Player needs to quit the team..long overdue

[Shark#81 0]

Our league entry age is 19. Most teams average out somewhere in their 30's. There are a few older players but early 50's is about tops.

Once you are on our team, the guys running the club leave the decision to exit or quit up to the player. I've seen guys come and go over the years, usually they get hurt, or their play falls off and they move to over 45 or pack it in all together.

Onto the subject: We've got a player who is like 64 years old and he has no intentions of quitting. Pretty much 30% of the time we are a man down and 50% on nights where we have two lines.

During the playoffs he was on a regular rotation and that among other issues cost us. Other teams are getting younger and we need some skaters up front.

So what to do? Leave it or press the issue and organize a retirement party for him, gift etc?

Thanks for the tips.

[gxc999 7]

Hey man,

don't feel bad. Just tell the guy, we love ya brother but you need to join the senior circuit... Everyone else shouldn't suffer for a whole season just so he can humor himself a little longer...

[DamnLocust 0]

It depends on what your team's goals are. If your team is a bunch of guys looking to have a good time, and the guy isn't a cancer in the room, keep him. If it's a win-at-all -costs kind of attitude, talk to him. Either way, for the time being, try to figure out the line combination that will have him in position to do the least damage.

I'm on one of each type of team, and to tell you the truth, a lot of times it's more fun playing on the "we're here just to have a good time" team.

[ean 0]

What type of league are you in? If you're in low level beer league then get over it...I give props to the guy for sticking around young guns.

[D aka speck 0]

What type of league are you in? If you're in low level beer league then get over it...I give props to the guy for sticking around young guns.

+1

Remember, hockey is a GAME!

Just keep track of you personal stats and let the chips fall where they may.

Or... you could be a retard and do this...

http://www.modsquadhockey.com/forums/index...38468&st=25

Let the guy play... cover his weaknesses, and exploit his strengths.

[Keith 0]

First off, it is rec, so you should just accept the fact that you will never have an ideal team. Secondly, in rec, one of the golden rules is you never ever boot a guy from the roster who is dependable about paying his league fee...ever... I'd say it is more a case of you needing to up and leave if yuo are unhappy with the team than screwing with other ppl's fun That is what I do anyway.

[sitzlejd 0]

I agree. I've played w/ guys in their 60s and while they're clearly not the best it's impressive to see their effort. I hope I'm still playing long enough to annoy young punks like myself. If it's just for fun then let it go. Beer league is more about friends than winning anyways.

[D aka speck 0]

I've had the honor of playing with retired NHLers.

I don't care if they're 6 or 60...

It's not about the natural talent...

It's about the desire and commitment.

[Shark#81 0]

Thanks for your thoughts.

It's common to frame the issue into "winning" or "fun". It's neither in my opinion. For now I choose the word "competitive". The individuals that make up our team enjoy competing, win or lose.

This is a 10 team amateur league, sponsored teams, stats, etc. best league in our city. There is also a large 20 team "rookie" league, an over 45 league, 50+ shinny group as well. Our guys are highly committed, sacrificed, three trips to the hospital this year and being called on to play hurt. We have had a good run over the past couple of years, rising to the top.

I centered a line for many years with him (6?). Doing that involved a ton of skating, pretty much checking, a lot of work, and nothing points wise to show for it. This year I went to defense. I can observe the struggles of the third line. I also centered our top line for two games and man that made me appreciate (again) what it's like to play with two bonafide wingers.

In the room, it is an issue. Line-up wise in damage control. Longer term, there is hope of self-realization, but it ain't gonna happen, unless there is a stretcher involved, which is another consideration.

[scorer75 9]

I gotta go with shark on this one.

I play in a game every week with just a bunch of guys. We loosely keep score and call offsides ourselves, but there is no ref, scorekeeper, etc. You would say we just play for fun.

Last night I was put on a line with a really great guy. This guy was about 5 minutes away from having his leg amputated after a horrible car accident a few years ago. It is a testament to him that he is even on the ice at all.

However, it's just not fun to play on a line with him. Any puck that gets to his side of the ice is an automatic turn over. So now we can't dump the puck into the zone, have to cover both wings and the center position with 2 guys, and try as hard as possible to keep the puck on one side of the ice with the defense completely ignoring this guy.

I don't mean to sound like a prick, and I'd never toss this guy from a game, but I am there to have fun and it's just not fun when you are on a line with him.

[tjl_48 0]

I had/have a situation similar to that. My buddy is the center on our line and I am at wing. We work really well together so they stick the weakest player with us. He is a lean on the stick type skater and absolutly terrible. What makes it worse is that he doesn't try to get better. He only skates in the games. It stinks.

[Tikkanen 1]

I used to be a guy who would run people off teams I was on cause I wanted to win the championship every season. Now that I'm older I have realized that it's not my team, I am just a player on the team and it's not my job to be saying who's good and who's not. I try to do my job every game and have fun. Let the captain worry about the roster, if he wants the team to win then he can make changes.

[guasto74 0]

I agree with everyone who said that if it's rec hockey than try not to make a big deal out of it. However, it sounds like you guys have worked hard to advance the team and I can understand the frustration.

A few years ago I was playing on a "B" level team that I was put on by the guy who ran the league. Admittedly, a B league was a little beyond my level (only cause I don't get to play enough). The first part of the season I played it very safe and tried not to get out of position. By the middle of the season I felt I was really contributing; not pointswise but playing a good solid two-way game and not hurting the team in any way. I was proud to have been able to rise to the level of a B league but was having a miserable time because the Captain was a real A-hole. The dude had a real hard-on for me from the get go for no good reason. All the other guys on the team thought I was doing a real good job and liked having me around. Anyways, after a season of reliability (didn't miss a game and played the third line and never complained) the Captain asked me to not come back. Even worse, he asked my friend who was also playing on the team to tell me. They asked my friend to stay with the team which made it even tougher cause I liked playing with him. My friend plays real solid D and since I played wing and didn't score that much he thought I was useless. Gotta admit I had a hard time dealing with it for a while but I quickly realized that some guys are just not gonna like your game no matter what you do.

I'm sure the 60 year old guy on your team would get over it eventually too.

[GretzisGod 0]

LMAO, that situation happend to my buddy. We played on team last year and he got asked to leave to be more competative. He left along with 4 more of us and we started our own team, we playat 11:15 on wednesday nights most times and the only reason we get guys out is we have a great bunch of guys who want to have fun. We are top of our division, we insult each other in fun on the ice all the time, other teams think we are nuts. None of us are going to the show, if you want to compete drop a div or take it as a chanllange and try and produce with the old guy, quit complaining and have fun. Most of the leauge is this way we are Div C south and could probably compete well in Div A if we got rid of the not so good guys, but why? www.nchl-calgary.com if anyone is interested. The Rage is the team.

[zales17 0]

I can sympathize with you shark...I play on an A league team and we have a guy that plays with us (has been on the team for many seasons) and maybe 3-4-5 years ago he would have done decent, maybe even a contributer. however, as of last season, a few of the older guys decided to step down...a kind move, as we went 5-11.

needless to say, we are doing much better this season without the old guys, but one decided to stick around (much to my dismay, as he ends up being my D partner most nights)...so we get a little in the hole on nights he shows up, since when he is out there we pretty much play 4.5 on 5.

guys joke about it all the time when he isnt there, i mean he could have just stepped down with the rest of the guys that did the same (3 of them). This guy is just awful for the team, as he gets at least 2 penalties a game and if these PKs dont kill us, the other times he is out there does.

I wish he would just go play in the B league (a much more friendly,still "competitive" division) rather than drag us down in the faster paced A division skates.

Good luck shark...its difficult territory to tread, and must be done lightly if at all.

[Chadd 916]

I wish he would just go play in the B league (a much more friendly,still "competitive" division) rather than drag us down in the faster paced A division skates.

Good luck shark...its difficult territory to tread, and must be done lightly if at all.

See if you can get someone from a lower division to recruit him

[Grave77Digger 1]

We got a guy like that also. hes close to collecting his retirement, in his 60's. Whenever we get caught with him as the last man back its pretty much a goal or prime scoring chance. Like last night they score 1 on 1 against him. Not to mention we never get the icing calls when he is back playing D becuase the refs think he can skate faster to chase it down.

[Vermette20 0]

I was on one of those Win at all costs beer league teams. I dont remember how many players I saw removed from the team because they made a missed pass, or just werent good enough. For a while I stayed as I was counted on to score goals. After injuring my shoulder, when I came back the plan was now to pass to this one ringer they had got. Needless to say many games I had no shots on goal, 5 goals in 10 games or so and was miserable on this team. Anyhow I left the team and have found a team more into having fun than winning all the time. It was really bad this team would be up 11-1 and still run the score up, and if someone made a missed pass etc... they would scream at him on the bench. There was times there was almost fist fights in the locker room. Not my idea of fun. Anyhow my advice if your not happy find another team, dont ruin someone elses fun because your not having fun.

Casey

[Law Goalie 147]

See if you can get someone from a lower division to recruit him

Best suggestion ever.

If the guy's not playing well, he almost certainly knows it: if not by his own play, then by the lack of praise or actual grumbling in the room. Get some guy from a lower level to come butter him up - how he'd really turn their team around, which is probably true to an extent - - and he'll likely take the offer.

The other thing you could do is get a 5th/7th D-man or a 10/13th forward, and just rotate that extra guy into his spot. That'll cut down on the number of shifts without actually benching him, and gives you an opportunity to say things like, "Gee, don't Player X and I have great chemistry out there?"

[Shark#81 0]

Thanks for the replies.

Our B standing teams have all pretty good players, just don't play a team game and get behind. Lots of goals against. So B divs wouldn't go there.

However, I will open by suggesting alternatives - the over 50 shinny, over 45 hockey. I've played with those groups and it's a lot of fun. Exc players in a slower but sound positional game so you can work on things.

64 years old is just way off the map and not in sync with peers both for and against.

Nobody is riding they guy to leave, and it's quite the opposite when he's in the room. However, the two other guys on the line almost dread playing, and in tight games we know it's a lot of hard work/skating to compensate.

You really take a BIG hit in season point totals too on the line.