Ringers...

[Axxion89 32]

I am on a team that is made up of b players and we recently picked up a 22 year old who would be an A player but has not played in four years. We recently had another team in our league complain about him playing in this league. This was the complaining teams first loss. 10-1! Even better though, thplayer on or team is averaging under 3 points per game. The team that wrote a letter asking for him to leave has three players averaging over 3 points per game and one more that is averaging two points a game! WTF! You lose one game and you bitch and moan and try to get someone thrown out of the league? WHAT Pussies!

Thats the thing I hate about leagues, you always get that team of turds! Except where I'm from, half the teams are loaded with juice heads and sore lossers <_<

[althoma1 574]

Harv Posted Yesterday, 11:15 PM

So what's everyone thoughts on this?

My college roommate plays in the A league and it's usually pretty good games. Not lopsided scores and the games can go either way. It's usually D3 college guys or ex-college guys in pretty good shape with some older guy mixed in.

He sends me a text...

Him- ''Yeah, we played our 4th game tonight''

Me- ''How'd that go?''

Him- ''Well, a guy that signed up for the team finally showed tonight. He plays in the ECHL.''

Me- ''Whoa, how'd he do?''

Him- ''Well, he didn't show til midway through the 2nd pd. Ended up having 3g, 4a... we won 7-5''

Me- ''I guess he's alright then''

So what do you do? Tell him to cool it? The guy is 2 steps away from the NHL and wants to play hard, otherwise what's the point of him showing up if he just floats the whole game?

He's playing A. Yes, it's a bear league and not the NHL, but if you're playing in the top league you should expect to play against top competition. I don't think there's any reason for him to hold back at all. If he was playing in a lower division, then absolutely, but if he's playing in the highest division available and he's just playing hard and not showboating or anything then I don't see anything wrong with it.

skyscrape Posted Today, 12:02 AM

I am on a team that is made up of b players and we recently picked up a 22 year old who would be an A player but has not played in four years. We recently had another team in our league complain about him playing in this league. This was the complaining teams first loss. 10-1! Even better though, thplayer on or team is averaging under 3 points per game. The team that wrote a letter asking for him to leave has three players averaging over 3 points per game and one more that is averaging two points a game! WTF! You lose one game and you bitch and moan and try to get someone thrown out of the league? WHAT Pussies!

Every team has a few superstars. He's playing one level down to get himself back into the game. It shouldn't be a big deal. It's not like he's trying to dominate 3 or 4 levels down. It does sound like they're just bitter about the loss and if there are guys on their team that have more points than him, then it would be rediculous for the league to bump him off your team without bumping their better players as well...stranger things have happened in beer leagues though. It all depends on the competency of the league management.

[iceNsteel 0]

As long as he's playing in the highest level and the league is okay with him playing then I don't see why he should sandbag. If it's a problem then the league should just adopt a rule that disallows active pro players in the league. The last time I played beer league if you'd been on a CHL major junior team, Div I college, or any professional level you couldn't play until it'd been a year since you'd played at that level.

[SouthpawTRK 1]

So tonight as I was waiting outside the dressing room waiting for the zamboni to get done scraping the ice, when the weirdest thing happened. A few members from the losing team that were walking past our dressing room started chirping at me about how I "ruined" their game and what level ice hockey do I really play (the rest of my team was still getting dressed). At first, I did not even realize that they were talking to me, but then it became a bit more apparent. The team that they just lost to, had an Asian player that happened to be wearing a white jersey and white helmet, who had scored all of the goals for the winning team. The players that were chirping at me, just saw an Asian guy wearing a white helmet and white jersey and figured they would let loose some of their frustrations. I was like WTF?!?! I told them that I hadn't even played any hockey today and that the team that I was playing on was up next. I've dealt with stereotypes and racism all my life; it's unfortunate that those guys saw an Asian player and assumed that I was him. If they saw me skate, stick handle and shoot, they would have felt a bit stupid and realize that I was not a ringer"; considering that I am having a great time, but my skills are pretty piss poor.

[goaliemanshark 6]

Unreal, what a bunch of d-bags!

[IniNew 51]

Why does it have to be a race issue. Maybe you just looked like the other guy?

[RicerCaker 0]

Cuz all asians look-a-like remember....

[JoeyJ0506 191]

Why does it have to be a race issue. Maybe you just looked like the other guy?

+1

If you put the same/similar clothes (not to mention hockey equipment) on people of the same ethnicity that are roughly the same size they are going to look the same/similar. Add in that they were obviously unfamiliar with who you and the other person are and you easily get a case of mistaken identity.

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My biggest issue with ringers does not really have to do with the fact that they can really rack up goals/points (although it goes hand in hand with my issue). It is their ability to completely take control of the pace of the game despite the best efforts of the other team. No one wants to spend an entire game chasing one player around the ice. Even if that player is not racking up goals they are still keeping the puck on their stick until someone else buries it into the net. Like I said, it is not so much about the goals/points for me as it is a single person being able to completely control every bit of the game they are playing in no matter what the other team does.

[Chadd 916]

Missed our game last night but we got the W thanks to the other team using a suspended player.

[eric42434224 1]

Another aspect of ringers can be fun though. We have a few teams in the division that are thinner on talent that others....nature of the beast. But they get frustrated and bring in a ringer. The ringer is better than anyone we have on our team. But when you play great positional hockey, backcheck, and swarm the guy when he gets the puck, you can completely neutralize him. It is fun to watch a ringer in warmups, chest all puffed out, dangling, showing his skill...............and then seeing him frustrated to no end because he cant win the game all by himself. That is very enjoyable.

[goaliemanshark 6]

Agreed! My beer league D partner and i specialize in shutting down ringers.

Here is an ethics question for everyone... A new player was just placed onto my team with his father. They played their first game and let's just say the father fits in, but the son is basically a ringer. He is way better then everyone else. What else can i do other then place him on defense? I feel bad because im sure the other team thinks he is a ringer, but he is a legal member of the team just like anyone else. What should i do? I cant split up the father and son tandem!

[Fin19 1]

Agreed! My beer league D partner and i specialize in shutting down ringers.

Here is an ethics question for everyone... A new player was just placed onto my team with his father. They played their first game and let's just say the father fits in, but the son is basically a ringer. He is way better then everyone else. What else can i do other then place him on defense? I feel bad because im sure the other team thinks he is a ringer, but he is a legal member of the team just like anyone else. What should i do? I cant split up the father and son tandem!

Depends on the divison your team is in. Otherwise, be happy you have a quality player on your team.

[goaliemanshark 6]

We play in a C league. Which is the second lowest division in our league...

[shotty 7]

in my league, the play of one player can affect the position of the entire team in terms of division placement, so if he is single handedly winning games for your team that it has no business winning, the team will be bumped up into a higher division. the league manager isn't looking at player stats, he's looking at team stats. a great player on an average team will do more harm than good, long term. as his play will eventually be matched wholly by other teams.

if that sort of thing doesn't happen in your league, and your team is playing within the rules and still having fun. enjoy his services!

[iceNsteel 0]

Actually you can split them, and in the second lowest tier in the league you should. Just because you didn't bring him on board solely to win one or two games doesn't mean he belongs at that level of play. I'd like to be able to play on my brother's team, but the reality is he didn't want to play hockey until a few years ago and I started when I was 6. The "we're family" argument doesn't trump the fact that division in leagues exist so there will be parity between the teams. It's unfair to have players that are significantly above the general talent level. It might suck, but junior needs to play on a team appropriate to his skill level.

[doodman 0]

I appreciate it when the refs see a ringer on a team and let you get away with a little more hooks/body/etc to slow them down a little. Nothing's worse then a ringer in a game who bitches about not getting calls. If you're too good for the league, don't bitch when the opposition gets away with a little more.

[goaliemanshark 6]

Actually you can split them, and in the second lowest tier in the league you should. Just because you didn't bring him on board solely to win one or two games doesn't mean he belongs at that level of play. I'd like to be able to play on my brother's team, but the reality is he didn't want to play hockey until a few years ago and I started when I was 6. The "we're family" argument doesn't trump the fact that division in leagues exist so there will be parity between the teams. It's unfair to have players that are significantly above the general talent level. It might suck, but junior needs to play on a team appropriate to his skill level.

Junior is naturally a defense man so i'm going to stick him there with his dad on a D pairing. We won our last game 8-3 and my ringer only had one goal and one assist before i moved him onto defense. Hopefully I dont get bitched at too much for something i didnt do!

It's a pretty craptastic situation for me to be in. That's for sure!

[Chadd 916]

Actually you can split them, and in the second lowest tier in the league you should. Just because you didn't bring him on board solely to win one or two games doesn't mean he belongs at that level of play. I'd like to be able to play on my brother's team, but the reality is he didn't want to play hockey until a few years ago and I started when I was 6. The "we're family" argument doesn't trump the fact that division in leagues exist so there will be parity between the teams. It's unfair to have players that are significantly above the general talent level. It might suck, but junior needs to play on a team appropriate to his skill level.

My belief has always been that guys that want to play together should have to play at the level of the better player. You can't take the talent away from the better player, no matter what you do. If he's only playing 50% all game long, there's nothing stopping him from stepping up at any point he chooses.

I appreciate it when the refs see a ringer on a team and let you get away with a little more hooks/body/etc to slow them down a little. Nothing's worse then a ringer in a game who bitches about not getting calls. If you're too good for the league, don't bitch when the opposition gets away with a little more.

We had a game where we got away with way more than we should have against one kid. I gave 10-15 good punches over the course of the night and he got hammered all night long. It really was ugly.

[xrickyb86x 1]

There's a ringer in my league who plays with no girdle. Is that legal? He just wears pants, not even roller hockey pants, with shin guards under. He's pretty damn good. Played against him 3 times and never once has a ref said anything to him about not having a girdle. This same guy supposedly broke his jaw last season from a slap shot.

[tro 4]

When does a guy become a ringer? 4 pts per game +?

We had an ex-whl player on my div 2 team last year, average 4/ptspg, the league told us that he moves to div 1 or the whole team moves, we had enough of div 1, so we stayed and he left.

New team shows up this past season, with two ex minor pro players that each average, 3.8/ptspg, the league says they can stay.

Leagues are filled with 3/ptspg players, so the question is, how many pts per game is a ringer?

[iceNsteel 0]

My belief has always been that guys that want to play together should have to play at the level of the better player. You can't take the talent away from the better player, no matter what you do. If he's only playing 50% all game long, there's nothing stopping him from stepping up at any point he chooses.

Which is a perfectly good solution to the problem, as long as the lesser skilled player isn't playing at a level where is lack of abilities make him a danger to himself and other players.

[iceNsteel 0]

When does a guy become a ringer? 4 pts per game +?

We had an ex-whl player on my div 2 team last year, average 4/ptspg, the league told us that he moves to div 1 or the whole team moves, we had enough of div 1, so we stayed and he left.

New team shows up this past season, with two ex minor pro players that each average, 3.8/ptspg, the league says they can stay.

Leagues are filled with 3/ptspg players, so the question is, how many pts per game is a ringer?

A ringer is someone that isn't part of the team that's brought in just to win a game or so. For example: you're in a novice division and you need to win your last two games to get into the play-off's so you bring in someone who's ability far exceeds the average level of play just to win.

What you're talking about is just rostering players that are just way above the average skill level. Of course when you reach the highest levels of play in a league it just is what it is. I mean if you have a player that would be an average guy in the A league, but is a super-star in the C league you solve it by making him move up. If you have a guy in the A league averaging 4 points a night then he's not a ringer, he's just a good player.

I tend to find that it's fairly easy to maintain parity in novice and beginner level adult hockey. What I see is that in higher levels of adult leagues you have a much wider range of skill levels present. Anywhere from the guys that maybe played some midget house league, or minor travel, and are too good for a novice division, but are totally out of their depth when another team as some ex-NCAA or CHL major junior players on their roster. Doesn't mean they have ringers, it's just how the talent pool goes sometimes.

[greech 4]

My team has a problem with the talent level on it. We play in the second highest league available, and have won 2 out of 8 games. Our problem is we have a wide swath of talent. We have a half dozen guys who have played either D1/D3, or at least some junior hockey. Then we've got a few guys who are kind of over their heads. We have probably the most top end talent but get killed just about every game. Is it totally unacceptable if we bring in a few more top end guys for our 2 week promotion into the A league?

[BenderHockey 127]

My team has a problem with the talent level on it. We play in the second highest league available, and have won 2 out of 8 games. Our problem is we have a wide swath of talent. We have a half dozen guys who have played either D1/D3, or at least some junior hockey. Then we've got a few guys who are kind of over their heads. We have probably the most top end talent but get killed just about every game. Is it totally unacceptable if we bring in a few more top end guys for our 2 week promotion into the A league?

Yes. You dance with who brought you.

[greech 4]

Yes. You dance with who brought you.

To clarify, however, we don't move up because we're good. We're the worst team in the B leagues, we just have a crossover schedule during the holiday weeks where we are forced to play up.