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I was really slow, had no burst speed, no endurance. All parts of my game were rusty which were to be expected. My hands felt okay but they were bricks. The hardest part was being in a scenario (like a race for a loose puck) where I know if I were 100% I could beat this guy, but when my legs start going, they just can't push hard enough or move like they used to. Its a really weird thing when you know how your body is supposed to work and it isn't working the same. Its a strange feeling almost like being in someone else's body. The game itself was fun but I was definitely playing cautiously as to not overdo it on my first game back. I'm not sure how regular of a thing its going to be but I'm going to try to ease back in. As for the back, I stretched a few times during the day throughout the day to keep loose. Drank lots of water. At the game I warmed up a few laps and then stretched again. I played cautiously in a way to avoid collisions, super stretched out lunges for the puck, and anything that might have earned me a cross check in front of the net. I played wing so that was easy. I didn't battle in the corners. I took the role of being a breakout guy trying to feed people passes breaking up the ice. Always finding open ice in the O zone. At this level, I usually score a goal or at least get an assist or two but I didn't get many chances. The center I was on a line with was a head down, do all the work and never realized someone was wide open back door. Or he would pass the puck 10 seconds too late after three guys block the passing lane. I had one chance where I was on the goalies backdoor, a shot hit the goalie and bounced my way. I had a 4" wide vertical opening between the goalie and the post right before he hugged the post but the puck was fluttering in the air so I didn't hit it cleanly and rang it off the post instead. The best part of everything was with all that, I still wasn't the worst player on the team. That felt good. Next day my back was pretty tight and hurt a bit. Not the sharp excruciating pain but my hamstrings were really tight and I could feel that pulling on my lower back. I just kept stretching but a week later I can still feel the tightness. Hoping that continuing to work out and stretch will help it get better because I don't think I'll continue to play if it always feels this tight.
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Dec 6, 2022 20:06
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Verman posted:Next day my back was pretty tight and hurt a bit. Not the sharp excruciating pain but my hamstrings were really tight and I could feel that pulling on my lower back. I just kept stretching but a week later I can still feel the tightness. Hoping that continuing to work out and stretch will help it get better because I don't think I'll continue to play if it always feels this tight. This is what it was like when I started playing from just light skating this year. It took about a month before my back muscles stopped being annoyed, but my legs still get tired regularly as they get stronger and I'm skating faster and tighter. It's just awesome that you're back on the ice anyway. Take care of the hamstrings though, there was a ref that blew theirs out in Winthrop last weekend and it's not fun rehab. Lots of stretching in the mornings and after skating where I feel like I'm always stretching. Personally, we had a 10:55pm this last weekend and only had 7 skaters, but that was enough to have a whole single sub for F and D. We managed to only lose 4-0 to a team with 2 full lines for every position. Played a good first while trading some chances, but by halfway through the 2nd the legs didn't want to move as well anymore. They only managed to score on breakaways though, so that's good.
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Dec 6, 2022 20:26
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Part of me thinks I might give up league play and just find a good private skate with a regular group. It's a little easier to control the variables and enjoy just playing hockey than in league play when commemorative pint glasses are on the line.
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Dec 7, 2022 02:14
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The rec league I landed in this fall has been insanely chill and fun. I've seen one penalty in like 8 games and it was a fairly minor "hosed up a turn and someone else happened to be in the way" type deal. So the halfway point between private skates and game 7 beer league is out there, it's just a dice roll whether you find it or not. Unfortunately I gotta skip town at the end of the month so I get to start the search all over again.
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Dec 7, 2022 02:30
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Verman posted:Part of me thinks I might give up league play and just find a good private skate with a regular group. It's a little easier to control the variables and enjoy just playing hockey than in league play when commemorative pint glasses are on the line. It's way cheaper with better hours too
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Dec 7, 2022 03:23
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We had our final game of the season Saturday night. I had also planned a party that night. Not my fault. It's December and the only date that worked. And the playoff schedule is never set in advance. Boo. Anyway, our game was at 6:15. Boyfriend was at home to hold down the fort while I was playing. Y'all. My teammates said "This is the best I've ever seen you play!" Which, yeah, I was pretty drat good! I came out of the crease more (it was like a switch click. "oh hey, I'mma be a red panda and make myself look bigger! Because I'm scared.), I blocked weird rear end shots, I blocked regular shots (that I usually miss because OVERTHINKING!). It was amazing! We tied and went to a shoot out. Which we lost. But still. So we were trying to figure out what was different. No boyfriend watching. We're banning him now.  Which means I have to carry all my poo poo myself. Booo!
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Dec 20, 2022 23:21
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I only allow our daughter to watch because she thinks I go fast. Lol. I keep hoping she gets interested in playing so I can eventually play with her on a line. We have a father (72) and son (44), play on our team together. Very jealous.
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Dec 21, 2022 01:50
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We have a father son duo on our team. Its more 22 and late 40s though. They rule together. Just natural chemistry
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Dec 21, 2022 02:01
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That’s really cool. No reason to not start early and help coach your kid’s team either. It’s a ton of fun and not really a bunch of extra effort unless they get really good. Even just stick and puck can be a ton of fun time with the kids. We had our last game of the year on Sunday too. We managed to score again finally. I think not having a 10pm or later start helped. We had more than one full line. That probably helped more.
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Dec 21, 2022 02:01
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My oldest turns 18 in July. He did skating lessons and played hockey for a couple years when he was younger. We're thinking about tossing him and his 15yo sister into our learn to play class. Although he just seems to want to do nothing but watch Youtube these days, so it'll probably be like pulling teeth.
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Dec 21, 2022 02:10
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My previous team had a father/son combo, but the son is college age and plays ACHA D1. When he showed up to our D4 tier games it was pretty stupid. Being an immature young man he was usually so hung over he couldn't really dominate the game, but when he got fired up there was no point in anyone else being on the ice. Had a couple refs yell at him over it. I get why it's fun to play with your dad or kid in beer league but there's definitely situations where it shouldn't happen. 
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Dec 21, 2022 02:17
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I'm the more athletic out of us. And I'm shite on the ice. So I'm assuming our daughter will inherit my ability. She'll fit right in with the beer league.
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Dec 21, 2022 02:30
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Yeah, my squirt is very much the better skater, but I can at least pass and shoot better for maybe another 6 months. His passing vision and anticipation is getting solid for his age group but he’s very young for the age group and can’t dominate himself yet. Next year will be interesting. It’s so much fun getting to be on the ice 3x a week with him. He’s into YouTube and video games too, but hockey is an easy sell.
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Dec 21, 2022 02:49
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Last Saturday we lost a playoff game against a team we really like and share some players with. Their goalie was being really aggressive, coming way out of his net to bump people, etc. Eventually he ran into one of our guys kinda hard, took it personally even though he initiated the contact, and came up swinging, hitting our guy in the face a few times. After they were separated, the goalie found our guy's stick, set it on the ice, and stomped on it with his skate, breaking it. Refs assessed each with a minor and when pressed about the stick break, said, "There's no way we're tossing the goalie out." We eventually lost in the shoot out. Our captain emailed the league director about the stick break and it turned out that goalie had been playing unregistered the whole season, which unfortunately made the director decide to disqualify the team. That put us into the semi final tonight, which we just won! So we're off to the final after the New Year.
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Dec 21, 2022 07:24
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Lol if you're trying to sneak under the radar to play maybe you shouldn't do conspicuous things like stick stomping. I'd be so pissed if I were his teammate.
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Dec 21, 2022 14:14
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I've had a guy Paul Bunyan my stick clean in half on purpose and have seen people kick/shoot loose sticks down the ice, but I've never seen a stick stomp 
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Dec 21, 2022 19:05
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It was so shocking in the moment, none of us had ever seen anything like it either. Their players were very apologetic about his behavior and after the game one of them was like "Don't worry, he won't be playing with us any more." I feel bad for them, they mostly earned the win and if he hadn't been such an rear end in a top hat they'd have just quietly moved on to the next round.
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Dec 21, 2022 19:46
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We won 6-0 last night! I invited one of the better players (Mark) from my Sunday team to sub for us. We actually had 10 skaters and its so nice to skate with 2 full lines. Mark played center and I was his right winger. He scored a hattrick and it felt so good. He fed me a lot of one time chances that I just couldn't get behind the goalie. He hurt himself scoring the third goal so I started forechecking for him hard and it ruled when their D would panic and throw the puck up ice and Mark would just slap it down wait for me to get offsides and feed it to me. Something clicked recently and I just feel better about my playing in general. I was always moving instead of standing still and I kept being in good passing lanes on offense and I was doing a decent job on defense of coving the point and getting the puck out of the zone along the boards. Hockey is extremely fun all the time but winning feels extra nice. I think our team is probably the second best in the league (D4) when we have more than 7 skaters show up. We also are undefeated since one of our players who got injured in game 1 came back 3 games ago. He's clearly our good luck charm and is a puck possession machine. Anyways happy holidays all! We have another game Tuesday that I'm hoping people show up for because my parents are coming to watch
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Dec 24, 2022 18:34
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That sounds like so much fun. We had a coaches game today for the youth association and it was so much fun. There’s a mix of skill sets including some former D1 and AHL players and it’s just a blast playing. They do a good job of making everyone out there better and being positive about people working on skill sets. Brought out a handful of kid refs from the teams/coach’s kids and they did a good job and had fun too.
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Dec 24, 2022 21:01
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Oof. I no longer have a team.  No one wanted me as goalie. Which is fine, I guess. I'm not good. I let in stupid poo poo, but I'm literally still learning (despite the stupid amount I've spent on camps) and figuring out how to get over my "if you drop, you'll never get up again and you'll die right here on the wonderfully cold ice" anxiety. The captains during the draft kept 8 tendies and I was 9th. Out of...probably 9. The commissioner did say I needed to up my conditioning (yeah I know) and to put my name on the "yeah I'll sub" list. I know I suck but it still hurts a little.
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Dec 31, 2022 04:12
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Safe to assume you were playing in the lowest tier? That's kind of lovely, because it's not like there's anywhere else for beginners to really learn game speed. They should have come up with some way to get you ice time (beyond subbing). I guess if it was just matter of too many goalies that's less offensive but it still feels lovely. I got booted from two teams early on and it never really stops pissing you off.
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Dec 31, 2022 04:30
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xzzy posted:Safe to assume you were playing in the lowest tier? That's kind of lovely, because it's not like there's anywhere else for beginners to really learn game speed. They should have come up with some way to get you ice time (beyond subbing). Oh most def lowest tier. I can do some pick up games and maybe try the other league in town but they play on not-Fridays. Bleah. I already have anxiety about letting people down so this just really amps that up. This is why I normally do solo sports (powerlifting, strongman, grip, etc). No one to disappoint but myself. I'll get over it.  Hey, I saved $210 at least.
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Dec 31, 2022 04:45
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$210 for a season? Wow, ours are now $800+ and we also pay for goalies.
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Dec 31, 2022 05:04
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Henrik Zetterberg posted:$210 for a season? Wow, ours are now $800+ and we also pay for goalies. GODDAMN! I mean...GODDAMN! $800 for a season???? It's $405 for skaters, $210 for goalies at this rink. And around these parts, people play in a couple leagues if they can. EIGHT HUNDRED DOLLARS????
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Dec 31, 2022 05:14
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Goalies play free in the shinnies I run. Making goalies pay is nuts imo.
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Dec 31, 2022 05:20
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Our seasons are either 5 or 6 months and yes, I try to play in 2 leagues concurrently. And my wife does the same. We love burning money apparently.
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Dec 31, 2022 05:20
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prom candy posted:Goalies play free in the shinnies I run. Making goalies pay is nuts imo. One move our rink made during covid, and still exists, is that goalies now pay for drop-in and everything else. They said it was temporary due to loss of income, despite receiving a massive covid loan that they don’t have to repay. Oh yeah, and goalies still have to pay in 2023. It’s so dumb.
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Dec 31, 2022 05:21
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Goalies paying depends on the team around Chicago, because every league (that I know of) takes payment from the team captain and it's up to them/the team whether to charge goalies or not. Drop in or clinics tend to charge half or less, depends on demand for someone in net. Usually the first two are in for free. Also a 24+2 game season is around $450.
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Dec 31, 2022 05:31
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topenga posted:Oof. What city are you in? I doubt I can do much but I’d love to find you some folks you can skate or do pickups with.
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Dec 31, 2022 09:02
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Goalies play for free in pretty much every pickup game, and even if you're still a beginner, skaters will much prefer shooting at a warm body in net rather than aiming for posts. If your rink has a learn to play hockey class, you might be able to crash it for free as a goalie so the skaters have someone to shoot on. Both can help you develop the skills you need to play in a league.
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Dec 31, 2022 20:42
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xzzy posted:Goalies paying depends on the team around Chicago, because every league (that I know of) takes payment from the team captain and it's up to them/the team whether to charge goalies or not. The league I played in at 5/3 just required one bulk payment per team, so it was up to the captain to decide what to charge each person, but the league in Franklin Park charged each person individually, and goalies got to play for free.
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Dec 31, 2022 20:47
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I love when we have a weak goalie at shinny because it means I might be able to actually score
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Dec 31, 2022 22:50
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11pm game last night and we only had 8 show up against a team we’ve never beaten. Walked out with a 7-0 win. Feels good.
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Dec 31, 2022 23:01
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topenga are you in Austin? I played beer league there 15 years ago, but I still have friends there and Bradf0rd was there more recently. He's also a goalie If we can help ya please let me know in this thread or a pm. Let's find you some pickups or games to play in!!!
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Jan 1, 2023 21:09
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Some goalies around where I am get PAID to play. About 20$~60$ per game if you are good and how last minute it is. For leagues, they play for free, but often they will spring for extra beers and any spare fees if they have to miss a game. We even have a goalie app for it. We once rented a goalie that played in the Q for fun. https://goalieup.com/en https://puckapp.ca/
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Jan 4, 2023 16:01
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bgreman posted:Last Saturday we lost a playoff game against a team we really like and share some players with. Their goalie was being really aggressive, coming way out of his net to bump people, etc. Eventually he ran into one of our guys kinda hard, took it personally even though he initiated the contact, and came up swinging, hitting our guy in the face a few times. So after all this drama we won the 'ship tonight! We were down 2-0 and wound up coming back to win it 4-3!  We're the Moose Knuckles, and for our first couple years here they deemed our name not family friendly so we'd always be listed as MK on the schedule and locker room assignments. The team we beat tonight is also called Moose Knuckles, but since we were first they have to go by MK2. They wore the same colors until we switched to neon green this year, and their logo looks very similar. We joked about making this game the battle for who gets to keep the name. bgreman fucked around with this message at 10:59 on Jan 5, 2023 |
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Jan 5, 2023 10:54
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congrats! and change your name to MKUltra obviously
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Jan 5, 2023 19:32
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bgreman posted:We're the Moose Knuckles, and for our first couple years here they deemed our name not family friendly so we'd always be listed as MK on the schedule and locker room assignments. The team we beat tonight is also called Moose Knuckles, but since we were first they have to go by MK2. They wore the same colors until we switched to neon green this year, and their logo looks very similar. We joked about making this game the battle for who gets to keep the name. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XItRcMuraCI
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Jan 5, 2023 21:54
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sellouts posted:topenga are you in Austin? Yes I am indeed in Austin! Thanks, I really appreciate the offer. Goons makin' me cry over hockey, ya sweet bastards. I plan on doing a lunchtime shinny on as many fridays as I can, subbing as needed, and work on my cardio. I have the strongman nationals comp in June as well so all of this will help in the long run. I just have to actually DO IT. Prices: Shinnies at The Pond the goalies don't pay and sometimes there's three. So far the calendar only has the one a week Shinnies/Drop-ins at Northcross: $15.70, only 2 goalies max. But they look to have a few per week. Shinnies/Drop-ins at Crossover: Goalies play free, Every Friday with a 7am and a 7pm (jesus) I really appreciate the support, y'all.
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Jan 6, 2023 03:22
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I started growing a moustache over the holidays as a joke (no offense to moustache-havers, it does not work for me) and I've scored in every hockey game I've played since then. I played one of the best games of my life tonight. I think my wife is gonna leave me but I can't shave it now.
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Jan 8, 2023 04:30
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