Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Post
  • Reply
Wolfy
Jul 13, 2009

xzzy posted:

I'm taking lessons from a figure skater and it's been great.

The basic principles remain the same regardless irrespective of whether your skates have a toepick, so there is plenty you can learn no matter who your instructor is. I would imagine that as you get better at skating you'll start to require more hockey specific instruction, but that's relatively far down the road.

Having gone through this "return to the ice after a long break" business over the last couple months, I would suggest you start working on leg strength asap. The first month or so was crippling because I was using muscles I forgot I had.
Yeah I just started working out and I have a month or two of rehab before I can do something like vigorous skating. This place offers lessons from basic skating, a couple figure skating classes and one for hockey. It's like 100 bucks for 8 sessions and they throw you on the ice and figure out where to start teaching you. Sounds like a good deal to me.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

xzzy
Mar 5, 2009

Wolfy posted:

Yeah I just started working out and I have a month or two of rehab before I can do something like vigorous skating. This place offers lessons from basic skating, a couple figure skating classes and one for hockey. It's like 100 bucks for 8 sessions and they throw you on the ice and figure out where to start teaching you. Sounds like a good deal to me.

That's exactly what my lessons are like. It's a youth/adult beginner/intermediate class, every age range gets their own faceoff circle and a teacher. Has a learn at your own pace setup, and I rather like it.

It'd be nice to have a whole rink, being able to build up some speed is nice, but it would be prohibitively expensive.

El Nam
Jan 14, 2007
We found Charlie

Henrik Zetterberg posted:

I'm half-expecting this dreaded email.... in 4 more days when they're sold out everywhere. I may end up getting the x60s if this is the case.

I hope you get them, I also just ordered the same skates, but slightly used for 280.

D C
Jun 20, 2004

1-800-HOTLINEBLING
1-800-HOTLINEBLING
1-800-HOTLINEBLING

Wolfy posted:

Yeah I played there when I was a kid, it's a nice place with a decent pro shop. Would you recommend taking these skating classes for hockey? It's been a long time and I never learned any of these fancy hockey maneuvers anyway.

Wait, 'as a kid'? How old are you? I played there the first year it opened (for the Senators) and part of the year after that.

[edit] Oh poo poo just realized that was like 9 or 10 years ago, I'm gettin old.

bewbies
Sep 23, 2003

Fun Shoe
I broke out my old inlines and I am going to try roller hockey this afternoon on a sport court kind of surface for the first time. I haven't played roller hockey on a "rink" in 15 years or so and that "rink" was a piece of parking lot with pads arranged in a rough oval. Also I played a bit at the lovely roller skating rink I worked at in grad school, that was just as fun.

I am also going to be putting these aesthetically pleasing contraptions on my feet for the first time in a couple of years



Roller hockey is a strange and scary world to me :ohdear:

D C
Jun 20, 2004

1-800-HOTLINEBLING
1-800-HOTLINEBLING
1-800-HOTLINEBLING

bewbies posted:

I broke out my old inlines and I am going to try roller hockey this afternoon on a sport court kind of surface for the first time. I haven't played roller hockey on a "rink" in 15 years or so and that "rink" was a piece of parking lot with pads arranged in a rough oval. Also I played a bit at the lovely roller skating rink I worked at in grad school, that was just as fun.

I am also going to be putting these aesthetically pleasing contraptions on my feet for the first time in a couple of years



Roller hockey is a strange and scary world to me :ohdear:

:ohdear: Dont try and stop like you do in ice hockey! Also dont fall like you do in ice as well. you have to roll on the floor, falling and expecting to slide is so painful.

WouldDesk
Dec 26, 2009

bewbies posted:

I broke out my old inlines and I am going to try roller hockey this afternoon on a sport court kind of surface for the first time. I haven't played roller hockey on a "rink" in 15 years or so and that "rink" was a piece of parking lot with pads arranged in a rough oval. Also I played a bit at the lovely roller skating rink I worked at in grad school, that was just as fun.

I am also going to be putting these aesthetically pleasing contraptions on my feet for the first time in a couple of years



Roller hockey is a strange and scary world to me :ohdear:

Whoa whoa whoa, roller in OK? I thought it no longer existed? I love roller, although it is quite taxing on the body.

Lawnie
Sep 6, 2006

That is my helmet
Give it back
you are a lion
It doesn't even fit
Grimey Drawer
How do you guys approach playing with a new team, in terms of lines and positions and all that stuff? I'm pretty sure the team im playing on has a bunch of kids that have never played before, and neither have i, so I'm sort of worried about how we're going to handle all that stuff.

poser
Jun 9, 2002

Are they booing the power play?

I was saying Boo-urns!

Lawnie posted:

How do you guys approach playing with a new team, in terms of lines and positions and all that stuff? I'm pretty sure the team im playing on has a bunch of kids that have never played before, and neither have i, so I'm sort of worried about how we're going to handle all that stuff.

Best 3 skaters are C

as for RW/LW pair up Good/Great skaters with Ok/Bad skaters.

D C
Jun 20, 2004

1-800-HOTLINEBLING
1-800-HOTLINEBLING
1-800-HOTLINEBLING
Yeah its best to try and spread the damage out a bit.

bewbies
Sep 23, 2003

Fun Shoe

WouldDesk posted:

Whoa whoa whoa, roller in OK? I thought it no longer existed? I love roller, although it is quite taxing on the body.

There's a rink on Fort Sill. It was the first time I've ever skated on sport court before, I was kind of surprised how grippy it is (although I wiped out the first time I tried to skate backwards as you can't dig your toe into sport court). Shooting was totally different though, stick didn't act like I'm used to it acting.

Apparently they play a pickup game there on Tues/Thu at 6pm, I guess I'm going to give semi-competitive roller hockey a try now.

Henrik Zetterberg
Dec 7, 2007

poser posted:

Are you the guy that just started playing in the beginner class/league in Roseville?

Yup! We finished our first season a couple weeks ago with all learn-to-play players from the same class. Spring/summer season starts this Sunday.

Wolfy
Jul 13, 2009

D C posted:

Wait, 'as a kid'? How old are you? I played there the first year it opened (for the Senators) and part of the year after that.

[edit] Oh poo poo just realized that was like 9 or 10 years ago, I'm gettin old.
Yeah I think I was messin around there about ten years ago or whenever it opened. I'm 21 now. I never really got down with the Senators or any of those teams, I was just playing in rec leagues.

poser
Jun 9, 2002

Are they booing the power play?

I was saying Boo-urns!

Henrik Zetterberg posted:

Yup! We finished our first season a couple weeks ago with all learn-to-play players from the same class. Spring/summer season starts this Sunday.

Awesome!

How is the talent level out there? My friend played in NARCH (huge roller hockey tournament) and a bunch of kids from Sac State had a team and they were pretty good.

I play at Sharks Ice @ San Jose and our leagues range from A - EEEE and my friend played in lower D/E level as a semi ringer but played in a B league in San Diego.

Fingat
May 17, 2004

Shhh. My Common Sense is Tingling


Picked up my X50's today, got a free baking and sharpening. They felt much better after the baking. Ill be testing them Friday if the impending storm doesn't cause the place to close.

Lawnie
Sep 6, 2006

That is my helmet
Give it back
you are a lion
It doesn't even fit
Grimey Drawer
Played my first actual competitive IM game today. It was a lot more physical than I expected for a no-check league, though I wasn't surprised when I got railroaded in the offensive zone by a giant dick that I KNOW can stop well enough not to have done so. It was a lot of fun playing with a team competitively, though, since in rat usually it's just a bunch of people loving around but tonight it was pretty intense at times.

I wish I could play with better linemates, both of the kids on my line have only been playing for a couple weeks (compared to my couple months, but hey, it'd be nice to get some offensive chances thanks to someone else's hard work).

It was pretty frustrating to lose, though. We were up 2-0 and 3-1 in the game, and ended up losing 5-4. The other team had one giant guy that was an absolute ringer, scored the GWG by skating around our defensive zone for at least 20 seconds.

Really looking forward to playing again next week, though. The whole "team" thing is pretty loving awesome.

Teeter
Jul 21, 2005

Hey guys! I'm having a good time, what about you?

Wolfy posted:

Does anyone play in the Inland Empire in southern California and have an opinion on which of our three rinks has the best clinics/whatever for new players? I played about 10 years ago but I was a goalie so..I don't really know too much about skating or puck handling. So consider me a player with no experience.

Hopefully I can scrape some money together soon because then I'll probably see you out there. I have zero hockey or skating experience but a huge desire to get my rear end on the ice some day, and since I live maybe 10-15 minutes from that ontario ice so I figure that's where I'll head.

poser
Jun 9, 2002

Are they booing the power play?

I was saying Boo-urns!
Any tips on delayed entry to the zone? I'm a little bit faster than people on my team and I beat them to the blue line I just end up stopping and waiting and it messes up my flow.

Surfing Turtle
Jun 18, 2004
I'M A TURTLE AND I'M SURFING, THAT'S CRAZY!

poser posted:

Any tips on delayed entry to the zone? I'm a little bit faster than people on my team and I beat them to the blue line I just end up stopping and waiting and it messes up my flow.

I am probably wrong but aren't you supposed to straddle it till the puck comes across? I mean you can literally have one skate on the line and you're still onside.

xzzy
Mar 5, 2009

poser posted:

Any tips on delayed entry to the zone? I'm a little bit faster than people on my team and I beat them to the blue line I just end up stopping and waiting and it messes up my flow.

Question reminded me of this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O28zjLNsDGY

Maybe you can try some of his ideas?

Henrik Zetterberg
Dec 7, 2007

poser posted:

Awesome!

How is the talent level out there? My friend played in NARCH (huge roller hockey tournament) and a bunch of kids from Sac State had a team and they were pretty good.

I play at Sharks Ice @ San Jose and our leagues range from A - EEEE and my friend played in lower D/E level as a semi ringer but played in a B league in San Diego.

It's pretty good. We don't use the A-EEEE system to rank the leagues as far as I know. We have Bronze/Silver B/Silver A/Gold B/Gold A then sometimes Platinum. There's about 8-10 teams in each league, so there's a pretty hefty number of players for 2 rinks. Obviously we're in the Bronze league, but it's pretty competitive, especially since a couple of the teams have been around for a few years.

The traveling team (Capital Thunder or something) practices and plays at the rink, and most of them are disgustingly good. 15 years younger than me and 10 times better than I'll ever be. Kind of depressing really.

poser posted:

Any tips on delayed entry to the zone? I'm a little bit faster than people on my team and I beat them to the blue line I just end up stopping and waiting and it messes up my flow.
I'm usually like this too. If no one is covering me, I'll straddle the line. If I have a D-man near me, I'll just curl inwards towards the center so I don't completely lose all my momentum. I hate coming to a dead stop on the blue line, then having someone dump it in. No chance to get to the puck before the defense after I lose all the momentum.

Minister Robathan
Jan 3, 2007

The Alien Leader of Transportation

poser posted:

Any tips on delayed entry to the zone? I'm a little bit faster than people on my team and I beat them to the blue line I just end up stopping and waiting and it messes up my flow.

Obviously straddling the blue line is a good strat, but there are some you can do in the neutral zone to create more open ice for the guy with the puck, like cutting in towards him (if you're far), or switching from one side of him to the other, or cutting towards the boards then back in towards the player (both of these are best if you're closer to him).

Cutting from one side to the other is frequently called a "weave", and it's great because it adds to the defence's confusion as to who they're supposed to be covering. All of these also give the puck carrier an extra pass option as well as "slowing" yourself down without losing momentum. Basically, the idea is that you'll all hit the blue line at the same time, with speed, as opposed to hitting the blueline at full speed and needing to come to a dead stop, or making a tight turn that will put you behind the play as you're now going the wrong way as the puck carrier gains the zone.

E:

xzzy posted:

Question reminded me of this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O28zjLNsDGY

Maybe you can try some of his ideas?

Really want to second looking at this, particularly the first half before he gets into the PP breakout.

That whole series is really great, but there's a lot of things that are way over the head of lower level players. So just make sure to take the basics of what he's teaching, while the more advanced stuff can sort of be thought of, but not overly used.

Minister Robathan fucked around with this message at 17:47 on Mar 31, 2011

xzzy
Mar 5, 2009

I went skating at lunch, and there was this little kid there that was amazing to watch.

He was roughly waist height to me.. no older than 12, I'd put him around 9-10 years, but jesus christ did he have a sprint. I've watched a lot of mite hockey and most kids that age are still struggling on their skates.. lots of futile pushing and falling over, no speed worth mentioning.

This dude had great technique, good power, I just had to stand there and watch for a while. Either he skates 3 hours a day or his parents got him one hell of a teacher because he could probably outskate 90% of the people who show up for drop-in. He was decent skating backwards as well, and could switch directions at a full sprint.

Almost started a conversation with his grandfather (who is a regular at the rink) to ask where he plays but I wussed out. I'm a bit curious to see what he's like with a stick in his hands.

Left me with a mix of feeling inadequate and inspired. :unsmith:

Wolfy
Jul 13, 2009

Three part question here. I've been looking at skates and from what I can see as far as quality, price and what not I have my eye on the Reebok 7K. Anyone have any experience with this skate? Second, I'm having trouble finding a pair in my size and I might have to order online. I'm about a 10.5 in shoes but I have a wide foot. If I'm able to find some other Reebok's, like say 11Ks or whatever and they fit me...would it be safe to assume a 7K of the same size would fit? So far I've called hockey monkey and hockey giant. I don't know what other shops are around here, any suggestions?

poser
Jun 9, 2002

Are they booing the power play?

I was saying Boo-urns!

Wolfy posted:

Three part question here. I've been looking at skates and from what I can see as far as quality, price and what not I have my eye on the Reebok 7K. Anyone have any experience with this skate? Second, I'm having trouble finding a pair in my size and I might have to order online. I'm about a 10.5 in shoes but I have a wide foot. If I'm able to find some other Reebok's, like say 11Ks or whatever and they fit me...would it be safe to assume a 7K of the same size would fit? So far I've called hockey monkey and hockey giant. I don't know what other shops are around here, any suggestions?

Size between brands is different but between models in the same brand should be the same. But a size 8 11k skate might not FEEL the same as size 8 7k skate if that makes any sense.

xzzy
Mar 5, 2009

How wide is your foot? I measure as a EE, and was able to get into a pair of 8k's with an E width. It's tight though.. I had to get heat treated a couple times before the pinching was fixed. I tried on some 7k's too and they more or less fit the same as the 8k's.. except for the fact that no one had an E width in the 7k line.

Moral of the story, I strongly recommend not ordering online if you aren't 100% sure the skates will fit. Reason one is that if you bring a pair of skates you bought online into a hockey shop and ask them to get you fixed up, they're gonna instantly hate you for not buying from them, and will be less accommodating. Reason two is you're probably gonna be paying an additional $50-$60 just for initial heat treating and sharpening. If you buy your skates in store, not only is the initial set up going to be free, but future adjustments will likely be free as well.

If you can wait another month or so to buy skates, I'd suggest that. The new model year is about to come out, which is why inventory at most stores is so lovely right now. Towards the end of April, those same stores are going to be overrun by brand new skates.

Topoisomerase
Apr 12, 2007

CULTURE OF VICIOUSNESS

bewbies posted:

He was struggling pretty bad through most of the game, but in a way I wasn't familiar with: he was a very good skater, occasionally he'd do something awesome like shoot it really well, and his equipment made you think he'd played the game at a high level (he had an old beat up pair of custom skates, team color pants, etc). Most of the time though he couldn't do much of anything; couldn't catch passes, couldn't stickhandle, etc etc.

I know this was a few pages ago, but as I was reading this post (before getting to the end) I was thinking "jeez, this is how I felt two years ago when I didn't yet have my contacts" (I'm pretty much blind in one eye without them and it can't be corrected with glasses). It must be super frustrating for him to not be able to fix it - I know it was really, really frustrating for me and I hated telling people I played with because I figured they'd think I was trying to make excuses or something.

Once I got fitted properly for scleral lenses that corrected me to an acceptable level, I had people I barely knew who didn't know my situation coming up to me after games and telling me how different I was playing. Odd thing.

Wolfy
Jul 13, 2009

xzzy posted:


If you can wait another month or so to buy skates, I'd suggest that. The new model year is about to come out, which is why inventory at most stores is so lovely right now. Towards the end of April, those same stores are going to be overrun by brand new skates.
Well that's absolutely loving depressing. I don't want to wait but given that nobody really has anything in my size I might have to. When the new models come out I should probably expect to pay around 300 for the 7Ks, or what?

xzzy
Mar 5, 2009

Wolfy posted:

Well that's absolutely loving depressing. I don't want to wait but given that nobody really has anything in my size I might have to.

It is depressing, and I think the situation rushed me into buying the skates I ended up getting. I was so happy to find a pair that mostly fit, I bought them without question because I didn't want to wait 2-3 months for the new models to come out.

I finally got my skates to fit properly, so I got lucky, but in the back of my head I keep thinking I could have saved a lot of grief if I'd just waited.

quote:

When the new models come out I should probably expect to pay around 300 for the 7Ks, or what?

I don't think the prices change all that much. If the 7k's cost $250 now, the new ones should cost $250 as well. Probably see a price drop on older 7k's though.

Wolfy
Jul 13, 2009

Oh, I figured there was already a price drop figured in because the new models are coming and there aren't many lying around. The list price on most sites is 290.

Topoisomerase
Apr 12, 2007

CULTURE OF VICIOUSNESS

poser posted:

Awesome!

How is the talent level out there? My friend played in NARCH (huge roller hockey tournament) and a bunch of kids from Sac State had a team and they were pretty good.

I play at Sharks Ice @ San Jose and our leagues range from A - EEEE and my friend played in lower D/E level as a semi ringer but played in a B league in San Diego.

Typically our platinum/Gold A level players at Roseville are competitive with low A/high B players from the Bay Area, Gold B with B/C, Silver A with C/D, Silver B with D-ish and Bronze with the lower levels, from the tournaments and such that I've seen. But there are really high disparities in talent within all of the leagues because there's very little control over it - you'll have people who played in Gold B (Tuesday nights) switch over to Silver B (Friday nights) or Bronze (Sunday) because they'd rather play on those days, even though they are way too good for those leagues. It's fairly unregulated and really stupid.

Henrik Zetterberg posted:

Well the hockey director came on the ice and said basically since there was no explicit rule (even though there should be, also it's a jackass move), that he's going to allow it.

This dude has no backbone and doesn't enforce anything. It doesn't surprise me that he allowed it, to be honest.

Actually Skatetown does have a rule against this as far as I know - at least as of last Spring/Summer league a person had to be rostered by midseason and on the ice for at least half of the team's regular season games to play in a playoff game with a team. The director is a jerkoff though.

Topoisomerase fucked around with this message at 01:11 on Apr 1, 2011

ElwoodCuse
Jan 11, 2004

we're puttin' the band back together
how did I never skate without socks before today, that poo poo owns

Sleeper Pimp
Nov 2, 2006

Ess Jay SCHARKS DAWT COM
Finally have all my gear and found a stick that's long enough for my height (6'5") but I can never seem to find time to get to hockey class up in Fremont, it sucks. I just want to learn how to play hockey! :mad:

I need tips on stopping, I gently caress up even a simple snow plow somehow, any pointers?

gigabitnokie
Dec 2, 2008

ElwoodCuse posted:

how did I never skate without socks before today, that poo poo owns

Very true.

xzzy
Mar 5, 2009

Comfort issues aside, doesn't not wearing socks increase the foot scum that stays in your skates, hastening the arrival if the rotting corpse stench?

That's what I've heard anyways, I wear my $6.99 dress socks with pride, to keep my skates from stinking.

Aniki
Mar 21, 2001

Wouldn't fit...
I've used the Easton skate socks for a while and I've recently got a pair of the newer Bauer socks. Both are thin durable socks and the only time that I ever buy new socks are when I'm a dolt and forget my socks or realize that I only brought one with me. Needless to say, I 3-4 pairs of skate socks now. :( I will say that I've grown to like the longer socks, which is odd, because I prefer shorter socks for everything else.

El Nam
Jan 14, 2007
We found Charlie
I have come to ask a crucial question!!!

Vapor X40's for $220, which are brand new, or a pair of lightly used, X50's for $280?
According to the seller, the X50's are "Rarely Used; used less than five times on-ice; only sharpened once", and is in "Excellent Condition. Minor surface scratches and scuffs".

I play casually, maybe once or twice a week, but I definitely do need new skates.

What's the best choice here?

Aniki
Mar 21, 2001

Wouldn't fit...

El Nam posted:

I have come to ask a crucial question!!!

Vapor X40's for $220, which are brand new, or a pair of lightly used, X50's for $280?
According to the seller, the X50's are "Rarely Used; used less than five times on-ice; only sharpened once", and is in "Excellent Condition. Minor surface scratches and scuffs".

I play casually, maybe once or twice a week, but I definitely do need new skates.

What's the best choice here?

Did he have the skates heatmolded?

El Nam
Jan 14, 2007
We found Charlie

Aniki posted:

Did he have the skates heatmolded?

It doesn't explicitly say, so I'm gonna guess yes. He also said, "Not fully broken in", so I'm gonna say that it's been baked once, but not twice.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

dms666
Oct 17, 2005

It's Playoff Beard Time! Go Pens!

Sleeper Pimp posted:

Finally have all my gear and found a stick that's long enough for my height (6'5") but I can never seem to find time to get to hockey class up in Fremont, it sucks. I just want to learn how to play hockey! :mad:

I need tips on stopping, I gently caress up even a simple snow plow somehow, any pointers?

There are a bunch of tips starting on page 3 after my post asking, they seemed to help me with it.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Post
  • Reply