Hockey's Simple Pleasures

[cpramber5 0]

one of my favorite memories was when my buddies and I were playing pond hockey during my freshman year of college and an older guy who was well in his 60s asked if he and his son could join us. It was awesome listening to the old time hockey stories and everyone acted like we all known each other for a long time. It was a blast for me and my friends seeing a vet that still loves the game and having fun and joking around with us on the pond. It was a great day for us.

[mnpucker 33]

A few years back my boys and I walked to a small pond and shoveled a rink. The pond is lined by cattails and has a walking path nearby. We skated for sometime. Eventually my wife brought us some lunch. As we sat on a downed tree an older man ventured down the path through the cattails, he walked over to us to strike up a conversation. The boys had finished eating so they were out playing again. The man looked familiar but I could not place him. He was in his 70's. The boys saw him and skated over to see who he was. First thing he said, "You boys like hockey?" "Yeah they replied". He said, "i did not play much real hockey when i was a kid but i sure loved the game, my family was too poor for all 11 kids to play. I grew up in a small town named Eveleth, MN, we played street hockey and used cow pies for pucks. Our family had one pair of skates. My younger brother got the skates." My boys were riveted to the man's story, as was I. "As it turns out giving the skates to my brother was a pretty good decision", He asked, "Do like watching the U of MN Minnesota Gophers? have you ever heard of a hockey player named John Mayasich?" Well every kid that ever tied a pair of skates on their feet in MN Dreams of playing for the gophers. By the tie we are 12 we know the entire history of the team. The boys said no to the second question but at this point I realized who this man looked like, John Mayasich the hockey legend in Minnesota and the USA. it has been argued that he is simply the greatest of all Americans to ever play. Turns out it is his brother.

So here I am on a pond, cattails, crisp air, freshly scraped lake ice. Loving life with my boys and along comes the brother of the greatest American player to strap on skates. We talked longer, he shared stories about John with my boys. Pond Hockey stories, life stories. It was cold, the man was so happy to be with us in that setting. At one point he took my stick and played a little catch with the boys. Commenting that the Stealth was a bit better tool than the branch he used to use. When he was ready to leave he took our contact information and promised we would see something from John in the near future.

About a month later we received a packet, inside was a very nice letter to each of my boys and several autographed photos from John Mayasich.

Simple pleasures. This is why hockey people and the hockey community is so special. When you are young you play the game to compete, to go bar down, to lay perfect sauce, to pick up girls the list goes on and on... But when you finally get a chance to look back at it all, you remember the simple things, the things that matter most.

Hockey is the perfect game that gives us enjoyment all of our lives.

The game does not just exist in sports illustrated/Versus/ESPN/TNN. It lives in our hearts, it makes up our lives, it brings families together and keeps them together. This was such a wonderful experience for my boys, me and Mr, Mayasich. One thing brought us together and we al realized how special the meeting was. Pretty simple pleasure if you ask me.

[Vulcan7905 88]

Beating a dirty team without sinking to their level.

It did feel great to beat the dirtiest team Saturday. Dirty as in penalty every 3 minutes and all the regulars on the team skating off after losing without even shaking our hands. The new people on the team actually had the respect to stay and shake hands.

Also, I don't know why but, when I can give a perfect pass for my team mate to get a breakaway.

Having people come up to me after a beginner game and saying "great job coaching and amazing line ups you set".

Seeing beginners loving and learning the game and moving up to play on the + league with me or against me.

[goosedennis 0]

Laying the hardest, cleanest body check you've ever laid on someone who pulled a Matt Cooke

Missing on a garbage goal, going around the net and scoring backhand top shelf.

Watching a team come in cocky and destroying them.

Best of all, meeting up with an old friend who moved to Toronto after a game

[Katzenjammer 1]

Simple pleasures. This is why hockey people and the hockey community is so special. When you are young you play the game to compete, to go bar down, to lay perfect sauce, to pick up girls the list goes on and on... But when you finally get a chance to look back at it all, you remember the simple things, the things that matter most.

This^^ be quoted for truth.

The complexities of organized hockey went by in a blur; by far and away my best memories are of being on the pond with my friends: the smell of smoke from the potbelly woodstove, the mineral taste of the spring water, the sounds of the ice settling, the popping in the trees, the incalculably beautiful sound of wooden sticks against the puck.

Unfortunately, memories like these are increasingly rare. Sad, that.

[hampshirepuck 2]

Skating till sunset on a desolate pond in the middle of the Maine wilderness with the cold crisp air biting at your cheeks

Being the first one on the ice

the smell of a locker room

shower talk with the boys

making new friends

beers in the locker room

airing out your gear and pissing off your girl roommates

Loving hockey as the sport and the culture that surrounds it

[hehatemefrisbee 0]

I love that hockey can take your mind off of real life for a little bit

[Katzenjammer 1]

I love that hockey can take your mind off of real life for a little bit

What is this thing of which you speak?

[pzilla3 0]

Nothing like winning a good hard puck battle.

[Wallzy41 9]

Nothing like getting the band back together after 6 months. My friends and I scattered across the state for school and we haven't seen each other in person since graduation. Saturday, we're playing a 3v3 game on the pond and we're laughing about stuff that we did during last year's game and previous pond seasons.

[Fire Walker 22]

Watching your son in his 3rd year of hockey finally score. His only celebration was an ear to ear smile and a fist bump when he got back to the bench.

[Doctor Hook 0]

I play a wide variety of adult rec league sports and activities besides hockey (soccer, softball, martial arts, etc). But I can never make as good a connection with folks in other beer league sports as well as I do with the dudes at hockey.

Probably because we all came from similar backgrounds...loving the game, paying our dues, long-ass youth hockey road trips, dawn practices, respecting our parents who sacrificed hard-earned time and money so we can learn this sport, watching the same classic NHL games, etc.

If I join a beer league team of 10 other guys I don't know, by the end of that season I have 10 new hockey bros that have my back like I have theirs. You don't get that in other sports/experiences.

[TheHockeyGod 0]

Making the terrible hockey players that play rec league look stupid.

Scoring in pick up without even trying against a bunch of bad rec league try hards giving it there all.

Going on the outdoor rink and making fun of the 40 year old try hards with a chew in.

[TeamHonda401 54]

Making the terrible hockey players that play rec league look stupid.

Scoring in pick up without even trying against a bunch of bad rec league try hards giving it there all.

Going on the outdoor rink and making fun of the 40 year old try hards with a chew in.

Mine would be pestering players like you at pickup so much to the point that you get pissed off and leave the skate early.

Also I love correcting people when they use the wrong spelling of "their" when they type or text.

[Katzenjammer 1]

Mine would be pestering players like you at pickup so much to the point that you get pissed off and leave the skate early.

Also I love correcting people when they use the wrong spelling of "their" when they type or text.

Exactly what I was going to say.

[chippa13 1844]

Making the terrible hockey players that play rec league look stupid.

Scoring in pick up without even trying against a bunch of bad rec league try hards giving it there all.

Going on the outdoor rink and making fun of the 40 year old try hards with a chew in.

Over/under on the amount of time before the obligatory "my little brother was signed into my account" post. Either that or this kid really is this much of a tool.

[Axxion89 32]

Making the breakaway save against the cherry picking hot shot

Glove saves, any

That feeling when the other team gets frustrated they can't score on you

[Law Goalie 147]

Glove saves, any

It's funny: I've always preferred my blocker saves to my glove saves. The movement always felt like it required just a little more effort and a slightly sharper read, whereas the glove just felt 'natural'.

I've recently discovered that I like being scored on by a really good play almost as much as I like stopping it. I guess it's the psychology of save percentages: if you assume that 90% should get stopped, most of that 10% being scrappy goals (jam plays, crazy deflections, traffic, etc.), the few where you actually get beaten cleanly by a great shot, a clever move, or a perfect pass are sort of special, and well worth tipping your hat.

[technophile 0]

Over/under on the amount of time before the obligatory "my little brother was signed into my account" post. Either that or this kid really is this much of a tool.

Based on his other posts, he really is. Or at least really good at staying in-character as a total troll.

Either way, I'd love to see him come out against some of the "rec" players out here, though. That'd be good fun.

It's funny: I've always preferred my blocker saves to my glove saves. The movement always felt like it required just a little more effort and a slightly sharper read, whereas the glove just felt 'natural'.

Yeah, but (as a non-goalie) there's just something about a play that you just know is going in the back of the net and at the end of it the goalie just has that glove hand extended, glove closed, and the puck is inside. A blocker save is going -- at best -- up into the net, it just doesn't have that "oh, did you think you scored? here's your puck" flair to it.

[mnpucker 33]

Never thought of the goalie angle but I get a lot of enjoyment out of watching the old style 2 pad stack.

[Gilly7 0]

I’m from the UK, and I’m one of the few third-generation hockey ‘people’ in the country, but I’ve had to spend the last 19 years playing and coaching 30 miles from home. When I was 3, our local rink closed for competitive hockey, so I never got chance to play for the club my family were involved with since the 1940s.

In April last year, two local businessmen opened a new rink 3 miles from my house, and since they put their plans in place they made it known they wanted competitive hockey back in the town, so we set about putting a team together and had a squad ready for September (our season runs September – April). Our home rink wasn’t hockey-ready until December, so we played all of our opening games on the road, and we took 100+ fans to our first road game. Before we played our first home game, the guy that was coaching us had to leave the club, so I took over the coaching, and after almost 20 years of hockey in a rink 45 minutes from my house, I’m now playing for and coaching my hometown team.

When we finally got to play at home in December, about 200 fans turned up. We play in a tiny building with a tiny sheet of ice, so 200 people fill the place, and the noise was incredible that first game. The attendances for all of our games so far have pretty much filled the building, and when we score in there the crowd nearly blow the roof off the rink. It’s great to have been able to bring hockey back to a community that has missed it for almost 20 years, but on a more personal level, it’s great to see a load of my friends and family at games. My workmates get to a lot of our games, and people I know locally show their faces every now and then, but more importantly for me, my 85 year-old grandad, who played for the old team in the 1940s, can now get to every one of my home games. Having the guy that taught me to skate, made my first ever stick and faced my first ever shot at my game every weekend is a feeling that takes some beating. Unfortunately, not a lot of people around me get to experience it, but having family around for hockey is pretty special.

[ak996 0]

Oh the joy of opening packages to see what gear they reveal :P

I decided recently to start playing hockey again for the first time since my senior year in high school almost 10 years ago. I just ordered most of my equipment and am waiting for all the gear to arrive and hoping it gets here in time for me to get out for 6am open hockey on the weekend.

The UPS man cannot come soon enough.

Can't wait to feel the eagerness of waiting for the zamboni doors to shut so I can jump out there. Those 20 seconds of waiting feel like an eternity.

[Stoop 1]

Great story Gilly.

I've been at this for almost a full year, and final got out for some drop-in. I didn't know a soul. A couple of guys were my level, but most were much better, of course. But they were all cool, and it was an hour and a half of 4on4 with one sub. I was totally gassed, but it was awesome. Can't wait to go again.

[mnpucker 33]

Every day I am involved in this sport I find new pleasures. Tonight I watched 4 12 year old boys I taught how to skate and play this game connect 4 passes rink long ending up with a one timer back door that happened to be netted by my son. Game winner. Rewarding.

[Vinny_R 1]

I started helping my friend coaching pee-wee. The team wasn't that good winning only 3 games before christmas, but I went couple of times working 1 on 1 with every player for 10-20 minutes each. The team is now like 10-8 and are big favorite for the championship of their league. Watching kids who were struggling braking and holding their sticks become pretty decent players with a lot of fun and energy is absolutely awesome!