My First Drop-In

[awall 0]

I played in my first drop-in game session yesterday. My coach got a group of his students together and we had the ice for a little over an hour. I was under the impression that there would be older guys there, but it turned out I had at least fifteen years on the next oldest guy there. I knew going in that everyone would be more skilled than I am so I kinda looked forward to trying to play wing against guys who are lightyears better than I am.

It turned out that everyone essentially played forward so I dropped back to learn to play D. One thing I learned very quickly was don't stand in front of the goal, goalie has more pads than I do, let him take the shot. I also leaned that even if I get beat by a forward if I can be on the inside between him and the goal I can keep enough pressure on him to keep him from getting a shot. I also leanred how to stretch my stick out to get in the way when a forward is rounding me.

The most frustrating thing was trying to determine who was on my team or not when everyone else wore similar jerseys. It seems to me that it would be ideal to choose teams in the locker room and then make sure everyone carries both a light and a dark jersey so teams can be designated better. Not being able to tell who my teammates were was also a factor in me switching to D. I figured that at D anyone who came toward the goal was on the other team and must be obstructed by any means possible.

Here's a question about fighting? I know that sometimes fights and various forms of aggression are inevitable, especially when people really get into the game. An incident happoned during drop-in that I'm kinda curious about. Apparently one guy, a smaller guy, got annoyed and punched another guy, a bigger guy, in the back of the head. Later during the game the small guy fell at some point and while he was on the ice the big guy tagged him with a slapshot in an unpadded area (inside thigh). Small guy was no where near the goal and the big guy crowed that it was retaliation and the little guy deserved what he got. Now I believe that the little guy might have deserved some form of retalliation, but this??!! That just doesn't seem right to me.

Awall

[badsk8ter 0]

This happened at a drop in? That's crazy. At most places drop in is for exercise and a chance to practice. If I went to a drop in that was that intense, I'd rent my own ice time and only invite select individuals.

[biff44 0]

There is an etiquete associated with drop in. It is for fun and to keep the rust off. Checking, slap shots, slashes, etc are considered bush league.

But you are skating with total unknowns. Every once in a while you get some nut case, and have to give him a wide berth.

[Jason Harris 31]

I've seen one near fight in years of drop-in, and that was only because one guy used to be a huge hothead. EVERYBODY wanted to smack him. We kid him about it now because he's finally calmed down, but he and his teammates were so bad the team got kicked out of the league about four years ago....because of his wife! She apparently had been climbing the glass screeching at the refs, then chased after the guy who owns the rink. :lol:

Even funnier, after I began to realize the guy had calmed down over time, I needed to add someone to my team. That's when another player had told me about the incident with the wife. So, I'm trying to figure how to politely say his wife had better be on good behavior. Finally, I say, "I've heard the fandom can be passionate." He responded, "Oh, don't worry, dude. We were driving around last night, and she said to me, 'I'm really sorry you can't play hockey because of me.'"

For a wife to tell a husband that, I find funny! :lol:

By the way, I've never been to a drop-in where people don't bring a white and dark jersey. You definitely should suggest it to the other players.

[Jason Harris 31]

A different story about a fight.

My buddy, who is a good sized guy but as calm as they come, told me he was playing at a drop-in where this twenty-ish kid was checking all the lesser skaters. Guys were yelling at him to cut it out, particularly since he wasn't doing it to the good skaters. Finally, on one shift, my friend said the guy had literally pinballed the other four skaters on my friend's side, so my friend just ran the guy into the boards. The other guy swung at my buddy and they ended up wrestling.

But, when the other guy skated back to his bench, the entire bench yelled at him to "Get the f*$k out of here!" Ten minutes later, as he was leaving, the rink told him to never come back.

[ktang 34]

About awall's incident: that's like having 2 players play "tackle" during a "flag" or "touch" football game. Unfortunately I've seen it in a few drop-ins.

[jason37 2]

where are you playing at awall?

[All Torhs Team 0]

This happened at a drop in? That's crazy. At most places drop in is for exercise and a chance to practice. If I went to a drop in that was that intense, I'd rent my own ice time and only invite select individuals.

well....that is kinda stupid...ive had these feelings of shooting pucks at ppl..then thought it over...drop in....heres its called rat hockey or just rat...same thing...just sharing the vocab. also...to the guy who started this post....was it your first time playing.....or you havent played in a while...those things you listed are very common in rat (drop in ) hockey. except for the slap shot and punching.

the quote up there...ya..i always make my own rat hockey. i invite like ten guys..so you get to play alot...you all should try it...i do that AT LEAST once a week....very fun times always.

[awall 0]

where are you playing at awall?

We were at Starcenter in Farmers Branch during some open ice time during the tournament. My coach set it up.

[jason37 2]

I play in Euless...just wondering where you were...

[awall 0]

to the guy who started this post....was it your first time playing.....or you havent played in a while...those things you listed are very common in rat (drop in ) hockey. except for the slap shot and punching.

I just sarted on an I-league team last month so I have played a little. I've been to plenty of stick-n-pucks either with a coach or on my own, one of which may just as well have been a drop in because all we ended up doing was play 3 on 3. This was my first time in a session that was specifically stated to be drop in. I didn't even comment on the puck hoggs because that was just expected.

[awall 0]

Sometimes I amaze even myself.

I went to another drop-in and it looks like it may start to be a weekly habit. Once again teams were kinda hard to tell apart, but I came up with a cool idea last night that I'm gonna try next week. Masking-tape! Since masking tape is kinda designed to be applied and removed I was thinking that a little strip on the helmets would help us tell our teammates apart, especially if I use the wide stuff. What' do ya think? Would you go for it?

[jason37 2]

Black or White jerseys...

[jason37 2]

Black or White jerseys...

D@mn double post...sorry

[awall 0]

Black or White jerseys...

You'd think that this would be the solution, but the kids in the group seem to only bring one jersey each time.

[Chadd 916]

Black or White jerseys...

You'd think that this would be the solution, but the kids in the group seem to only bring one jersey each time.

So they can skate with their friends.

[awall 0]

Black or White jerseys...

You'd think that this would be the solution, but the kids in the group seem to only bring one jersey each time.

So they can skate with their friends.

Pretty much. It seemed like we had about a third of the local Jesuit Hockey team there last sunday.

I have also noticed about after an hour and 15 minutes the checking seems to start. It alwasy seems to start with one or two good honest hits and ends with a cheapshot somewhere. In fact the coach who runs the thing threw his own son off the ice for cheapshotting someone.