Ice Hockey in Cincinnati

[NorrisContender 4]

Anybody play ice hockey in Cincinnati/NKY?

I've been playing in-line at Sports Plus for a little while now. I'm not from Cincy so I'm wondering which rink has the best Men's (beer) league?

Northland? Sport's Plus? Gardens? or NKY Ice Center?

I live on the far West side so I think the NKY rink is closest for me. I'm willing to keep making the drive to one of the other rinks if they have the best league.

Thanks for any info you can provide.

[sitzlejd 0]

I'm in Oxford at Miami U but I played at Sports Plus last summer and thought it was really nice. For one, they have a WIDE selection of skill levels so you can definitely find the right league for your skills. I think a season costs about $245 once ref fees are considered. Once you make playoffs you just pay the refs by the game. Since you played at Sports Plus I'm sure you already know this but they have the most important thing that any beer league can offer: A bar on site with Labatt on the tap and a mean selection of bar food.

I've only played drop in at Northlands. They only have 1 sheet of ice (Sports Plus has 2) so my guess is that there is less availability. I don't know what it costs. The arena is pretty nice but they don't have a pro shop like Plus does.

NKY IMHO is a dump. I played with a buddy's team there about a month ago and thought it sucked. I can't be sure but the ice didn't even feel like regulation size. Also, according to my buddy they don't have much in the way of offering different skill levels. He said that they just throw everybody in the same league and try to make it as fair as possible. However, when I went to play w/ his team I'd say I was easily top 3 on the squad and I'm about a C level player. I guess it's personal preference. Sometimes it's good to play with the studs cuz they can teach you a lot. On the other hand nobody likes getting dangled by ex-NCAA guys all season long. One good thing I will say about NKY is that it's cheap. My friend said he pays about $150 for the whole season. Personally I'd pay the extra $ to play at Sports Plus.

Hope this helps. When I graduate in May I'll be playing at Plus again so maybe I'll see you down there.

[NorrisContender 4]

That helps a ton man, thanks!

I love Oxford. I'm going to try to come up when my Alma Matter WMU is in town this month. I haven't been to the new rink, hear it's really nice.

I work downtown so I think I'm going to go over to "stick time" at the NKY rink this week. I'm not sure but I think "stick time" is on the smaller "studio" rink.

I've been playing a long time but I'm by no means an A player. I think the variety of skill levels at Sports Plus does sound better to me. The drive stinks though.

Thanks for the good info.

[Lee-Bro 1]

Bump.

Anyone hitting the open hockey @ Northland or Sports Plus regularly? I'm heading up to Northland tomorrow.

[NorrisContender 4]

5 years after I started this thread I'm now looking for 3 or 4 skaters for a division 2 team at S+ / Northland / Gardens. Would be thrilled to add a MSHer to the team I captain. Please PM me if interested.