Ringers...

[IPv6Freely 2084]

Our league had a bunch of players from the local college team playing in our Div 5b (yes, basically div 6). One of them was actually one of the refs from our league. It's irritating as all hell. I told the guy running the league that if he doesnt do something about it, I'll go play at another (actually closer) rink, despite just spending $1000 out of pocket for team jerseys.

[Chadd 916]

Our league had a bunch of players from the local college team playing in our Div 5b (yes, basically div 6). One of them was actually one of the refs from our league. It's irritating as all hell. I told the guy running the league that if he doesnt do something about it, I'll go play at another (actually closer) rink, despite just spending $1000 out of pocket for team jerseys.

One of the most important thing with making changes happen, is to have as many people as possible on the same page. If you have people from multiple teams complaining about a ref playing in the same division they cal games, you have a much better chance of getting the guy out of the league. As for the players playing below their talent level, it's the same story. You need to get people from multiple teams involved. It's easy to blow off one guy here or there, but a dozen of them together will have a much bigger impact.

[hunterphfr 12]

I play in a Sunday C-League and a Tuesday Rec League (was started as a gentleman's league to get away from the chippiness of Sunday C) but basically a C-League and sometimes chippier and rougher than the Sunday league now ironically enough. Everybody has a ringer or two, more or less. Some teams have more talent all around others have a guy with a little better talent to make up for guys that probably should be playing down a division. Some teams carry players that have no business playing in a C-League. Right now there's a guy that is just back from playing pro in Finland who is playing in both leagues. Another guy that plays A out of another rink in town is playing in the Tuesday Rec league. Last time we played them the score was 7-1, he scored 6 goals. I just don't get how it could possibly be fun for them. But then you see them carrying on and showboating after they've gone coast to coast untouched to score their 4th or 5th goal. It would've like me putting my AA son in the house legue so he could score 6 goals a game. Who the F@c$ benefits from this?

[Law Goalie 147]

I really think we need to call these guys "wankers" instead of "ringers." Everyone keeps asking the same question - of how it can possibly be fun for them - that we always ask of compulsive solitary masturbators. Surely, at some point, they'll find someone else to play with, put that effort to good use; but the wankers never will. The truth is that wankers of all types are avoiding competition, whether temporarily - like hunter's Finnish pro on holiday - or permanently, like the perennial twits discussed in this thread. They just want to stroke a few off and forget what it was like to truly enjoy what they're doing; for the perennial ones, it's about habit more than actual excitement or stimulation.

[wrangler 157]

The mention of this subject always brings Mark Twain to mind.

http://www.textfiles.com/etext/AUTHORS/TWAIN/onanism.txt

[Law Goalie 147]

Oh man-- never a bad read! (I now owe you something - at least a punch in the back of the head - for making me start a new paper on Twain that I had been trying not to think about. Damnit. Ahahaha...)

[chk hrd 164]

I've always thought there were two kinds of Ringers.

#1 is the guy who knows he is good and just out there for the fun of the game. He is satisfied with his hockey career and doesn't have anything to prove. He recognizes a players ability and gives the guy a chance to make a play regardless of which team the player is on. He is a big team player and likes to make assists instead of scoring at will. He is mostly calm, a well of knowledge and a joy to play with.

#2 is your typical douche who barely made it to pay to play juniors and knows he would have went farther if everbody wasn't against him, things didn't go bad, got hurt, etc, etc. This is the guy who plays down in the lowest level and has no problem going end to end, driving the net and taking everybody out with him. He wants to show everyone his awesome hands and dangles the worst players. His shot is so impressive he has to take a full out slapper from the hash marks. He knows hockey better than anyone at the rink (probably more than most pros and coaches) and wants to make sure everyone knows. He's the guy who cross checks the crap out of you because "your in his house" or levels you after the whistle because he's protecting his goalie...even though you were just standing looking at the puck because you don't dig on goalies. When he gets beat by another player he goes into asshole mode and starts playing dirty all the while mouthing off about how good he is and how much everyone else sucks. When he plays against a Type #1 player he always has excuses; having a bad night, guy plays dirty, no one on his team to pass to let alone worthy enough for him to play with and so on. When he plays against another Type #2 it is just a powder keg waiting for a match.

Sometimes it seems like there are more and more Type #2 guys playing. They really take the honor and fun out of the game.

[coffeebreak 0]

Interesting article out from the wall street journal regarding "Ex pro" ringers in beer leagues. One team had 3 ex NHL players to take on a couple of hot shot juniors. Interesting read.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304830704577497410655110628.html?

[MyBoxersSayJoe 132]

The one thing I noticed, a lot of the connections seem to be made by Ivy League colleges and networks. It's not like they just drop-in, someone tends to bring them.

[Stoop 1]

I've always thought there were two kinds of Ringers.

#1 is the guy who knows he is good and just out there for the fun of the game. He is satisfied with his hockey career and doesn't have anything to prove. He recognizes a players ability and gives the guy a chance to make a play regardless of which team the player is on. He is a big team player and likes to make assists instead of scoring at will. He is mostly calm, a well of knowledge and a joy to play with.

#2 is your typical douche who barely made it to pay to play juniors and knows he would have went farther if everbody wasn't against him, things didn't go bad, got hurt, etc, etc. This is the guy who plays down in the lowest level and has no problem going end to end, driving the net and taking everybody out with him. He wants to show everyone his awesome hands and dangles the worst players. His shot is so impressive he has to take a full out slapper from the hash marks. He knows hockey better than anyone at the rink (probably more than most pros and coaches) and wants to make sure everyone knows. He's the guy who cross checks the crap out of you because "your in his house" or levels you after the whistle because he's protecting his goalie...even though you were just standing looking at the puck because you don't dig on goalies. When he gets beat by another player he goes into asshole mode and starts playing dirty all the while mouthing off about how good he is and how much everyone else sucks. When he plays against a Type #1 player he always has excuses; having a bad night, guy plays dirty, no one on his team to pass to let alone worthy enough for him to play with and so on. When he plays against another Type #2 it is just a powder keg waiting for a match.

Sometimes it seems like there are more and more Type #2 guys playing. They really take the honor and fun out of the game.

The problem is that, outside of the true idiots, most ringers think they're a number 1. I can't tell you how many times I've heard someone say "Oh don't worry, he won't play hard [or skate fast, or shoot, etc]." As if they're the first person to think of that approach re: ringers. Sorry buddy, that's what everyone says.

Sometimes that can work out. But plenty of times it turns into a number 2. Or, the person just waits until the game is close late, and then takes over. Thanks for ruining that for everyone. And even if you're not shooting, if you're controlling the defensive end and the blue line, it severely tilts the whole game. We're not idiots. Not to mention that it is insulting to have you out there controlling the game without breaking a sweat as we work our asses off.

I'll say what I said before, when you're in a game where everyone is playing their hardest and yet the game is close throughout -- it's a beautiful thing.

[Harv 86]

I saw a former NCAA D1 dman in a C league the other night.. He never looked down the entire game.

[Chadd 916]

The problem is that, outside of the true idiots, most ringers think they're a number 1. I can't tell you how many times I've heard someone say "Oh don't worry, he won't play hard [or skate fast, or shoot, etc]." As if they're the first person to think of that approach re: ringers. Sorry buddy, that's what everyone says.

Sometimes that can work out. But plenty of times it turns into a number 2. Or, the person just waits until the game is close late, and then takes over. Thanks for ruining that for everyone. And even if you're not shooting, if you're controlling the defensive end and the blue line, it severely tilts the whole game. We're not idiots. Not to mention that it is insulting to have you out there controlling the game without breaking a sweat as we work our asses off.

I'll say what I said before, when you're in a game where everyone is playing their hardest and yet the game is close throughout -- it's a beautiful thing.

The part they usually leave out is "unless we're down one or two in the third period."

[Axxion89 32]

The part they usually leave out is "unless we're down one or two in the third period."

QFT

Always happens even with the "nice" ringers, if they need to score towards end of the game or even if their teams goes down by a goal, they go end to end or turn it up until they score and go back into taking it easy. Luckily for my current team, we have a system to beat the ringers sort of like a trap, where we double or triple cover the ringers and force the bad skaters on the team to score against our pretty good goalie (not me, I'd be a ringer ). Its worked for us so far!

[kovalchuk71 212]

I don't quite understand your last argument. If the team is down a couple of goals late, your don't expect him to help his team? Do you just want him to glide around out there twiddling his thumbs?

[Chadd 916]

I don't quite understand your last argument. If the team is down a couple of goals late, your don't expect him to help his team? Do you just want him to glide around out there twiddling his thumbs?

The argument they make is that he isn't going to play up to his ability. The problem is, those players almost always do play hard when the team needs it. Therefore, it becomes a matter of "as long as we're winning, he won't play hard". The better solution is to just not allow the guy to play that far below his ability. If a guy is so good he can score at will, he should find a tougher level to play.

[kovalchuk71 212]

Now I see what you are saying. I totally agree with that.

[hunterphfr 12]

I saw a former NCAA D1 dman in a C league the other night.. He never looked down the entire game.

There's one of those in our Tuesday Rec League as well.

Plays in the Sunday B League as well. Played 4 years of D1 in the northeast. He slacks off on Tuesday but will turn it on just enough to control & dominate the game. Truly an amazing player to watch when he's playing B. It totally sucks when he's making you look like an idiot in C.

[OpenIceHit42 2]

The ice league I play in "evaluates" all new players, if guys are on your roster they have to 1) pay or your team has to 2) split the cost of the spot and "buy out" ($420) a spot but the person can still be on the roster however they'll be evaluated and determined if their suitable for that division. Pretty much eliminates ringers all together. Now that being said, there was a team "mis-evaluated" in the division below us and moved up into our division13 games (20 game season) into the season, they ran the table and finished with a ridiculous 230+ GF and only around 30GA. They had 5 guys that had 50+ points while the rest of the team was benders.

That being said, my summer beer league roller team was 6-0 heading into our game this afternoon and we've seen the team that we were scheduled to play (4-1) a few times and today they had two guys that were absolutely phenomenal that no one has ever seen before. Were not the type of team to roster check because it's a beer league but made our 8-6 victory (those guys combined for 5 of the 6 goals) even sweeter.

[JoeyJ0506 191]

Well, last night we got wrecked by a ringer. D-League hockey (Lowest Tier) Championship Series (Best of 3 Series). We beat the team in game one 12-3 (they had 7 skaters) in a 10:50pm Sunday night game (almost all of our players show no matter the day or time). Every forward on the ice scored at least one goal in the game. Very much a team game.

Fast forward to last night, 10:20pm game on a Wednesday night (They had 8 skaters). We lost 9-5 with ONE player on the other team scoring 8 of the 9 goals, while basically passing the other one in off a teammate's skate. Guy has played in the AHL, NHL, DEL (Germany), and EBEL (Austria). Basically, for the better part of 7 years he has been employed playing professional hockey. There is literally no stopping the guy when he feels like it, he played the entire 60 minutes. I am pretty sure if just the goalie and he dressed they would have still stood a great chance of winning that game.

My team is a mix of former High School players, and guys that had never played organized hockey before this team. We have worked hard for 4 years to get to the point where we are in every game and competitive. This year we make it to the Championship Series for the first time and a team decides they need to bring in a mercenary to put us in our place. Very discouraging for myself and the rest of my team.

[Harv 86]

How does a pro even live with himself playing in D league.

If you played any kind of hockey for money, you should be in the A league. No excuse otherwise.

[IniNew 51]

Who was it?

[chk hrd 164]

I was never so glad to see a ringer as I was last night. Our league is a B-C level with one team who has won the division over and over for along time. This team is the biggest bunch of whining, cheap DB's you could put together. If they start loosing or come close, watch your backs. Last night I walked into the rink and they were loosing to one of the last place teams. The team was short and picked up a player (he's a friend of everyone's) who plays ECHL, is in his early 20's and is a beast. Every time Team DB would score, he would score or set someone else up to score. He took regular shifts and played conservative but would never let Team DB get ahead.

It was so great watching Team DB cry, flip out and get a taste of thier own medicine. It might feel a little diferent if Team DB had any redeeming qualities but I have yet to hear anyone who is not on thier team say anything good about them. Unfortunately they have no humility so I'm sure whoever they play next will get it in spades.

[JoeyJ0506 191]

How does a pro even live with himself playing in D league.

If you played any kind of hockey for money, you should be in the A league. No excuse otherwise.

I can't answer that for you. I played pretty competitive college baseball, and what this guy did to us last night would be like me stepping up to the plate, or getting on the mound in a Little League game.

[Chadd 916]

How does a pro even live with himself playing in D league.

If you played any kind of hockey for money, you should be in the A league. No excuse otherwise.

Well, maybe he knew a guy on the other team and the guy was complaining about being beat 12-3 in a D league game. When you embarrass someone, you have to expect some kind of payback.

[Louie 28]

Who was it?

Jamie Hunt

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=77732

Well, maybe he knew a guy on the other team and the guy was complaining about being beat 12-3 in a D league game. When you embarrass someone, you have to expect some kind of payback.

I see your point, but still a former professional? They are typically a competitive team without him.