 with my options, I switched to the Supreme one60. I hope it's a more durable stick as they're built for power. The downside is that the Vapor line is made for wrist shots and passing accuracy. Accuracy can be a problem for me sometimes when I'm really unloading a shot.

 

[unh_hockey]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

Slappers for me have taken a LONG *** time to learn how to put power into. Its leverage, balance, and how you connect much like a golf shot. I finally have one down, but its still inconsistent and I, like you, elect to go with a wrist or snap shot.

I recently switched to a shorter stick for floor hockey and noticed its easier to control the puck in close, and get shots off. Never really realized how much of a handicap it is to use a long stick. I usually play with one for a D. Might have to saw them off now.

Lost one to a gap near the Zamboni door, which was a bit unlucky.

Ha ha, now that I think about it, I had this happen once but my twig survived. Skating down the side boards, and literally just had the boards steal my stick . suffice to say I was ineffective in the corners for that particular play!

 

[collegehcky2]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

Since I'll be done with school/finally have a real job, I'm going to play again soon. Played a few times last winter as a fill-in. Can't wait to move and see what other places hockey is like.

 

[jen]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

I broke a stick yesterday on the back side of the shaft when shooting a one-timer (scored, BTW). Has anyone ever had that happen to them before? The break didn't go clean through the shaft and I didn't even realize I had broke the stick until a later point in the game. The stick sounded wrong when I took that shot, but I couldn't find anything on the blade or near the heel, so I didn't know what to make of it.

This happened to me recently, but I can't remember if it was the front or the back of the shaft (and it was a pass - not a shot). I felt it give right away, but looking at the stick, you wouldn't know it was broken unless you put pressure on it or looked closely. It was a two piece, and it snapped on the shaft right above where the top of the inserted blade would be, so I chalked it up to a weak spot on the stick after replacing the blade too many times.

and I decided to stick with a two piece stick - the low end range was $75. Sheesh. For a shaft!

 

[Nick Papagiorgio]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

This happened to me recently, but I can't remember if it was the front or the back of the shaft (and it was a pass - not a shot). I felt it give right away, but looking at the stick, you wouldn't know it was broken unless you put pressure on it or looked closely. It was a two piece, and it snapped on the shaft right above where the top of the inserted blade would be, so I chalked it up to a weak spot on the stick after replacing the blade too many times.

and I decided to stick with a two piece stick - the low end range was $75. Sheesh. For a shaft!

It still probably saves you money in the long run depending on what types of blades you're putting in and at what cost (and how often they need to be replaced).

I've got a few broken one-piece sticks that broke low on the shaft that I have sitting in the garage (XXV and a few INNOs some were even tapered still, that's how low it broke off). I could always send a few over to you if you're interested although you might need to add a plug to the end to add some length. One of those suckers got stuck in the zamboni door and I never even realized the blade was broken until I went to retape it. Man was I pizzed.

 

[St. Clown]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

A guy planted his face into my arm and shoulder this afternoon. He went off the ice with a possible concussion; I didn't know about the waffle pattern from his cage until we were all in the locker room and somebody else mentioned it.

"Sorry, Johnny, head was down!"

 

[collegehcky2]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

Bumping this thread up to ask a question. So I've moved to New Hampshire and now that we're in August I'm starting to look at adult hockey leagues to play in this fall/winter. I'm a little bit unfamiliar with the different levels of adult hockey (A, B, C, D). Can anyone give me a little guidance as to the type of skill level typically in each level league?

I played competitively from when I was 3 up until I was 12 and have only played sporadically since (~1-2 every couple of years). I don't want to join a novice league if I'm going to be too advanced, but I don't want to join a league with former college players, etc.

 

[jen]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

All registered for <a href="http://www.usahockey.com/Template_Usahockey.aspx?NAV=PL_04_12&ID=14652">pond hockey in Eagle River</a>. Never done it before (a lot of my teammates have - we have 7 or 8 teams going from our organization), looking forward to it.

 

[unofan]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

Bumping this thread up to ask a question. So I've moved to New Hampshire and now that we're in August I'm starting to look at adult hockey leagues to play in this fall/winter. I'm a little bit unfamiliar with the different levels of adult hockey (A, B, C, D). Can anyone give me a little guidance as to the type of skill level typically in each level league?

I played competitively from when I was 3 up until I was 12 and have only played sporadically since (~1-2 every couple of years). I don't want to join a novice league if I'm going to be too advanced, but I don't want to join a league with former college players, etc.

Depends on the area, I'm guessing 'B' league in New Hampshire means something different than a 'B' league here in Iowa.

That said, 'A' league is going to be lots of former junior players, if not college and higher. 'D' league is almost always beginners and people who barely know how to skate.

'C' and 'B' leagues vary widely. My guess is you'd probably fit in fine in a true 'B' league, but you'd want to make sure it's actually a 'B' league - here in Des Moines the lone 'B' league is more of an 'A-' league from what I've heard, with lots of former USHL'ers in it since there's no real alternative. Likewise though, some 'C' leagues are better than others.

All that said, ask the guys running the league, and if the league holds an evaluation skate for new players (some do, many don't) go to it and they'll tell you where you'd probably fit in best. Worst case scenario is you're mismatched for one season and can adjust for the summer league.

 

[St. Clown]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

Bumping this thread up to ask a question. So I've moved to New Hampshire and now that we're in August I'm starting to look at adult hockey leagues to play in this fall/winter. I'm a little bit unfamiliar with the different levels of adult hockey (A, B, C, D). Can anyone give me a little guidance as to the type of skill level typically in each level league?

I played competitively from when I was 3 up until I was 12 and have only played sporadically since (~1-2 every couple of years). I don't want to join a novice league if I'm going to be too advanced, but I don't want to join a league with former college players, etc.

Going into a state where actual hockey is played is a tough read. I play upper D league here, am a reasonably good skater for a man my size, and I have a pretty strong shot. All that said, I'm one of the worst in my league, certainly the worst on my team. Then you go to another league some of my friends play, and I'm told I would be a decent player in their C league.

Where I play, A-league is for people who played college, maybe some retired pro players, and a few brave junior league types (also the US Women's Olympic team plays in that league [usually a 0.500 team]), the B-league is for guys who played high school and stayed thin, C-league is for the high school players who packed on the weight and those guys without the talent but still have the build to skate well, and the D league is for guys like me. And then we have segregation within the various leagues of 1 & 2 ratings to help with the supposed parity even more.

While I doubt NH would be quite like here in MN, my bet is the C-league guys there can skate all right, and maybe some of the D-league players can too. It's a state with a youth hockey program, that generally counts for something.

 

[unofan]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

Bump for the winter season, which at least here in Iowa officially started this last week.

After taking last year off thanks to two moves, found a league over the summer and am now playing twice a week. Two vastly different teams - the midweek one is semi-loaded and will win lots of games, while my weekend team is probably going to suck. That said, after a week I think I'll have more fun on the weekend team, since it'll force me to skate hard for the entire hour and, assuming the bench is that short most of the season, get more ice time and exercise.

Had one of the prettier goals I've scored in years last night. Which of course means I won't score again for about 4 months. Though in fairness, I think it was karma equalizing itself, as I had one of the best deflections I've had in years on Wednesday. Of course that one was against my own goalie...

 

[SteveP]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

Bump for the winter season, which at least here in Iowa officially started this last week.

After taking last year off thanks to two moves, found a league over the summer and am now playing twice a week. Two vastly different teams - the midweek one is semi-loaded and will win lots of games, while my weekend team is probably going to suck. That said, after a week I think I'll have more fun on the weekend team, since it'll force me to skate hard for the entire hour and, assuming the bench is that short most of the season, get more ice time and exercise.

Had one of the prettier goals I've scored in years last night. Which of course means I won't score again for about 4 months. Though in fairness, I think it was karma equalizing itself, as I had one of the best deflections I've had in years on Wednesday. Of course that one was against my own goalie...

Good for you to be back on the ice. I skated with the Wheezers and Geezers last Tuesday for the first time since early Feb. Had hernia surgery in June and was concerned about how I'd feel out there. That wasn't a big problem, but the arthritis in my left elbow flared up.

Driving home I started wondering if, at 58, it's time to hang 'em up.

NAH! Suck it up - you're a hockey player!

 

[RaceBoarder]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

Anyone got any free shipping codes for HockeyMonkey.com or HockeyGiant.com? I'm shopping for gloves and shoulder pads at the moment, but can't find any way around shipping...

 

[St. Clown]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

I think Perani's Hockey World was running a free shipping deal. I'm not sure if it's over yet or not. A pair of gloves should meet any cost threshold most places set on a deal like that.


My Super Rink league start up on Monday. We have seven new full-time players and one new sub. Our first game was against one of the top teams in our league and we lost 8-4. It was the first time that our goalie (HockeyBum, for those who've met him - the little guy in the Rubes jersey at the posters' game) had played since April. I'm actually pretty optimistic about this session because last year this same team clubbed us with an 8-2 beating.

 

[jen]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

Practice starts next week and I haven't skated since August 18, since I'm only on one team this year. And we kick off with three 90-minute practices. Hooray.

 

[St. Clown]

Re: Who here actually plays hockey?

You know what I can't stand? People who come into a pick up game and play like there are scouts in the stands and league points are on the line. Gain some perspective, people.

I took a two-hander to shins (not a big deal), but then this same guy crosschecks me twice in what's supposed to be a non-checking game. I said something to him after the game, telling him he has to cool it because he's acting like an ***. He responds that I have to "get the sand out of my vag." I detail the crap he did to me, while two others are saying the junk he pulled with them and then he finally apologizes as I'm walking out of the locker room to my car. I really hate when jackasses play pickup hockey.