Un-Written Rules of Hockey

[phunky_monkey 6]

That's disgraceful. I was cut from numerous Vic teams over my teen years and never had ill feeling towards the selectors.

[Darkbyte 0]

On a negative note I had a kid last who I cut last winter from my team come to pick up and when I was one the ice spit all over my bag. I was shocked at how messed up this kid's upbring must be.

That is appalling, having skills is one thing, but a poor attitude can quickly negate the value of said skills.

P.S love this thread, great for noobs like me!

[fieldofdreams 0]

Something I love about pick up recently are the Canadian imports that have come down. Amazing skils, great blokes but most of all they pass. Sometimes they showboat, but to be honest its such a positive feeling they bring along most people are happy to have them with the odd end to end.

On a negative note I had a kid last who I cut last winter from my team come to pick up and when I was on the ice, he spit all over my bag. I was shocked at how messed up this kid's upbringing must be.

If that were my equipment, he would be spitting up teeth before it was all said and done.

[sectachrome 40]

An example of what NOT to do:

My friend apparently high sticked some kid (who Ive never seen at open before) by accident (or maybe not really, he plays pretty physical sometimes but just in good fun, I doubt he tried to hurt him) and gave him a bloody nose. He came off all pissy and threw his shit down and skated off but I didnt know why. 10 minutes later he comes back holding a tissue on his nose saying how my friend broke his nose (I really doubt he did) and how he did it on purpose and he was going to go out there and do something about it.

Now, Ive seen plenty of dick measuring contests unfortunately at open hockey, and thought he was just going to go out there and talk shit and push him and try to start something which never really escalates into anything. My friend is a big guy so I didnt really think anything of it. Next thing I know my friend is skating down the rink, and this kid skates up and takes a 2 handed baseball swing at his face (not wearing a cage or anything).

Long story short, my friends mouth got fucked up, cops were called, ambulance came, the psycho kid is probably in deep shit.

[shooter27 116]

I don't want to sound like I'm condoning the second kid's actions in any way because he obviously is so far out of line I can't even begin to understand his thinking, but it doesn't sound like your buddy was completely blameless in the interaction. If this is really just an open session there is no way his stick should be high enough or close enough to anyone's face to clip the guy in the first place, open hockey isn't a place for people to be playing physical, save that for real games. That being said, I'm not implying that your buddy deserved what happened or anything of that nature, the other kid clearly has problems and deserves to be punished to the fullest extent of the law. There is absolutely no room in hockey, at any place or any time, to be taking a two-handed chop at someone.

[Ahriman 1]

I don't want to sound like I'm condoning the second kid's actions in any way because he obviously is so far out of line I can't even begin to understand his thinking, but it doesn't sound like your buddy was completely blameless in the interaction. If this is really just an open session there is no way his stick should be high enough or close enough to anyone's face to clip the guy in the first place, open hockey isn't a place for people to be playing physical, save that for real games. That being said, I'm not implying that your buddy deserved what happened or anything of that nature, the other kid clearly has problems and deserves to be punished to the fullest extent of the law. There is absolutely no room in hockey, at any place or any time, to be taking a two-handed chop at someone.

I want to follow you on this but I can't.... because the dude swung his stick around on a guy with no cage or visor on purpose. At that point I really don't care if he was being careless. I mean, really, who cares if his buddy was blameless, maybe he did it on accident, it would be extremely unlikely he did it on purpose, what the second guy did was premeditated, for revenge. Thats where "sports injury" becomes "felony".

[sectachrome 40]

Yeah, Im not saying he didnt high stick him (though I didnt see it happen). When I said he plays physical, I dont mean he does it in a serious way, and usually only to people who know hes just messing around. Like if were battling for the puck on the boards, we will shove each other a lot extra than is necessary just for fun.

But anyway, yeah, home run swing to the face is inexcusable no matter what.

[chippa13 1844]

An example of what NOT to do:

My friend apparently high sticked some kid (who Ive never seen at open before) by accident (or maybe not really, he plays pretty physical sometimes but just in good fun, I doubt he tried to hurt him) and gave him a bloody nose. He came off all pissy and threw his shit down and skated off but I didnt know why. 10 minutes later he comes back holding a tissue on his nose saying how my friend broke his nose (I really doubt he did) and how he did it on purpose and he was going to go out there and do something about it.

Now, Ive seen plenty of dick measuring contests unfortunately at open hockey, and thought he was just going to go out there and talk shit and push him and try to start something which never really escalates into anything. My friend is a big guy so I didnt really think anything of it. Next thing I know my friend is skating down the rink, and this kid skates up and takes a 2 handed baseball swing at his face (not wearing a cage or anything).

Long story short, my friends mouth got fucked up, cops were called, ambulance came, the psycho kid is probably in deep shit.

Classic case of two wrongs don't make a right. Your buddy, especially being a bigger guy, shouldn't be playing physical in a pick-up game and the guy definitely shouldn't have cracked him like that.

[shooter27 116]

I want to follow you on this but I can't.... because the dude swung his stick around on a guy with no cage or visor on purpose. At that point I really don't care if he was being careless. I mean, really, who cares if his buddy was blameless, maybe he did it on accident, it would be extremely unlikely he did it on purpose, what the second guy did was premeditated, for revenge. Thats where "sports injury" becomes "felony".

I'm with you on this, believe me, thats why I attempted to preface it by saying I was in no way condoning the baseball swing, there is no excuse for something like that. Maybe blameless is the wrong word to use, my point was that the original guy shouldn't be in a situation to have his stick clip the other guy in the first place in a drop in situation. Regardless, he definitely didn't deserve a two handed chop to the face, no one does.

[Larry54 243]

Something I love about pick up recently are the Canadian imports that have come down. Amazing skils, great blokes but most of all they pass. Sometimes they showboat, but to be honest its such a positive feeling they bring along most people are happy to have them with the odd end to end.

I'm fine with an end-to-end once in a session. I, myself, will attempt it for the thrill of it but not more than once. And I'll usually end up looking for someone to pass to by the time I reach the other end. But seeing how laid back pickup sessions are, end-to-ends don't really prove anything.

[Aussie Joe 0]

Totally agree there Larry. They do it once, maybe the 2nd time late in the session. The guys are very well mannered, I saw one bloke a few weeks back make a play through traffic just so he could free himself to pass to a newbie who can barely skate. They also show the kids how to do skill moves like a tip to hell or quick stop and shot. The Canadian lads are always keeping it positive. Being positive at the rink is one of my main loves atm. Ensuring you have a good time and make the game better for others.

[Spreedizzle 1]

Be a chick in a non-contact league.......throw a huge cross check on a teammate and then start screaming bloody murder when she gets hit by one of my teammates due to her shenanigans.

[sinkhole84 0]

How about the old fags that think they are NHLers that hate on younger kids for playing and try to check and fight them?

[Archangel#16 1]

How about the old fags that think they are NHLers that hate on younger kids for playing and try to check and fight them?

I hate these people. There's this one guy at my morning pick up that has some problem with me when I get past him. Just yesterday he threw a check on me about 3 or 4 feet from the boards and I didn't even have the puck. I wasn't exactly happy about it, but didn't do anything stupid like a two hand to the face (hope your friend is ok by the way). I usually just come back with some remark like "I'm 17 and your like 58, and look at who's the being the bigger man at the moment"

[Larry54 243]

How about the old fags that think they are NHLers that hate on younger kids for playing and try to check and fight them?

You shouldn't generalize. There's no age limit for being a jerk. Sometimes the opposite happens where an older player is getting past a younger player so he trips or hooks him because he can't swallow his pride. I repeat, there's no age limit for being a jerk.

[dsjunior1388 81]

How about the old fags that think they are NHLers that hate on younger kids for playing and try to check and fight them?

You shouldn't generalize. There's no age limit for being a jerk. Sometimes the opposite happens where an older player is getting past a younger player so he trips or hooks him because he can't swallow his pride. I repeat, there's no age limit for being a jerk.

I play with more than a few 25ish players who have the "if only I hadn't torn/broke/injured, I'd be able to keep up/stop you." lines down pat. It's funny to watch them act really petty towards the 19 year olds who still have wheels and are cocky about it, knowing 5 years ago they were the same way.

[Aussie Joe 0]

I hate these people. There's this one guy at my morning pick up that has some problem with me when I get past him. Just yesterday he threw a check on me about 3 or 4 feet from the boards and I didn't even have the puck. I wasn't exactly happy about it, but didn't do anything stupid like a two hand to the face (hope your friend is ok by the way). I usually just come back with some remark like "I'm 17 and your like 58, and look at who's the being the bigger man at the moment"

I'm sure this isn't you but, the thing that gets me these days is the kids that get shoved aside in the snr divisions here because of lack lustre conditioning, low development or just inexperience. Then get pee'd off because they claim the adults are throwing the kids around. If you step up to a competitive snr division, you are playing with men and you need to adjust to a higher level of physicallity. I had one kid's mum label me a "dirty bastard" for roughing her hack of a son up. All I did was play the body clean and tough. It's not my fault he's a rake with poor skating.

Once, again I'm just venting not saying you are the same Angel.

[Larry54 243]

I hate these people. There's this one guy at my morning pick up that has some problem with me when I get past him. Just yesterday he threw a check on me about 3 or 4 feet from the boards and I didn't even have the puck. I wasn't exactly happy about it, but didn't do anything stupid like a two hand to the face (hope your friend is ok by the way). I usually just come back with some remark like "I'm 17 and your like 58, and look at who's the being the bigger man at the moment"

I'm sure this isn't you but, the thing that gets me these days is the kids that get shoved aside in the snr divisions here because of lack lustre conditioning, low development or just inexperience. Then get pee'd off because they claim the adults are throwing the kids around. If you step up to a competitive snr division, you are playing with men and you need to adjust to a higher level of physicallity. I had one kid's mum label me a "dirty bastard" for roughing her hack of a son up. All I did was play the body clean and tough. It's not my fault he's a rake with poor skating.

Once, again I'm just venting not saying you are the same Angel.

Well, in all fairness, Archangel#16 was talking about pickup hockey which is a whole other thing.

[Aussie Joe 0]

I know, he just reminded me of something similar thats all.

As they say in Thailand; "same, same but different."

[Archangel#16 1]

I hate these people. There's this one guy at my morning pick up that has some problem with me when I get past him. Just yesterday he threw a check on me about 3 or 4 feet from the boards and I didn't even have the puck. I wasn't exactly happy about it, but didn't do anything stupid like a two hand to the face (hope your friend is ok by the way). I usually just come back with some remark like "I'm 17 and your like 58, and look at who's the being the bigger man at the moment"

I'm sure this isn't you but, the thing that gets me these days is the kids that get shoved aside in the snr divisions here because of lack lustre conditioning, low development or just inexperience. Then get pee'd off because they claim the adults are throwing the kids around. If you step up to a competitive snr division, you are playing with men and you need to adjust to a higher level of physicallity. I had one kid's mum label me a "dirty bastard" for roughing her hack of a son up. All I did was play the body clean and tough. It's not my fault he's a rake with poor skating.

Once, again I'm just venting not saying you are the same Angel.

Its all good. I get what you're saying (I'm not that type of player btw :) ). I also get what Larry was saying too about the whole "no age limit" thing. It was just the person's post before my post that reminded me of something that just happened that day, so I thought I would chime in.

[FlyChicaga 21]

How about a DON'T:

Don't start taking cheap shots (butt-end to the ribs, cross-checking, trying to trip someone, going knee-to-knee) and not expect the person you are going after to retaliate. This is overly true if you are the head coach of a PROFESSIONAL HOCKEY TEAM. I understand you'd like to get out and play some rat hockey, but don't come out hacking and not expect someone to call you out on it because you're a coach in the AHL. I have never felt the need to drop the gloves in a pick-up game, but I certainly did today. All of it started because I was tying him up in front of our goalie.

[Aussie Joe 0]

We have a goalie who graces us at pickup occasionally and never leaves the ice. He leaves the cage, but will sit in the corner when he's not tending. The moron took a rebound to the helmet a few weeks back and cracked it. Needless to say we had a chat and he now sits on the pine the rest of us.

[phunky_monkey 6]

What, He sits in the corner while the games going on?

[Aussie Joe 0]

Ja, he's a royal Dumkopf. I almost shot him in the arse a few weeks back to get the point accross in a more subtle fashion. ;)

[phunky_monkey 6]

I somehow doubt he'd be the type to get a subtle hint! I don't get that at all... boggles the mind.