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The best move I made was finding a private drop in to play with. The time sucks but out of 20 times I've played there has been 1 time someones friends were complete douchebags. And they were never invited again.
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May 12, 2012 07:45
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shyguy posted:That could be the thing, they haven't reached that ceiling yet. Right now they're King poo poo, but they haven't reached the next level yet, which can be a world's difference. I wish my parents were a little more encouraging with me growing up and sticking to something I worked so hard on. The main problem was money was (and still is) always pretty tight. I usually took the free route for summer camps as a goalie and pretty much taught myself everything until I was 17 and figured if I ever wanted to play in college (a snowflake's chance in hell, considering I played lovely house league ever since money became a problem after Squirt A's) I'd have to up my game. I didn't make club my first 2 years at school and every night during spring semester sophomore year I would lay in bed contemplating trying out for juniors. The expenses that you experienced were the main setback preventing me from heading over to Saskatchewan and using up my last year of eligibility for juniors, but I stayed in school, made club, ended up the 3rd string and have played 3 full games of D-II club through 2 years, which were crazy fun during their rare occurrences as we were always scheduled to beat the teams I played in net for, but I was challenged since I made a huge jump from crummy sub-JV hockey and the occasional T-3 or 4 beer league to playing for an actual college against another college. I'm with you 100% on trying to pay for school. Sometimes I think if I had been a little more motivated and my parents had invested a little more money in lessons, it could've paid off if I ended up with a scholarship. Such are the blunders of life. Also, the majority of guys in the FHL/SPHL do have a lovely situation, but some of the guys I know actually make it work by essentially popping in whenever the gently caress they want while still making an actual solid living on the ice, but as coaches at a private rink. It's an unusual situation, though, since it's all about connections, circumstances, timing, luck, etc. Well I just wrote a loving book, so you don't have to worry about getting pegged as the crotchety old man. That job is taken.  + 
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May 12, 2012 09:14
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Timing and luck is a big thing, very very big. I played against a guy in HS whose Midget AAA team made it to nationals in DC, and got scouted by a U of Vermont scout, and ended up playing four years there, on a full ride. He was an ECHL all-star and made the all-rookie team, played a few games in the AHL and he's now in Europe, and just won a title with Brynas IF the Swedish Elite League. Crazy stuff. He was setting all sorts of scoring records in HS, but the HS league I played in was hardly a blip on the radar, and I've seen plenty of other players of his caliber simply not get to that level because nobody knows they exist. It took that trip with his club team to DC to get that chance. Being able to make a FHL/SPHL career work like you said with coaching on the side for dough is another thing where luck and knowing people works out. Not ideal, but they're able to live comfortably and do what they love then more power to them I suppose. shyduck fucked around with this message at 09:58 on May 12, 2012 |
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May 12, 2012 09:50
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He's with Brynäs? What's his name?
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May 12, 2012 12:32
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Rutkowski posted:He's with Brynäs? What's his name? This guy, I imagine: http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=82795
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May 12, 2012 17:31
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Yep, that's him 
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May 12, 2012 17:38
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So now I've spent like an hour today looking at guys on hockeydb that were junior hockey superstars and then topped out in the ECHL or ended up in the Austrian league or something.
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May 12, 2012 20:43
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shyguy posted:Timing and luck is a big thing, very very big. I played against a guy in HS whose Midget AAA team made it to nationals in DC, and got scouted by a U of Vermont scout, and ended up playing four years there, on a full ride. He was an ECHL all-star and made the all-rookie team, played a few games in the AHL and he's now in Europe, and just won a title with Brynas IF the Swedish Elite League. Crazy stuff. Timing and luck are two things that I came up short on growing up. If I hadn't learned about the private rink I go to and hadn't met all these coaches, I would have never made the team considering all the free ice time I got during the past few summers. One of the coaches is building an ice rink in my hometown that's set to open in October to try to bring Norwalk kids back from surrounding towns that actually have rinks and youth programs. The rink is also going to be the new home of a junior team, which also doesn't do me a lot of good now that I'll be 22 by the time the rink opens. I know it'd be highly unlikely that if I could try out that I'd actually make it, but being able to watch junior games so close to home growing up would have been a great motivator for me thinking "some day, I can be on that team."
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May 12, 2012 21:35
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I have a friend who plays pro roller hockey in Italy and if he had started hockey younger I feel he could have at least played ECHL or ice in Europe. One of the best hockey players I have ever played against but he started playing so late. My cousin gave up his playing dreams in college and now has an awesome job in hockey that makes me extremely jealous.
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May 12, 2012 21:37
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Thanks for making me play soccer, mom and dad 
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May 12, 2012 21:51
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Henrik Zetterberg posted:Thanks for making me play soccer, mom and dad  Worse, I somehow got convinced to play goal with zero instruction on how to be a goalie.. all they said was "stop the ball". I only lasted a couple seasons before I quit, I just didn't have the fortitude to deal with allowing goals. Pretty disappointing how most things in life you can pick up whenever and enjoy some form of competency and success, but with sports if your parents don't put you on that path out of the womb you'll never be a pro.
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May 13, 2012 02:26
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xzzy posted:
Same here. I didn't get into hockey until I was 8, ice hockey until I was 14.
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May 13, 2012 02:52
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As a kid, I played with so many guys who did the piss-around-Canada-in-juniors-and-maybe-a-short-stint-in-semi-pro thing instead of going to college. I always sort of questioned why they would do that, but I guess I had a different perspective as a girl in that college hockey was realistically my only option after I was too old for Midget U19, so it was what I was playing for 100%. I can't say I wouldn't have done the same as the guys had I been male, honestly.
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May 13, 2012 04:39
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Brain wired differently, girls grow up/mature faster, etc. Plus there are a lot more options open for males (prep school, USA Hockey sponsored development camps, juniors) before college than females that essentially give false hope by allowing kids to think that they're always playing toward the inevitable signing bonus with the Detroit Red Wings so they can buy Escalades and hookers and shoot up heroin during the off-season. I don't by any means know what the standard is for female athletes, but I know that juniors is a Bro Thing and "girls go to college to get more knowledge."  Seriously, though, female athletes have it made if they're halfway decent in what they do, considering (at least in the US NCAA) the amount of money in student athlete scholarships given out each year has to be equal for men's and women's sports. Give your school a men's football team and somehow female shotputters are getting full rides because the school just has to dish out scholarships for female athletes after all the football players get their free education that they pay no attention to. And women want equal rights.  xzzy posted:
I think being a soccer goalie can royally gently caress some kids up in the head, even more so than hockey goalies already are before they sign up for the job.  At least with hockey, the fault can normally rely on a team effort, but once a big game comes down to penalty kicks, oh poo poo, someone's confidence is going to be ruined for-loving-ever. I was talking with a friend from school about pressure to perform in sports and he told me about how some HS state/regional/whatever championships end in ties now instead of going to penalty kicks because a girl keeper offed herself after losing a title in penalty kicks. I have no evidence to actually back this up, but I feel it would gently caress up a kid's head knowing that if she dove the other way, she would be a hero. Tiebreakers are hosed up for young minds to be able to deal with heartbreaking losses like that.
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May 13, 2012 05:09
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Justin Bourne (former minor-pro player) just wrote the other day about his decision to go NCAA vs major juniors: http://blogs.thescore.com/nhl/2012/05/11/my-experience-with-the-choice-between-major-junior-and-college-hockey/ Seems like unless you're an NHL shoo-in it's still pretty dumb to do juniors but I'm sure most guys have a hard time realistically assessing their chances of making it big at age 17 or whatever.
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May 13, 2012 05:18
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I can't imagine even having the choice between juniors and a paid college scholarship. Seems easy enough to me that the clear choice would be college but some people have different priorities I guess.
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May 13, 2012 05:19
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The problem is if exiting high school and not getting offers, determined kids who think they can get a scholarship/ATO turn to juniors to hone their skills and try to get scouted during 2-4 year stints in juniors. The real way to know you actually have a chance to be successful is to have a commitment to a school while being allowed to take a few years after being accepted into the USHL draft. In these (very rare) cases, the school knows you're good enough to compete at the D-1 level, but would rather you squeeze out every year of practice you can before you actually enroll and play. I know a few guys from New Jersey who entered the USHL draft at 17 or 18 and had commitments to play at UVM and UNH when they were done with juniors. I don't know how schools can have kids committed to them and not attending for a few years and not have an entire roster better than their prospects come along within those few years, though. System's hosed.
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May 13, 2012 05:33
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gco posted:I think being a soccer goalie can royally gently caress some kids up in the head, even more so than hockey goalies already are before they sign up for the job. Yeah, playing goalie in a lot of sports is pretty tough. I personally never blame the goalie and always try to keep the morale up. Blaming the goalie is always a bad idea since a goalie without confidence is pretty much useless and in hockey, a goal against almost always means someone in front hosed up. I once played against team with a decent goalie who was having a bad day. It was 2-2 at the mid point in the game and my team scored a softie on the goalie. This goal was immediate met with their team giving their own goalie poo poo and there was still lots of time in the game. That was the breaking point for the goalie and we finished the game with 11-5 as almost every shot went in after that.
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May 13, 2012 05:48
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Zettace posted:Yeah, playing goalie in a lot of sports is pretty tough. I personally never blame the goalie and always try to keep the morale up. Blaming the goalie is always a bad idea since a goalie without confidence is pretty much useless and in hockey, a goal against almost always means someone in front hosed up. I play goalie in futsal/football and floorball, and my internal monologue is "Oh? A goal was scored? Why wasn't my defense covering it?". It works well except for absolute howlers. e: And penalties, but I rationalise those by the shooter being expected to score, and any saves I make ruining their day.  Incidentally, if any of you guys are looking for a summer sport, give floorball a try. It's great for cardio, you keep your hand-eye (stick-puck/ball) coordination, and most everything translates directly across (key points are no checking, and no deliberate stick-on-stick contact). (Floorball Canada, USA Floorball) e: Marty, let me know if this isn't appropriate and I'll remove it. (I can't play ice hockey since the nearest rink is ~400km away and on a different island, so I play floorball instead.  )
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May 13, 2012 06:01
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Thel posted:I play goalie in futsal/football and floorball, and my internal monologue is "Oh? A goal was scored? Why wasn't my defense covering it?". It works well except for absolute howlers. e: And penalties, but I rationalise those by the shooter being expected to score, and any saves I make ruining their day. Don't underestimate the amount of power in the game at the lower levels though. Accidental collisions are aplenty and that's how I recieved my concussion.
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May 13, 2012 06:08
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gco posted:Brain wired differently, girls grow up/mature faster, etc. Plus there are a lot more options open for males (prep school, USA Hockey sponsored development camps, juniors) before college than females that essentially give false hope by allowing kids to think that they're always playing toward the inevitable signing bonus with the Detroit Red Wings so they can buy Escalades and hookers and shoot up heroin during the off-season. lol funny you say that about growing up/maturing - really the only reason I went to college right out of high school was to play hockey. Didn't give a single solitary gently caress about school itself and now that I am like 11 years beyond that and spent the latter half of my 20's trying to make up for how spectacularly I sucked at the "school" part so I could advance my education, I kind of wish I would have matured more before going to college but hey, division I hockey man.  The second part of what you said is precisely what my point was - though I did go to USA Hockey national development camps as a kid and there are more and more prep schools for girls now - most of those are considered preparation for college for female athletes. Still, we didn't have the whole "You could be pro someday!" thing over our heads. I don't know whether that's good or bad, to be honest...
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May 13, 2012 09:51
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Rutkowski posted:Floorball is awesome and for new players it's really cheap. A decent stick can be found for cirka 30 bucks(cirka 60-80 for semipro stuff, a pro friend of mine is sponsored but would have to pay cirka 150 bucks for each stick) and a good pair of indoor sneakers. Hockey is an incredibly physical sport. I never thought I would actually get hurt in beginner league intramurals, but I got a concussion in a game earlier this year. Luckily it was very minor, but the game is very contact heavy regardless of the level of checking allowed. It's one of the things I really like about it. There's no such thing as beer league football where you get to play a physical style, but hockey affords the opportunity to play the game at a pretty physical level compared to other sports.
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May 13, 2012 09:53
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Rutkowski posted:Floorball is awesome and for new players it's really cheap. A decent stick can be found for cirka 30 bucks(cirka 60-80 for semipro stuff, a pro friend of mine is sponsored but would have to pay cirka 150 bucks for each stick) and a good pair of indoor sneakers. At a beginner level of floorball, really any stick works, as long as it's sized appropriately and not broken -- note that for ice hockey players where you might be used to a stick coming up to your nose/chin, the floorball stick length is more typically around your navel area. (I play with a longer stick since I'm a defenseman) The semi-pro/pro sticks trade off less weight for decreased durability -- the kickpoint-style wavy-shaft sticks (the big-$$$ ones) are really only useful if you already have a powerful shot and want to add that 1-2% extra to it. The physicality of floorball depends on the interpretation by your refs - here we play that if two players both see each other and go shoulder-to-shoulder that's fine - using your body to blindside someone, or non-shoulder-to-shoulder contact or *any* head contact is an immediate penalty.
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May 13, 2012 10:13
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Topoisomerase posted:Still, we didn't have the whole "You could be pro someday!" thing over our heads. I don't know whether that's good or bad, to be honest...
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May 13, 2012 12:23
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Lawnie posted:Hockey is an incredibly physical sport. I never thought I would actually get hurt in beginner league intramurals, but I got a concussion in a game earlier this year. Luckily it was very minor, but the game is very contact heavy regardless of the level of checking allowed. It's one of the things I really like about it. There's no such thing as beer league football where you get to play a physical style, but hockey affords the opportunity to play the game at a pretty physical level compared to other sports. Dude I know you got a concussion and that sucks but the contact in beer league is nothing close to how physical the game is in a contact league. Is it possible that part of the reason you got hurt not the amount of contact but that you're just beginning and don't have the best balance and control of yourself and don't know how to handle the littlest contact? It's like Flag Football dudes being physical at the line or running into someone while trying to grab a flag. There's still contact and it's still "physical" but the constant threat of having your head completely knocked off isn't there. Real contact hockey is a completely different game in terms of strategy and play style. Beer league just isn't that physical in comparison. sellouts fucked around with this message at 13:51 on May 13, 2012 |
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May 13, 2012 13:44
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Beer league is pretty terrifying just because the skill level can be so low, and so random. People who have no training in how to give or receive contact slam into each other because the agility and training just isn't there. And those 300 pound old dudes go down really goddamn hard.
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May 13, 2012 16:09
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sellouts posted:Dude I know you got a concussion and that sucks but the contact in beer league is nothing close to how physical the game is in a contact league. Is it possible that part of the reason you got hurt not the amount of contact but that you're just beginning and don't have the best balance and control of yourself and don't know how to handle the littlest contact? Sure it doesn't hold a candle to actual contact hockey but I think beer league is way more physical than just about any other recreational team sport that adults engage in. Except maybe rugby, but everything is still faster and harder in hockey.
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May 13, 2012 16:38
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Thufir posted:Sure it doesn't hold a candle to actual contact hockey but I think beer league is way more physical than just about any other recreational team sport that adults engage in. Except maybe rugby, but everything is still faster and harder in hockey. For people who play: No-check hockey isn't all that rough. There's bumping/contact, but it's no more physical than any other "no contact" sport, e.g. touch football or soccer. Occasionally, you'll get a huge collision but that's the exception, not the rule. Also, I'd argue it gets even less physical the higher you go. I've played in B, C, and D league. D is by far filled with more faux tough guys just looking to hit someone. For people who don't play: "Brah, you have no idea how core all hockey is. Y'ever see the play where Scotty Stevens almost killed Paul Kariya? It's pretty much just like that. Every game." waffle enthusiast fucked around with this message at 17:40 on May 13, 2012 |
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May 13, 2012 17:36
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D league is definitely the most people cruising around for a hit or cheap poo poo. But I think the higher levels can be more physical. Especially drop ins. Most guys who are good have enough awareness to realize if a player can take a bump or not and can feel out the tempo of the game to determine what's appropriate.
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May 14, 2012 00:17
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Slowly but surely piecing my equipment together. Hurdles... What size shin guards to get (torn between 16 and 17)... and where to find a tall stick! Also, any recommendations on Reebok elbow pads? Krime fucked around with this message at 05:38 on May 14, 2012 |
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May 14, 2012 05:24
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sellouts posted:Dude I know you got a concussion and that sucks but the contact in beer league is nothing close to how physical the game is in a contact league. Is it possible that part of the reason you got hurt not the amount of contact but that you're just beginning and don't have the best balance and control of yourself and don't know how to handle the littlest contact? Whoa I didn't mean to imply that I play an extremely physical game or anything, merely pointing out that the game, at any level, can be dangerous. Sure there isn't the constant threat of getting nailed, but there's an inherently non-zero chance of taking significant contact if, for example, you're going into the corner and someone is behind you chasing after a puck, particularly when one or both of those players aren't very experienced. I'm sorry I brought up the concussion. It doesn't actually have any bearing on the discussion at hand and was me trying to inject some sort of anecdotal evidence into an argument. Also it was like a month ago, no one gives a poo poo anymore.
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May 14, 2012 05:39
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Krime posted:Also, any recommendations on Reebok elbow pads? The 5k's I have do the job but I don't like the elastic.. it seems to be stretching out pretty fast, and I like stuff to be snug and not floating around. Doesn't help that the straps were already borderline too long when they were new.
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May 14, 2012 14:18
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I like my 11K elbows. The bottom 2 straps are nylon, so no stretching there. Only thing is that they're pretty thick, so it sometimes makes the sleeves of my jersey a little tight. Gamechat: I scored the best goal last night. The LW had the puck coming over the red line on the left as I was flying down the right about to cross the blue line. No one within 15-20 feet of me. The LW fires a pass over to me just as I was crossing over the blue line. It ended up being too far out in front of me to grab, so I said gently caress it and just dove for it. Total Superman flying through the air. As I hit the ice just outside of the hash marks, I baseball swing my stick (still no one around me). The heel of the stick catches the puck and fires a bullet right between the goalie's legs. Then I slide into the net.
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May 14, 2012 15:17
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I've got RBK 5k elbow pads and really like 'em. I haven't had any problems with the elastic, but YMMV.
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May 14, 2012 16:58
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Henrik Zetterberg posted:Thanks for making me play soccer, mom and dad I got y'all beat! My grandpa owned and ice rink 15 minutes from where I lived growing up. I never used it once. I learned how to skate at age 19 instead. Krime posted:Slowly but surely piecing my equipment together. How tall are you? I'm 6'6"/6'7"ish and use an Easton EQ20 and EQ30 with a plug. I also use 17" shin guards.
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May 14, 2012 19:00
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19 o'clock posted:I got y'all beat! My grandpa owned and ice rink 15 minutes from where I lived growing up. I never used it once. I learned how to skate at age 19 instead. I think it's normal for kids to wander away from family stuff like that, unless they get coaxed into it. My dad is a career mechanic.. can keep drat near any car you throw at him in running condition. Growing up, I never once helped him in the garage or learned much of anything about vehicle maintenance. Everything I know I picked up on my own after leaving home. I guess the moral of the story is that kids are dumb.
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May 14, 2012 19:09
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xzzy posted:I guess the moral of the story is that kids are dumb. There is this, too. I never had an interest in it nor was I nudged towards sports by anyone in my family at any time. It's something I got into in college at the instigation of my friends. The conclusion: "Well, son of a bitch. I wish I had done this earlier."
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May 14, 2012 21:23
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My parents never pressured me into hockey, and didn't put me in a league until I asked, which I did when I was 7 apparently. My young brother they had on skates taking lessons as soon as he could stand basically. Kinda jealous of that.
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May 14, 2012 21:57
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19 o'clock posted:I got y'all beat! My grandpa owned and ice rink 15 minutes from where I lived growing up. I never used it once. I learned how to skate at age 19 instead. I've worked at an ice rink since I was 16. I'm 30 now and just getting into playing. All those free hours of "after hours" skating I've missed out on. I'm 6'4" so I'll be going with the 16" shins. Thanks! I'll check out those sticks, Zdeno.
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May 14, 2012 22:05
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Krime posted:I've worked at an ice rink since I was 16. I'm 30 now and just getting into playing. Oh, hot drat. I suppose you probably have me beat, then. Working there with your peers doing the after-hours is tough to miss out on. I love the Iginla pattern, finally found something that works for putting the puck wherever I want. As for Zdeno? man I wish I had his talent. I'd settle for Nik Antropov.
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May 14, 2012 22:19
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