Amateur Hockey Thread

[Godric]

Huge bruise on the palm of my hand from taking slappers. Anyone have a cure?

[meow]

Huge bruise on the palm of my hand from taking slappers. Anyone have a cure?

Tuck your string in? That's all I got...

[Godric]

Lol

[yubb]

Less ice, more puck.

[yubb]

Where can I get the best price on sticks?
I usually go to Play It Again. Or I go to hockeymonkey.com.

What stick does everyone use? I seem to snap my sticks more often than I'd like, especially at the prices I've been paying. I've used the Bauer One, the Easton EQ30 and EQ40. I like a nice light stick, since my hands suck, so I don't want to go cheap and get a heavy stick. Any suggestions?

I prefer one-piece to two-piece sticks simply for the feel.

[shoeshine boy]

if you're snapping sticks a lot have you considered going with a slightly higher flex?
try totalhockey.net for sticks. same prices (for the most part) as hockey monkey and anything over $75 ships for free
icewarehouse.com is also excellent and ships anything over $50 for free

I use Easton SE16 (best Easton stick ever made, imo) and a custom Warrior Dolomite (pricey but worth it) both with Lidstrom/Getzlaf curve.

[GSdrums87]

Where can I get the best price on sticks?
I usually go to Play It Again. Or I go to hockeymonkey.com.

What stick does everyone use? I seem to snap my sticks more often than I'd like, especially at the prices I've been paying. I've used the Bauer One, the Easton EQ30 and EQ40. I like a nice light stick, since my hands suck, so I don't want to go cheap and get a heavy stick. Any suggestions?

I prefer one-piece to two-piece sticks simply for the feel.

I almost always buy my sticks on eBay. Usually see what they have in terms of pro stock. You can manage to get some high-end sticks for around the price you'd pay for a mid-tier stick.

[shoeshine boy]

it's getting trickier to get good sticks off of Ebay. with the technology to fix broken sticks now some guys are selling repaired sticks as brand new to unwitting buyers.
if bought from a trusted seller though pro stock sticks can be an OUTSTANDING bargain.

[Idoit40fans]

I had three easton sticks i got a couple years ago. I can't even remembe rwhat model. bought 2 online then got a 3rd at the store. Broke the third the first time I used it, just standing there working on the slapshot(which will forever suck). The other two have lasted for a long time though.

[GSdrums87]

it's getting trickier to get good sticks off of Ebay. with the technology to fix broken sticks now some guys are selling repaired sticks as brand new to unwitting buyers.
if bought from a trusted buyer though pro stock sticks can be an OUTSTANDING bargain.

Wow, I never considered that before. Even so, that stick repair tech is pretty solid. Just heard it can give issues with changing the kickpoint of the stick depending on where the break happened. Usually when I buy, though, I go look for the words "Uncut, unused, unbroken, brand new". That way you at least have eBay on your side if it turns out to be a turd.

[meow]

I treat buying hockey equipment like I treat buying toliet paper. I'll pay more for a high quality product that will last longer. Most of the time, it is more cost effective to do it this way.

[yubb]

if you're snapping sticks a lot have you considered going with a slightly higher flex?
try totalhockey.net for sticks. same prices (for the most part) as hockey monkey and anything over $75 ships for free
icewarehouse.com is also excellent and ships anything over $50 for free

I use Easton SE16 (best Easton stick ever made, imo) and a custom Warrior Dolomite (pricey but worth it) both with Lidstrom/Getzlaf curve.

I have. In fact, I prefer a higher flex (higher as in number right?). But often the physical stores have a limited selection, mostly around 75-85 flex.

[GSdrums87]

Just won 3 brand new Easton Mako sticks on eBay. Hall curve (identical to Kopitar curve so perfect for me), 100 flex, $180. Can't beat that.

[dman66]

Anyone in the Baltimore or even DC region and is a beginner, there's a clinic every Saturday morning for the next couple of weekends at the Gardens Ice House. Link is here:
http://gardensicehouse.pucksystems2.com ... ey-clinics" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I have been eyeing these up for a while, just wondering what the would be like, and finally decided to jump in. I had been doing stick times (used to play inline in high school), but didn't feel like I was gaining anything from that. I went to this last week and was impressed. Started with skating and stickhandling. Got some good tips, and I'll be there again this Saturday, and as much as I can. I just want to get to the point where if I choose to go play pick up, I won't look like a total putz. Hopefully these help lol.

[CERV96]

Bump.

Looking for maybe a skater or two Saturday @ 11:30 South pointe. $10 scrimmage with refs C/D level. PM or reply.

[JS©]

Just won 3 brand new Easton Mako sticks on eBay. Hall curve (identical to Kopitar curve so perfect for me), 100 flex, $180. Can't beat that.

nice one.

[dodint]

I haven't played since high school. I was half decent then but I'm 31 now.

There is exactly one ice hockey rink in my part of Eastern NC, and it's 67 miles away. I know I used to play absurdly late games at Neville Island (for Latrobe) but I can't imagine making a similar trek twice a week for a beer league. I guess we'll see how bad I want to play. The only reason the rink is there is because it's ECUs club teams home base, and they can sell enough free skate entries to college kids on weekend nights.

In the meantime, I work on a military base and they have an outdoor inline rink that I have free and open access to. The Marines use it to play soccer and some kind of hybrid handball/polo garbage. There isn't a league in the area that I can tell, so I go and skate drills a few times a week to help build up similar muscle groups until I can get back on ice. I'm very much out of shape so I'm going to skip spring league and try to play next fall. Our rink has an over 35/beginner league (C) and a more advanced adult league (B). I feel like right now I'd be a schmuck if I joined the C leauge because I can already skate decently well, but I'd get outpaced big time in the B league. Maybe I'll go watch them play sometime this spring to see whats going on.

I can't wait to move back up north. Our family is in Pittsburgh, and we have ties to DC, so either way I'd be in better hockey country. Hell, even moving to Raleigh or Charlotte would put me in a better spot. When I lived in Latrobe all I wanted was to live at the beach, and now all I want is a clean sheet of ice. Grass is always greener, I guess.

[The Snapshot]

This is a post related to Hockey, but mostly about life and how fragile it can be. I have played with and against Mark here in NJ for many years. His league team and mine have battled for many years at various rinks around the area. I also play on a travel team with one of his best friends, who also is his teammate on that league team.

This past weekend, my travel squad played in a tournament in Binghamton, NY. My teammate made the decision instead to go to a tournament with that league team and Mark in Stratton, Vermont.

Upon returning home from Binghamton, I learned that these two and another guy had gone sledding at about 1am on the mountain just above the condo that they were renting. As you might surmise by now, tragedy struck when Mark's sled went off the hill into the woods and he suffered injuries too severe to be saved. To me, the tragedy is made even worse because I know his friend even better than I knew him - and my this guy not only found Mark but tried to perform CPR on the scene.

When I place myself in the situation, I just feel terrible not only for Mark's family (he has 2 children and a wife) but for my own teammate who watched one of his best friends die. Add to that (for those of you who have played for years with the same teams) the bubble that you kind of exist in when you are together on the road in a tournament. It's a period of great fun with buddies and the schedule more or less makes it all you are about for that period. It becomes a big extended family for a weekend.

Being at a tournament that weekend myself, at which I had a great time with my teammates, only makes it all that much more palpable to me. I feel tremendous sorrow for Mark's family and want to just remind everyone here to cherish your time with your friends. Realize that when you are on the road - you still need to make good decisions individually. Alcohol doesn't only impact your life from behind the wheel.

[yubb]

Segue:

Dislocated my patella at the end of Sept. Haven't been on the ice since. Thinking of hitting up some stick time 2nd week of Feb. Looking forward to it.

[shoeshine boy]

apparently the Biebs was at one of my local rinks playing with the travel team. not too surprising considering when he lived here he played on the travel team that plays out of this rink.
what a toolbag.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck- ... um=twitter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[meow]

Thank God he is awful. I might take my own life if he was decent.

[shoeshine boy]

Thank God he is awful. I might take my own life if he was decent.

according to guys I know who played in that program he used to be better. then again, it can't be easy skating in skinny jeans and gold chains that weigh as much as you do.
I assume he was in town to renew his Georgia driver's license which is one of the things he was busted for in Miami.

[yubb]

Dislocated my kneecap during a game the end of last September. Haven't played a sport since. Doctor just gave me clearance to resume play, so I'll be starting with the white no-contact helmet hopefully soon.

My right leg, the injured side, has atrophied so bad you can notice is through jeans. I'm still experiencing pain while running and on steps, but doc says it's safe to get back into the swing and that I'm not doing any damage.

Hockey's the most fun I've had playing a sport, but it's also been the hardest on my body for long-term injuries (torn left ACL, dislocated right knee cap resulting in chondrosis). For day to day pain, basketball was the worst.

[shoeshine boy]

sounds brutal. good luck and take it at a slow pace.

[dodint]

Not sure if this will link correctly, but my local rink (only rink, 67 miles away) is resurfacing and repainting the last few days and have been putting up pictures of the process. They're using sand as the base layer which I wouldn't have guessed. I assumed the base was just smoothe concrete with ice on top. Kirk S. Nevin Arena used to melt off their ice and do roller hockey in the summer so I assumed that's how it was done. This rink here is basically laying down a sand bed, freezing it, putting three coats of paint on top, and then ice on top of that. Pretty neat, but they're already a week overdue and had to move some adult league games.