OK. I got taken to school.

[AlabamaICE 0]

I learned a lesson today. A 38 year old class B rec. league player has NO business playing drop-in with D1 college hockey players. It kinda does a whammy on the old ego. OH well, at least I'm not afraid to even get on the ice with them. I got work to do.

[PH_Hockey2 4]

I learned a lesson today. A 38 year old class B rec. league player has NO business playing drop-in with D1 college hockey players. It kinda does a whammy on the old ego. OH well, at least I'm not afraid to even get on the ice with them. I got work to do.

Why not? Thats how you get better, you play with people better than you and besides, its just drop in hockey and everyone is there to have fun.

[Chadd 916]

I learned a lesson today. A 38 year old class B rec. league player has NO business playing drop-in with D1 college hockey players. It kinda does a whammy on the old ego. OH well, at least I'm not afraid to even get on the ice with them. I got work to do.

Why not? Thats how you get better, you play with people better than you and besides, its just drop in hockey and everyone is there to have fun.

Playing with/against guys who are slightly better than you will make you better. Playing with guys light years better doesn't make much of a difference.

[AlabamaICE 0]

I was playing D on one shift and while I was skating backwards, I fell flat on my tailbone. That kinda ruined the whole game for me. I was trying to use my skate to break up a pass when I lost my footing. I am soooooo sore right now. I did find however that when I relaxed and quit trying not to look stupid I did much better.

[Sticks of Fury 0]

I was playing D on one shift and while I was skating backwards, I fell flat on my tailbone. That kinda ruined the whole game for me. I was trying to use my skate to break up a pass when I lost my footing. I am soooooo sore right now. I did find however that when I relaxed and quit trying not to look stupid I did much better.

Don't worry about that. I am sure everyone has done that before sometime in their hockey life.

[Nick23 0]

Atleast it was just a bit of fun. I did that in a trial for conference, got up and fell over again....i got dropped

[technophile 0]

I was playing D on one shift and while I was skating backwards, I fell flat on my tailbone. That kinda ruined the whole game for me. I was trying to use my skate to break up a pass when I lost my footing. I am soooooo sore right now. I did find however that when I relaxed and quit trying not to look stupid I did much better.

Don't worry about that. I am sure everyone has done that before sometime in their hockey life.

Playing D on a 1-on-1 break in our game yesterday I tried to transition from backwards to forwards (to keep forcing the forward wide), ended up doing some kind of crazy double toe loop and falling flat on my ass. The guy scored.

Better yet, my wife and several of our friends were in the stands. :D

[analog999 0]

Anyone who says that a 38 year old cannot play with 21 year olds just needs to look at the NHL - there are plenty of guys your age who can play (and play well) against the younger guys.

[AlabamaICE 0]

Well, where these guys have me is in experience. They are essentially getting paid to play hockey (free education). I could stand to get in better shape also. We had only 1 sub on the bench so we skated a lot of shifts.

[ryno 0]

Well, where these guys have me is in experience. They are essentially getting paid to play hockey (free education). I could stand to get in better shape also. We had only 1 sub on the bench so we skated a lot of shifts.

That's what sucks, when you only have one extra guy on your team. Man this game was a lot easier from a physical standpoint when I was 17, 18 years old. What a difference 10 years makes haha. Anyway I give you a lot of credit being new to the game and still giving it what you've got against guys that are younger and at a higher level. Hang in there, the game is still great, no matter how out of hockey shape I get.

[driz86 0]

ya'all are old. haha

[misteremanca 0]

Hey driz....

I resemble that remark!

And I hear y'all too....I play weekly with a bunch of 24-26 ex Jr. A players. It helps me remember to keep my feet moving. It really does help you to play better. You need quicker hands, eyes, etc..

Cheers

eman

[jimmy 194]

I learned a lesson today. A 38 year old class B rec. league player has NO business playing drop-in with D1 college hockey players. It kinda does a whammy on the old ego. OH well, at least I'm not afraid to even get on the ice with them. I got work to do.

Why not? Thats how you get better, you play with people better than you and besides, its just drop in hockey and everyone is there to have fun.

Playing with/against guys who are slightly better than you will make you better. Playing with guys light years better doesn't make much of a difference.

True. Also just the opposite is true. Playing with guys way below your level drags you down. Once, when I was moving out of state, I didn't want to commit to my normal A team. The league guy asked me if I could sub on the C league for a few games. WHAT A MISTAKE! Especially for a goalie. Not only did I suck in the C league (every shot is like a changeup pitch), when I did get back into A level at my new location it took me quite a few skates to get back in the groove.

[DarkStar50 679]

Alabama,

They may be faster than you but that doesn't mean they are smarter than you. Every player has tendencies on where they are going with the puck. Once you play against them a few times and figure out their tendencies, all you have to do is get there before they do! And the first time you do it, man they will be surprised! How do you think Brad Park played all those years in the NHL on one good knee: he knew where everybody was going and just used his smarts to play the game.

[Chadd 916]

Alabama,

They may be faster than you but that doesn't mean they are smarter than you. Every player has tendencies on where they are going with the puck. Once you play against them a few times and figure out their tendencies, all you have to do is get there before they do! And the first time you do it, man they will be surprised! How do you think Brad Park played all those years in the NHL on one good knee: he knew where everybody was going and just used his smarts to play the game.

Great point.

True. Also just the opposite is true. Playing with guys way below your level drags you down. Once, when I was moving out of state, I didn't want to commit to my normal A team. The league guy asked me if I could sub on the C league for a few games. WHAT A MISTAKE! Especially for a goalie. Not only did I suck in the C league (every shot is like a changeup pitch), when I did get back into A level at my new location it took me quite a few skates to get back in the groove.

There's a guy who plays locally in the off-season who has played net in the NHL and is now in the top 15 all time in the AHL and only skates out in the summer. His team plays with an empty net if tehy don't have a goalie, for the reasons you mentioned.

[asdfa 0]

could the same hold true for players? i've watched doug gilmour play beer league a couple times after work and he is in no way the best player on the ice. it's like he's always a couple steps behind and he's got no hands, so could it be that the slower tempo of beer league is actually harder to play than NHL for him?

[JR Boucicaut 3801]

Yes. I find that if you play below your level, your play drops as well...unless you're one of those guys who tries to go all out at a drop-in...LOL

[EndBoards 0]

Most of the players in my league are way above me. My puck handling and shooting skills are probably hurt a little because I rarely touch the puck, but having to keep up with these guys has really helped my skating..

In the few times that I've played against people below my level, i've found that two things 'drag' you down.. 1) you'll try harder moves that you wouldn't try otherwise. 2) you're throttling back and concentrating on setting up your teammates little so as not to be the proverbial "Stanley Cup Drop-in" jerk..

[Neal 41]

So do you guys ever give up the "sympathy rush"? At the one drop-in skate I hit on a regular basis there a couple guys who are really poor players, but damn if they don't try hard. Nice guys too. So I find myself as a D, holding back and letting them make a move or a pass. Makes you look bad, but jeez poor guy comes out for an hour skate and gets one rush. And then you peel the puck away from him before he crosses the blue line. Seems mean.

[sdcopp 1]

So do you guys ever give up the "sympathy rush"? At the one drop-in skate I hit on a regular basis there a couple guys who are really poor players, but damn if they don't try hard. Nice guys too. So I find myself as a D, holding back and letting them make a move or a pass. Makes you look bad, but jeez poor guy comes out for an hour skate and gets one rush. And then you peel the puck away from him before he crosses the blue line. Seems mean.

That can be good or bad, depending on the ability level. I play inline park hockey during the summer, with mostly older guys. When we first started, I wouldn't play them hard, but I wouldn't give the sympathy rush either. I was constantly running my mouth with plays for them though, regardless of which side they were on and was always giving them pointers. I have to play them decently hard now, as they will get their licks in if I'm lax on them, and they had to learn from me and the other players who had been around making them put some effort into their play. I think that way they learn more and appreciate it more than getting one free pass. If we had a complete rookie out there, we'd always try and let them really get some handling and skating in on and around us, but still making them work some.