Figure skaters suck

[analog999 0]

O&B, I agree with you. For the record, when I skated fast, slow, forward or backward, I never went near anyone. Many times I have gone to public skates with little kids and I flew past them very close... never got talked to once because I was always very careful. Usually it was me having to watch out for them. I rarely, if ever, go to those kind of public skates now-a-days.

[fatwabbit 93]

I hate public skates... a couple of years ago, my team used to play our pickup games near the beach where they had this huge open area. We would set up the two goal posts and play for about 3 hours... we even had the permission of the owner to play on that area for the duration... however, people who think they are really great just love to skate across the area when we are playing... a couple of time we almost hit them with the puck. The guys on my team always have to be on the lookout for these damn skaters...

there was once this lady who kept skating behind the goal even when we told her it would be dangerous... after she got hit in the leg with the puck (a light fluttering shot), she started yelling and just grabbed the puck and skated off... one of my buddies just shouted 'hey b!tch, bring that back'... she dropped it and went off...

also, those who practice their spins and whatever should do so in the privacy of their own place or whatever... it really makes the parents afraid that they would break something...

[srv2miker 0]

Not piling on, just adding my .02cents.

At every public skate I've ever been to in 25 years the center area has been reserved for two groups of people:

1. Figure Skaters

2. Parents with tots to unsteady to skate in the big circle

There doesn't need to be a sign, or an attendant, or cones, or anything. That area is reserved by proxy. I would never go to library, sit at a computer, and start reading a book. Yes its the library, and yes there is no rule about doing that, but I know that seat is saved for another purpose, and I have to respect that. Its not fair, and yet its "law".

It sounds to me like your rink needs some stick and puck sessions. I'm in the same boat; our closest arena doesn't offer stick and puck sessions either. But, whenever I got to public skate I'm either supporting my wife's entire body weight with one arm, or skating with my Little Brother. I save the hockey skills for drop-in.

Better luck next time.

[j8Zt8r 0]

Where I live we have a decent amount of rinks with both Public and stick and puck sessions. The majority of them will put out 4 cones in the center of the rink to form a box. Basically an even square from blueline to blueline. This area is for the figure skaters to do their spins and jumps. The rest of the ice is fair game. I used to take my son to the public sessions to teach him how to skate. Maybe see if your rink can do something of that nature and then they just do not have to worry about any further conflicts. It does work great here.

[t1tan 19]

I've never cared for figure skaters, still don't, bunch of uptight bitches from what I've seen and too many times have I almost had my head taken off by one of their little spins during a public skate. So when I was 12 or so our way of getting back was either "accidentally" knock them down mid-spin, or scrape up some ice into snowballs and pelt them from over the ice and they couldn't tell where it was coming from. Havent done that since, but 8 years later I still have the desire to... :P

[The Playoff Beard 0]

I agree with j8Zt8r and others that have posted about the cones and policies. At the ice rink I go to Oakland Ice Center. It is very figure skating oriented. But during public skate sessions (Which I despise when they are busy because of kids playing grab-ass and slamming into the boards). They have cones marked off for the designated figure skating area. If there were no cones Analog, I think you were in the right, public skating is for the public, not for figure skating lessons unless specified with the almighty cone.

It also helps to become a regular at the rink. It seems like people who attend at a certain time end up forming their own little group or club, and are wary of outsiders. I always attend in low traffic times with the figure skaters, and they have definitely gotten used to me being out there practicing my starts, stops, crossovers and my sucky pivots. Some even give tips about edge usage and stuff. My advice is play the shade a little bit, find one of the smaller circles to work on your crossovers. If you become a regular, you'll be able to do whatever you want.

It's really nuts how the different cultures between hockey and figure skaters cause this HUGE passive aggressive rift on the ice...actually looking back on the history of the world, it's not so nuts..... (long post)

[johnpace2 0]

I think he's right on principle, but in real life, I just take one of the corners to practice my turns, etc and try to stay away from the figure skaters.

Many skaters show lack of courtesy where I skate, but I'm bigger than them and if they run in to me, oh well.

The money comment is right on target. I'm told that everything about figure skating is more expensive. They spend $1500 on skates and $800 on outfits in the proshops and they pay for expensive lessons and ice time. Money rules.

[biff44 0]

Lets face it, what everyone is complaining about is that there just is not enough stick and puck time available. It is always a major chore to find some ice time for my kid when the season is over but he has to get ready for some summer showcase.

You can do a little at public skating, but it really is unsatisfying. You skate around and around only in one direction, someone comes over to yell at you if you skate backwards, and forget about any really fast hockey moves.

At every rink there should be stick and puck at least 3 days a week all year round at times that a teenager can make it without skipping school!

[BK 0]

We create our own stick time.. we rent the ice for an hour and have enough guys on the team chipping in 10-8 bucks that we can get away with it.. its nice to have private ice too. Keeps the kiddies off as well as the assholes who are only out to find somebody to pick a fight with..

[jcp2 2]

That's the way to do it. As an alternative, the morning (6 AM) sessions at my rink are largely deserted. No sticks or pucks, but lots of ice to work with. I take my son there to "skate" when he wakes me up too early.

[hyprlte 0]

Figure skaters suck.... :)