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Kevlar v2.0 posted:5/3 Arena is run by the Blackhawks and they run a tight ship with actual decent online support. It's also by far the best ice in the city. The building was finished in 2017 and has 2 full sheets of ice. More importantly, it has a bar that's open until 2am every night. Yeah, the Kraken have the Member app, and it's cumbersome, but it also covers everything they offer in one place. They don't have a pro-shop in KCI yet, just a team store. It's some of the best ice in the city, and a few of the other rinks have some really good ice management. One of them just laid down fresh sand to level out the base and I'm looking forward to the upgrades they made at that rink when it opens again. They have stick and puck open for most of the day 4 of 5 days a week too. When we lived in Chicago still we were up in Evanston playing, but wish we'd gone with the youth program in Skokie instead. The ice was better over there. Evanston keeps it too warm for all the figure skaters. So it gets chewed up.
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Sep 16, 2022 00:06
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Jhet posted:When we lived in Chicago still we were up in Evanston playing, but wish we'd gone with the youth program in Skokie instead. The ice was better over there. Evanston keeps it too warm for all the figure skaters. So it gets chewed up. They completely redid the rinks in Evanston during the pandemic. I haven't been there myself since they redid it, but people tell me it's much better now.
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Sep 16, 2022 01:48
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Kevlar v2.0 posted:They completely redid the rinks in Evanston during the pandemic. I haven't been there myself since they redid it, but people tell me it's much better now. Yeah, we were skating on them a little before our season got ended. They were really nice and then they raised the temp on both rinks because the figure skaters complained it was too cold. It was also very loud and completely impossible for anyone to communicate so I hope they hung some sound batting. I hope they balanced the temp better though because after they raised the temp it was too easy to take up a ton of ice and leave holes. And the Northwestern hockey teams play there too. It probably didn’t help that the project was many months behind schedule and over budget. The old rinks weren’t the worst I’ve been on, but they were the worst for crazy figure skaters during public free skates.
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Sep 16, 2022 02:28
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Kevlar v2.0 posted:5/3 Arena is run by the Blackhawks and they run a tight ship with actual decent online support. It's also by far the best ice in the city. The building was finished in 2017 and has 2 full sheets of ice. More importantly, it has a bar that's open until 2am every night. I still have yet to haul into the city to even check the place out. Everything you’ve said is what I keep hearing and I really need to make it a point to get up there.
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Sep 16, 2022 03:57
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YeehawMcKickass posted:I still have yet to haul into the city to even check the place out. Everything you’ve said is what I keep hearing and I really need to make it a point to get up there. The biggest downside of 5/3 is rat hockey times are never consistent. NHL stuff is constantly going on, since it's the Blackhawks practice arena, so times are all over the place. Sometimes it's a crapshoot whether enough people will show up. Other rinks have a solid day and time every single week with a dedicated player base, so I tend to skate at those instead.
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Sep 16, 2022 04:41
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So the D league I'm in might be a bit higher than I should be in, but it'll probably help me improve faster. Almost everyone signed up played since at least middle school. I kind of want to sign up for an E league as well but my rink doesn't have any  Anyways I've been practicing my skating since losing and I feel like I have slightly better edge control on my weak side now. I've also been working on... Idk how to describe it. But I skate to a red dot, then do a hockey stop, use the momentum into some backwards crossovers, into a transition to forwards again to go around the red dot, then cross over and sprint to the next red dot and so it again. Is there a name for that? It's helping me work on quickly changing directions and is forcing me to get comfortable on my backwards crossovers to my weak side. And transitions to my weak side. Also my wife has been doing learn to play hockey with me and she is still a pretty weak skater (can't stop). How do I gently tell her we should sign up for another learn to play hockey before she signs up for a league with me
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Sep 16, 2022 16:30
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Someone who is unable to stop is going to be a danger to everyone on the ice. I didn't know E leagues were even a thing. I thought D was as low as it got. My own personal experience was learn to play hockey lessons for 6 months, then rat hockey for a year, and then I finally felt comfortable enough to join a D League.
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Sep 16, 2022 16:40
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Oh so 5 weeks of learn to play hockey and like 2.5 months of public skates 5-6 days a week was not the best idea??? I am 100% convinced that if I hadn't skied a bunch growing up I would be nowhere near as good at skating as I am. Also I'm horrible at turning to the right on skis, so I'm hoping working on it on ice skates will translate back to skiing and help me be a better skier too. Also what is rat hockey? I hear people say it all the time. Is it drop in hockey? Ok I'll tell my wife that we can join a league together when she can hockey stop in both directions. Note. She can stop. Just slowly by doing a pizza. When I think stopping I think hockey stop and go from 100-0
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Sep 16, 2022 17:33
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Rat Hockey = Shinny = Pickup Game
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Sep 16, 2022 17:54
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You forgot "drop in" do you even hockey bro?
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Sep 16, 2022 18:31
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sellouts posted:Mine was a “forwards don’t back check hard and thus don’t skate hard” shitpost I mean, they don't.
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Sep 16, 2022 18:35
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My idea of a backcheck is hailing for a cab as I approach the bench then drink beer for 2 minutes as a 3 on 0 develops and the other team scores.
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Sep 16, 2022 22:13
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To be fair, one of the people at drop in this week turned the puck over at the blue line and was just like “eh gently caress it” and skated over for a change. No one really cared because it’s drop in. Although there were some try hards this week who decided to throw some hits and nearly start a fight. But defending is done by committee. It’s drop in, not a game. People are barely playing a position. I just assume it’ll be similar in actual games with a lot of missed passes and people skating after pucks. Maybe we’ll even have positions, generally speaking.
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Sep 16, 2022 22:22
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If somebody is throwing hits at a low level drop in up here they need to be not invited back pretty much ever (Gonna guess Friday Night Hockey?) Also hi new Seattle-area hockey goon 
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Sep 17, 2022 11:18
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Duke Chin posted:If somebody is throwing hits at a low level drop in up here they need to be not invited back pretty much ever If someone is throwing hits period at any level of beer league they need to be kicked out. Drop in, organized, doesn't matter. None of us are doin this poo poo for a living.
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Sep 17, 2022 16:51
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Ginette Reno posted:If someone is throwing hits period at any level of beer league they need to be kicked out. Drop in, organized, doesn't matter. None of us are doin this poo poo for a living. The guy who separated my shoulder and broke my finger wasn't even penalized for the check he laid on me.
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Sep 17, 2022 16:57
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Hell yeah let’s get into the No checking vs no contact beer league discussion!!!
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Sep 17, 2022 17:22
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No one was thinking it until you brought it up so that's on you!
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Sep 17, 2022 17:27
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In our first game this week I got to explain that the literally-named Non-Contact Hockey League we play in is not indeed a literal rule, and does permit contact because it is inevitable when you put 10 beginner skaters and 1 puck on the ice. Fortunately everyone seemed to understand that and it was just normal beginner collisions, nobody being an rear end in a top hat. May such luck continue. Goalie is fun, and I need to be more aggressive challenging people out of my crease because I'm probably the best skater on the ice at any time in this division  e: we have a game tonight and I'm going to make it my goal to meet at least one breakaway at the ringette line
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Sep 17, 2022 17:40
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Pleads posted:e: we have a game tonight and I'm going to make it my goal to meet at least one breakaway at the ringette line Step it up, all the cool goalies are taking opening faceoffs now. https://i.imgur.com/H365hOZ.mp4
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Sep 17, 2022 17:45
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Duke Chin posted:If somebody is throwing hits at a low level drop in up here they need to be not invited back pretty much ever It was Thursday lunch at KCI. We're not playing no-contact, but it's Novice drop in, so the contact is bumping from not being super good and not hits. Except that this week. Mostly it's just a little bumping as people stop so they don't wipe each other out, but this guy had a burr in his breezers. The players who are better are usually good at making sure they're not destroying those of us who aren't as good too. I think the team I'm on is Div 8 (D level), so I'm sure it'll be plenty of fun.
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Sep 17, 2022 18:16
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So I tried my wife's stick out. Mine is almost 3x as heavy! Holy poo poo it's life changing. I can move the stick 1 handed and my slapshots work and get off the ice. I can do so much more! I always wondered how people stick handled so quickly. Holy gently caress. I'm heading to pure hockey to get a stick right now.
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Sep 17, 2022 20:35
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xzzy posted:No one was thinking it until you brought it up so that's on you! just trying to stir this dead pot
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Sep 17, 2022 20:39
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RC Cola posted:So I tried my wife's stick out. Mine is almost 3x as heavy! Holy poo poo it's life changing. I can move the stick 1 handed and my slapshots work and get off the ice. I can do so much more! I always wondered how people stick handled so quickly. Holy gently caress. I'm heading to pure hockey to get a stick right now. What were you using and what does your wife use?
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Sep 17, 2022 21:30
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Chemmy posted:What were you using and what does your wife use? She uses a CCM that she got on clearance. Ribcore 76k. 75 flex - Crosby P29. I was using a Bauer Vapor X 2.0. A friend says it felt like it has a wooden core? I was given it for free.
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Sep 17, 2022 21:58
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Looking online it looks like it doesn't weight that much less? But it really feels significantly heavier. And at the store her stick + another identical one feel lighter together than my current stick
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Sep 17, 2022 22:12
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That stick should have a polyurethane core, which is going to be heavier than polystyrene. It might only be a handful of grams difference on a scale, but if you think about leverage adding weight to the end of a pole is going to feel a lot heavier. That said hockey players were using wood sticks for a century and had no issue waving a stick around, so do more curls and hulk up your arms.
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Sep 17, 2022 22:24
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I still really like the feel of slapshots with a wooden stick vs composite but composite sticks have different kick points (flex points), usually low towards the blade or mid way up the stick. Lighter sticks are nice but stick handling speed is improved over time and practice. Lighter sticks help but it's all hand speed and practice.
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Sep 17, 2022 23:31
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Well I got a new stick. CCM ribcore trigger 6. It was on clearance for $119. I also picked up some synthetic ice. It's incredible, using both sticks, there is a drastic difference in my ability to shoot and aim, power, everything. I know everything will improve with time but it feels like I was playing with DBZ style weighted clothing and just took it off. Anyways another stick and puck tomorrow with one of my teammates and my wife, and learn to play hockey after that. I'm excited and am going to sign up for another 6 weeks of learn to play hockey! Yay hockey!
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Sep 18, 2022 00:41
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We got fuckin shithoused like 12-1 by a team that is way too good to be in the lowest division, lol. Their goalie was so bored in the second period that he kept stopping icings, and at one point deked out 2 of our forwards while skating up to the blue line before dumping the puck off to a winger. Ref gave him a warning for that one. He was apparently a sub for them. But I made like 40+ saves so it could have been worse! Yay hockey!
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Sep 18, 2022 06:29
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I got called for interference in a Beginner League game because I forgot how to stop and ran into somebody. Which actually worked better because for some reason the team played better 5-4 because they actually had to worry about defense to kill the penalty.
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Sep 19, 2022 16:18
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We've always scored more shorthanded than during the PP. It's like we forget how to play when we're a man up.
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Sep 19, 2022 16:39
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Nothing like fanning on a one-timer from the low slot in a 1-1 game with 5 mins left in it 
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Sep 19, 2022 17:18
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I fanned on the easiest gimmie ever a few weeks ago.. teammate puts the off the goalie's pads and it bounces towards the weak side as I arrive.. the entire net was wide open and no defense to be found anywhere. And the puck bounced over my stick as I swung at it.
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Sep 19, 2022 17:31
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I wanted to support my local hockey store, went in to buy new goalie pads (SR tier, not Pro) and I was told that it was a 6~8 month wait for my first choice, and a 3 month wait for my second choice (and I won't have a choice in colour for some reason?). They didn't even have proper stock to compare it to, so I would be "guessing" my size a bit, and if they don't feel right, I could get a refund, but I'd be waiting another set of months. I guess I'll have to look for something online. It's frustrating because I wanted to get it locally and support them. If I wanted Pro tier though which is about double the price, they could get it expedited.
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Sep 22, 2022 15:02
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LowOnCyan posted:I wanted to support my local hockey store, went in to buy new goalie pads (SR tier, not Pro) and I was told that it was a 6~8 month wait for my first choice, and a 3 month wait for my second choice (and I won't have a choice in colour for some reason?). They didn't even have proper stock to compare it to, so I would be "guessing" my size a bit, and if they don't feel right, I could get a refund, but I'd be waiting another set of months. I guess I'll have to look for something online. It's frustrating because I wanted to get it locally and support them. I've been hearing this is just the norm for all goalie gear now unless you're good with whatever is in stock.
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Sep 23, 2022 03:03
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So my second game is on Sunday, and then my third game is 2 days later on Tuesday starting at 11:45 PM. This is gonna loving suck. The team we lost to 4-8 won their second game 7-4 so I don't feel AS bad. I took some time off skating early in the week. I'll probably skate today though.
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Sep 23, 2022 16:05
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11:45? I've had some hilariously late beer league games but I think that takes the cake
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Sep 23, 2022 16:09
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Yeah our awful schedule's latest game is 11:15 on a Friday night, 10:30's the worst during the week. 11:45 on a weekday is especially horrific. I'm 0-3 as a goalie in the lowest division on my newbie team, but 1-0 as a sub for my regular skating team a division up. Don't make no sense (it does, it makes a lot of sense, one of the teams plays defense and it is not the newbies who still need to learn not to go for a long change as the last man back when 3 opponents are skating up the ice with possession).
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Sep 23, 2022 16:18
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I think 11:20pm is the latest start time I've ever had for a game. Games after 10pm are the norm, though. Low level beer league always gets the shittiest time slots because we don't pay $12,000 per year to play hockey like some parents do for their kids.
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Sep 23, 2022 16:18
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