Speaking of which, is that not the best combination of golf and hockey? My favorite thing about this is him high-fiving the fans. Here it is if you missed it:

Over at Puck Daddy, they are hearing that back in the good ol’ days players used to break each other with respect and class which they rightly call BS on. Anyone who harkens back to a better time is fooling themselves. Either they were never there and just heard stories or they were there and want to make themselves look better. Either way, there were just as many if not more dirty players in the NHL 20-30 years ago as there are now. Stop kidding yourselves!

The Puck Daddy post points toward a great article in the Edmonton Journal that nails my current attitude about the goonery:

The 1980s’ hair rock between whistles, the cold beer and new truck advertisements, the fights, the concussions, the buffoonery of Don Cherry, everything that used to be an acceptable -even charming -distraction from the beauty of the game, is mysteriously becoming … tiresome.

I know why those distractions are getting old for me: I now play hockey and I don’t want to deal with players who are influenced by the crap they see in the NHL. I’m tired of players getting injured. I’m tired of every solid hit being scrutinized for bad intentions. I’m also a parent and I don’t feel like subjecting my kid to a sport that promotes disrespect.

More from the Edmonton Journal article:

What we want out of hockey, out of any sport, is the same simple thing we want from a Friday night movie: thrills, a good story, a hometown struggle against adversity, surprise, heroism, the triumph of the little guy, escape, change.

A three-hour highlight reel of bodychecking and spitting and slashing, interspersed with witless yet patriotic beer commercials and a little bit of skating and scoring, might make us nostalgic.

For an entertainment organization in the abstract and difficult business of making us feel something, I’m not sure that’s enough.

How do you feel about the current state of goonery in the NHL? Too much? Not enough? What should be changed?

We ended up with 7 skaters and 1 goalie. All of whom were much more skilled than I was. One guy skated like walking was harder to do than skate (Turns out he’s been skating since age 5. He’s in his 40′s now). Another was nicknamed “Wheels” by his friend (Guess who won every race to the puck?). We played 3-on-3 and only used half the ice. Luckily for me I was wearing a dark sweater and there were 4 of us so I got to rest a lot. Some of the important things I learned from my first drop-in game were:

• It’s a drop-in game: Goals are not counted (I scored one). Slow down, chill out and have fun.
• I have nothing to prove: It’s amazing how much breaking a limb can change your attitude for the better if you let it. I am just happy to be able to play hockey. I don’t need to try to play above my skill level.
• My skill level? Beginner: And I’m perfectly fine with that. Lifetime Skater skated past me with the puck EVERY TIME I challenged him at the blue line. “Wheels” beat me to the puck 9 times out of 10 and almost every attempted poke check against me ended up in a turnover. The difference between now and the last time I played? I didn’t get frustrated this time around. I know they’re better than I am. However…
• I have definitely improved: I felt much more comfortable on my skates and with the puck than the last time I played. I’m going to the right spots most of the time and I’m much more patient handling the puck. With good positioning and patience, I noticed that I was a better teammate and had more fun.

I’ll be taking these attitude with me when I get back into a league this winter. As if I wasn’t already looking forward to playing this winter, this made me even more excited for it. My legs work great. My skill has improved and my head is in the right place for rec-league hockey. Drop the puck! Let’s go!

“It’s just part of the game.”

The jabs and grabs after the whistle. The slashing and taunting. The  fights. It’s just part of the game! Unfortunately, this isn’t helpful for anyone for those of us that want to start playing hockey.

Whether you’re 7, 17 or 37 just about everyone who wants to play hockey does so because they are fans of the NHL. I was 15 when the Quebec Nordiques came to Colorado to become the Avalanche. I instantly loved hockey. I cheered at the fights and the violence and marveled at the skill it takes to play. The Avalanche showed me what the NHL was all about and for all I knew, the NHL was hockey.

Fast forward 15 years (that would be last year if you’re not keeping track). I finally had the money, the equipment and some of the skills needed to play hockey. So during my 10 game summer season I tried to incorporate some of the things that were “just part of the game”. There were some problems though, hockey is a demanding sport and by the time the whistle blows or by the time I was frustrated I was too tired to really do anything. Nothing says futility like trying to slash someone and having the stick fall out of your hand or knocking yourself over while trying to facewash someone.

Another problem was that a lot of the guys I was playing against were either 20 years older than me, just plain better than me or just starting out like me. Anyone who spends their time goading those types of players is, basically, a jackass. I was a jackass. A worn out, pathetic, ineffective jackass, but a jackass just the same.

So if you want to lace up and start playing hockey, know this: The crap you see after the whistle in a pro hockey game is NOT just part of the game and it shouldn’t be in yours. If you want to see how you should play hockey go watch a high school or NCAA game and you’ll see that hockey is still a passionate, fast moving, fun sport.

If you’re a coach or an organizer for a hockey league, I’d like to hear your experiences with changing the attitudes of new players.

I was going to post the links to The Nutrocker by Dropkick Murphys, but since there’s 20 bazillion lyrics websites with NO LYRICS ON THEM, you get a video instead:

If anyone knows of a lyrics website that actually has lyrics on them, I’d love to know about it.

“GO! GO! BLACK AND GOLD!”…for now.

Doing these things will help you elevate your game, no matter what sport you play. But nothing, NOTHING replaces the things you learn when you actually go out and play.

Since I broke my leg in July, I’ve been exercising, training and practicing to be able to play hockey again. I play EA Slapshot on the Wii and watch hockey games of all levels to focus on positioning and strategy. As soon as I was able to, I went to the gym to improve my flexibility and endurance. I’ve practiced my stickhandling and skating skills. But I’m not going to become a better player without…well playing.

Nothing replaces playing the game. I can do skating drills all day (well, not really) and I won’t skate nearly as hard as I will trying to chase down the puck before my opponent and it turns out stickhandling a puck around another player is much harder than doing so around a cone.

So Saturday I’m going to go check out a drop-in game at the Edge Ice Arena. Hopefully enough skaters show up to make it a game instead of just a stick and puck session. Who wants to play some hockey?

Take checking out of the NHL because the players, obviously, aren’t able to handle it.

First we’ll take a look at the illegal hits. There were 23 suspensions that were “checking” related and despite the NHL’s new rule to curb concussions (only hit a player in the head if they know you’ll hit them in the head…or something like that), The Concussion Blog counted around 98 concussions to NHL players. It’s apparent that a lot of NHL players don’t know how to deliver a proper check or, for some dumbass reason, they just choose not to.

Next we’ll take a look at legal hits. This is the part that, as a fan, really pisses me off. I am REALLY tired of the scrums and the fights that follow EVERY big hit. It tells me that players are not OK with big hits. As a fan I want to see big hits, but I don’t want play to stop after every one that happens. Like this hit from Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals:
http://nhl.cdn.neulion.net/u/videocenter/embed.swf

Hamhuis flips Lucic with a great hip check. It’s a legal hit which means play should go on, but no. Instead everyone stops playing because the Bruins are angry because someone had the nerve to play physical hockey. What a bunch of crap! Could you imagine if this kind of stuff happened in the NFL or any hockey league below Juniors? I can understand basketball players getting pissed off when they get hip checked while jumping 3 feet in the air. They’re wearing shorts and a tank top, but hockey players wear more padding than any other professional sport!

Now I’m not one to bitch about a problem and not give any solutions, so here’s some of my ideas (not all of them good) on what the NHL can do to improve the physical part of the game without sacrificing their talent:

• Mandatory Checking Clinics: During the off season, every NHL player spends a day or two re-learning how to give and receive a check. None of this Rule 48 BS with half-understandable videos.
• Fine Any Player Who Responds Negatively to a Legal Check: Want to send a message that your star teammate should be exempt from the physical aspect of the game? Pony up some cash.
• Special “Don’t Check Me, Bro” Sweaters: NHL players literally can’t stand to see their star players dumped, so each team gets “Don’t Check Me, Bro” sweaters for 2 of their star players.
• Get Rid of Fighting: This will help change the culture in the NHL. If you think fighting is “just part of the sport” go watch a high school or NCAA hockey game where there is no fighting and tell me you enjoy the game any less.

The NHL needs to do something to protect it’s players while keeping the game physical and entertaining. Rule 48 does almost nothing to protect players and stopping play after every big hit is not entertaining.

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I went to my first stick and puck session in over 7 months in January and it felt GREAT to not only skate around on the ice, but to be able to do so with pucks again. For those of you who don’t know, I completely broke my right tibia and fibula during a hockey game in July and I’m trying to get back to 100% so I can play hockey again.

There were 2 other guys there so we practiced some passing and I spent a lot of my time just skating around, practicing my stickhandling and shooting. I was on the ice for just over an hour and I didn’t even notice my leg while I was skating, which is fantastic! I’m still careful with it. I’m not skating at full speed and I don’t anticipate doing so for a couple months. I can do hockey stops with either leg leading which is really exciting.

The other thing that made this such a good time was that I noticed a big improvement in my stickhandling ability since my injury. Since I haven’t been able to skate, I’ve been practicing my stickhandling in my garage with a Green Biscuit training puck. I also found a brilliant video posted by Kevin on Hockeyshare.com which showed me what I was doing wrong. Before, I would keep my top hand parked on my hip which I found out really handcuffed me. Now I know to keep my hands out in front of me and it’s such a big improvement.

I can’t really say enough good things about the Green Biscuit. It probably kept me sane while I was injured and it was much better than the set up I had before. I used to use a large 2×3 foot whiteboard and a street hockey puck. I’d spray both with WD-40 and it worked pretty good until the WD-40 wore off. The Green Biscuit allowed me to practice my stickhandling without any limitations and I noticed the difference immediately when I got on the ice.

I’ve mainly been learning how to play hockey on my own and these are the sites and blogs that have helped me immensely! Check these sites out for some great, free hockey knowledge.

For strategies and drills:
Weiss Tech Hockey – http://weisstechhockey.com/blog/
Coach Nielsen’s Blog – http://coachnielsen.wordpress.com/

For skating, shooting and individual skills:
How To Hockey – http://howtohockey.com/
HockeyShare blog – http://www.hockeyshare.com/blog/

The great things about blogs is that you can ask the authors questions and they’ll more than likely answer them for you.

Also checkout U.S.A. Hockey’s American Development Model. It’s geared toward kids, but it works for anyone.

Good luck!

My team’s last game was this Sunday. We got into the 2nd round of the EAHL playoffs before losing 5-0. It was a painful thing to watch. There were 10 available players for the game, so there was a lot of ice time for everyone.  There would’ve been 1 more player, but I had to watch from the bleachers.

See, that’s me in the chair with the stylish cast. My season ended a week before when our team was up 4-0 in the 3rd period of our first playoff game.  I challenged an opposing player for the puck just outside our zone. I raced toward him then turned to stop. Apparently the stop wasn’t as successful as I thought it was going to be. There was a collision and, with all my weight on my right skate, I fell back. Since it’s physically impossible to keep your skate dug into the ice while laying on your back something had to give, so my tibia snapped and my fibula broke in 2 spots.

That was not the way I wanted to end my season. After an ambulance trip to the hospital, lots of pain meds and surgery, I’m now hanging out on my couch with my casted leg propped up. There’s now a permanent rod in my tibia and I’m off my feet for a long while.

Not my leg, but an example of what my leg is llike now

I was really impressed with the reactions by everyone involved. As soon as I hit the ice, one of the refs went straight to the scorer’s box to have them call 911, someone from the other team gave me his jersey to put under my head and Jesse Badder, the League Director, was on-hand to remind my family of the benefits of my USA Hockey membership. I was also impressed with the West Metro Firefighters who lifted me onto the gurney with as little pain as possible while standing on a sheet of ice. Thank you everyone who made a horrible injury as easy on me as possible!

I miss skating already. I’ve been going at least once a week for the past year. Going to watch my team play, just being next to the ice felt good. My injury hasn’t scared me at all, it just made me realize how much hockey has become a part of me. I’ll do ANYTHING to get back out on that ice. I can’t wait until my doctor’s appointment on Monday. I want to get the rehab started and I want to do it right.