chk hrd

Make sure to check the toe box really good. I took a shot square on the toe and I felt small piece break loose into my skate. The toe box didn't look worse for wear and stayed on for the rest of the game. When I got home and was able to look a little closer the toe box was pretty much seperated from everything. If I had taken another shot off the toe during the game it would have came off completely and really caused some damage.

Las Vegas Update: All hockey is suspended.

Las Vegas: Just spoke to our league. All the rinks in town have suspended youth activities. The rink in the Fiesta (where I play) is still playing men's league. Not sure about City National Arena or Las Vegas Ice Center.

Not to be a downer but it is harder than it looks and if you have only skated a few times and have zero hockey experience you would be more help off the ice. You need to have some skating abilities just to get around the ice and you can't really help with drills if you don't know how to play. You need to be pretty stable on your skates with little kids. If one takes you out by accident it might not only be you that gets hurt. If you have some skating abilities you would be more stable on your skates and less likely to go down. As a coach I wouldn't want you in the locker room because of the liabilities. If you haven't gone through the system with background checks then being in the locker room can be sketchy. All it takes is one parent to make a comment because the misunderstood what a kid said. You also have to think about what the other kids might say to your kids about your abilities. Even at that age they can be rough. And last, you have to think about the other parents, they are worse than the kids. My suggestion, enjoy learning the game and being able to watch and focus on your kids. Start taking lessons and go to stick & puck with your kids. You might even consider taking lessons and try playing.

I got a gift certificate to Hockey Monkey and didn't need anything so I bought three pair of Reebok protective socks with kevlar. The foot section is a very thin but durable with the portion from below the ankle up kevlar lined fabric. Very comfortable, good feel in the boot and a little extra protection from getting cut on the back of the leg.

When you skate at lunch do you just wear skates or do you ever wear gear? If you don't normally wear gear I'd suggest doing some skating with full gear on before going to a drop in. It's an entirely different feeling.

I think they had no choice with O'Halloran. Whether the call was right or not there would be to much controversy following him around. He would be under a microscope and it would be impossible for him to do his job.

Seen this a hundred times. Sometimes it is the parent living vicariously through their kid or they think their kid will make the show. At higher ages and levels I've seen coaches demand the kids who are not their super stars dedicate all their time to hockey. It really is sad. I've seen to many kids burn out or start to hate the game from parental pressure like this. Most of these parents don't even bother asking what the kids want, it what they want the kids to do. It's not just this sport, it's every sport.

I completely agree with what's been said. I wore a half shield for quite a while. One day I had a feeling that it was time to put the cage back on, which was a good thing because I took a puck to the face that night. The guys that chirp about cages are dopes. I tell them I would much rather be a pussy and were a cage that be Mr Macho and bleed all over the ice because I took one to the face. I didn't sign a huge paying beer league contract so I still work for a living.

Just do like most Refs in our men's league when there's only 1, skate blue line to blue line and make sure you stay on the side the score keeper sits so you don't have to skate to far if something happens...

I did my time through the youth hockey grinder (both as a coach and parent). I'm your son is having fun and give you a lot of credit for handling it the way you did. Systems are fine and dandy for older and upper levels, but because hockey is so fluid, systems fall apart when the game starts. Most parents have never seen drill diagrams drawn out, they look like road maps to an alien planet. Some drills can get complicated and trying to explain them to young minds doesn't work. Bottom line is it's a freakin' game. If the kids aren't having fun then why do it. I've seen kids take development leaps and bounds by going to stick and puck or playing pick up because they are free to try anything they want and not get hammered for it. Things they wouldn't dare try in practice. I have always thought a player's body will figure out the basics for them and a coach fine tunes it. Not ever kids wants to play at elite levels which is completely fine. It's the players who are forced to do this that suffers. You did good for you kid.

Depending on how the game was going I might have said run the clock sooner. When everyone's having an off night and your chance of winning is gone, sometimes it's best just to finish and get off. Been in to many games where it's not going good and emotions get hot. One player gets pissed because they didn't like something that happened and it goes downhill fast.

I thought I was back in the 80's with the puck tracking. Didn't like it then and still don't like it now. The only use for it might be for a replay showing what happened. If they used the player track when everyone is still, like a face off or maybe during a replay it might be useful. But if you watch a lot of hockey you usually know who the players are so then it is more of a distraction. I like the idea that the NHL wants to use technology but I would rather see it done in other ways. Maybe a sensor in the puck that lets them know for sure if it is a goal. If you are going to clock shots maybe something that also shows where the puck went, almost like with a MLB pitch.

I was starting to get burned out also. Years of playing with little break, a team that was going through a dysfunctional period and parts of my body starting to fail me were really getting to me. It took an non-serious injury to get me straight. I hurt my shoulder (the one I already had operated on) and I was seriously thinking about hanging up my skates. At almost 54 my glory years are behind me and I have nothing to prove. The more I thought about stopping the more depressed (more like down) I got. It made me take a hard look at why I'm still playing. I realized how much the game means to me, how much its done for our family, how much the friendships I've made mean, especially with a few that have become like 2nd children. I still play as hard as I can and try to be competitive but my outlook on winning and loosing has changed some. Depending on how my body holds up I may not have to many years left for league play. So now every time I play I remind myself that and try to make the most of it. If my body needs a break, I take a game off and when I do I am looking forward to getting back out there. It sounds like it might be time for you to stand back and take a look at everything from a distance. Be honest with yourself and you'll know what to do.

When you listen to the DOPS explanation it puts a whole new light on Wilson being a predator. One good thing, because they are season games it's going to hit him in the wallet.

^ ^ ^ ^ adam14 brings up a good point about parents and communication. I'm not sure how it is in "traditional" hockey areas but I'm betting it's similar to the "non-traditional" hockey areas like in the West. I don't know how many parents I have seen criticize or even berate their kid for having a bad game or not doing something right, even though as a parent, they have never coached the game or even played the game and just started getting involved in hockey when their kid decided the wanted to play. The closest they ever got to a real game situation was when the puck came over the glass or a video game. Hockey is a fast, dynamic game and if you have never studied it, coached it or played it is real easy to make comments about what should have been done or why you didn't do something, especially when you have no idea what you are talking about. Things like you didn't back check hard enough on their last goal, even though you were the farthest from the play and on the end of a long shift, didn't you see that guy sneaking down the slot, even though you were near the boards covering the player you were supposed to or why didn't you crash the net right after you passed the puck to the slot and were drilled into the boards. When my kid played I never confronted him about the game as soon as he walked out of the locker room. You have to give a player time to come down from the game and be ready to talk about it. My first question was usually "well how did you think you did". I would let him give himself an honest assessment of the game before I put my two cents worth in. I tried to ask why he did or didn't do something first instead of telling him what I thought he should have done. If he asked my opinion on how he played I would be straight up and honest with him, no sugar coating it. As a player and coach I know how fragile a persons mind set can be and when I gave my opinions it was from my point of view based on my experiences. I know what it's like to have a really good game and a really bad game, to play hurt or sick, get to much ice time or not enough. Being in similar situations helps you know when to talk or just keep quiet. When I coached I always tried to leave it up to the players on their game assessments. I always told the players (and my son his entire life) to look in the mirror and ask yourself if you gave it everything you had. If you can honestly say you did then you have nothing to be upset about. If you didn't, then why? You let yourself and your team down by not giving it everything you had and need to try harder next time.

We went through this years ago and it is a shame that with all the studies it still happens today. My son had one coach in particular who was real bad about it. If you played a summer sport good luck making the team, unless of course you were one of his star players or took private lessons from him, then for some reason it was okay. At one point my son was racing moto-x, playing soccer and hockey. It became to hard for the family to try and make all the practices, races, games and not to mention pay for them all. We talked it over and my son decided he wanted to focus on hockey so he stopped playing soccer and racing. We think it was the right choice for him. From the time he started playing he liked nothing more than being at the rink. It didn't matter if it was for practice, training, S & P or just to hang out (he even worked at one of the rinks until he left for the military). A lot of kids aren't this lucky and have to suffer because of bad coaches and associations.

Here are my thoughts from experience. Yes, the extremely talented players, the ones that are far over and above all the others, will get found. The reality is that in today's world the more money that is put into the player the more exposure they get so it is easier for them to be scouted. But just because you dump a lot into a kid doesn't mean they will go any further than aging out of youth or Junior B (pay to play). I have seen a lot of money wasted because the parents didn't want to admit to themselves that their kid didn't have what it takes to play at a pro (NHL, AHL, ECHL. Europe, etc) level. My kid had some opportunities to play at a junior level. He realized that that would be as far as he could go. He opted to join the military and early enlisted. I never tried to discourage him about playing but was always honest with him and we talked a lot about the game on many long trips. When families don't look at the reality of things a lot of time can be wasted that will affect them later in life. Many don't get out of school or start a career path until they are in their mid twenties. My son is 24 has an incredible job with a good future and has been self supporting for quite awhile, which is more than I can say for many of the people he played with. I spent a ton of money for youth hockey. Not because I had delusions of my kid making it to the pros but because he loves the game. Every private lesson and camp was a life learning experience. Every trip was an opportunity to see a different place. Playing in the Pee-Wee International tournament in Quebec was a once in a lifetime experience. He learned more life lessons and about himself playing hockey. There is a reason that many jobs like fire fighters, police, military love hockey players; the team mentality, respect, personal conduct and responsibility you learn goes along way. When people ask about the money I spent my first reaction is "it was well worth it", my second is "it's cheaper than paying a lawyer if he got into trouble because of to much free time"

Congratulations to the Caps. Washington was the better team and stayed focused. I don't begrudge them winning. VGK had a great season. Glad that Ovi finally got his cup and MVP.

Nope, I have gone to a game every now and then (my brother has season tickets) and I have a total of 1 shirt given to me as a present. After the naming fiasco they did do something to earn my support, mainly helped the city in a really bad time after the October 1 shooting (I was at that game and drove through the shooting zone about a half hour before it started). I have supported the team and will keep supporting them but I'll also support the Red Wings like I have for the last 40+ years. I'm not a fair weather fan who only supports a team because the are winning. And believe it or not, some people are capable of supporting more than one team. I like the GN's for the west games and RW for the east. When they played against each other I supported the Wings. If I had meant to finish the post off with "jk" I would have included it.

Read my past posts, I've always been a fan of the team, just don't care for the owner or the name. Go figure, someone can like the team even if they don't like everything about it.

WOW!!! Just Wow!!!

The VGK are just tenacious! When they stick to their game plan they take every inch of space away and transition fast. I think the coaches have found that rare balance for lines. Every line buys into the program, knows their responsibilities and plays every shift hard. The lines haven't changed much from the start of the season and they roll all four. This lets the top lines get that extra break instead of having to jump out every 3rd shift.

In the immortal words of Stephen Hawking...Space here I come. Thank you from humanity for everything you did.

Watched the USA vs CA game last night. CA's 2nd goal sure looked offside. The USA bench didn't ask for a review. Since it was basically a throw away game my thought was the USA coach wants to put the team behind the eight ball to see how they react to being down. USA did a good job playing and if they had a little better puck luck could have won the game. Anyone who says Women's hockey isn't physical needs to watch the US and CA play. Those ladies were brutal.