slacker76 3 Report post Posted March 26, 2012 Just wanted to pass this link along. A buddy of mine plays in the FHL for the New Jersey Outlaws. They are doing a reality show about their season (on and off the ice). Definately some beauties here. Check it out, good for a few laughs. www.jerseyiceshow.com. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chippa13 1844 Report post Posted March 26, 2012 That league is good for a few laughs. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Doctor Hook 0 Report post Posted March 27, 2012 Watched the clips. It'd be nice if they were longer than a minute or so but I guess the idea is they're trying to get distributed. It was decent, kind of reminded me of that LNAH documentary "The Chiefs". Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MatthewRoach7 130 Report post Posted March 27, 2012 Looks cool. We used to have a team here in Rome but they folded. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skyscrape 5 Report post Posted March 27, 2012 Wow! My buddy plays for Danbury in the FHL and he told me that each team has 4 or 5 goons! Everyone fights! Just straight goon squad! But...he said it's still a blast! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MyBoxersSayJoe 133 Report post Posted March 28, 2012 So that's why there were a bunch of cameras and everything was being mic'd at the Ice Vault on Saturday. I've been interested in checking out a game just to see the level of play. Where does the FHL fall in the grand scheme of things? Or what is it comparable to? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MatthewRoach7 130 Report post Posted March 28, 2012 Very low level goon hockey. All the games that I ever went to there were 2 to 3 time the amount of fights as goals. Mostly people who could/will not make it playing in a real leauge. It may have changed in the last year or so. I went to games the year they started the FHL. They used to take money from the door and pay the guys in cash in the locker rooms after the games from what I heard. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chippa13 1844 Report post Posted March 28, 2012 A buddy of mine went to watch his friend play in this league down on the Cape. From his report, nothing has changed from your initial impressions. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BarDownGinos 3 Report post Posted March 28, 2012 The Cape Cod Bluefins have had 57 players rostered this season. Their top 4 scorers were mediocre D3 players. And then they have Billy Tibbetts- 15GP, 40pts, 109 PIMS. The QSPHL/LNAH still probably takes the cake as the worst league in North America, but this has got to be close. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Law Goalie 147 Report post Posted March 28, 2012 The LNAH is a riot: go Scouts! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MyBoxersSayJoe 133 Report post Posted March 28, 2012 Looks like I'll have to wait until next season to check it out since Outlaws whipped the Whalers the first two games and probably won't have to go to game 5. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iceNsteel 0 Report post Posted March 28, 2012 I'd hate to think the public that knows little, to nothing, about hockey would be seeing a reality show like this and thinking it somehow represents the sport. I'm sure 99.9% of the people that attend the games know full well it's a gong show league, but I could see something like this getting picked up on TV.In my personal opinion these guys would be better off playing beer league hockey and getting on with their lives. Don't think the gong show leagues are doing anyone any favors. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vulcan7905 88 Report post Posted April 5, 2012 I'd watch this show online, but this is not something that should represent hockey on TV at all. It's bad enough Jersey looks bad because of Jersey Shore, we don't need another reason. Put them in beer league? Hell no, just so they can be goons and ruin every body elses good time? Let them stay where they are. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chippa13 1844 Report post Posted April 5, 2012 I hear Billy Tibbetts gets mad if he gets looked off in pick-up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bruins89 1 Report post Posted April 5, 2012 pretty sure everyone in this thread would love to play professional hockey, however bad the league is Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chippa13 1844 Report post Posted April 5, 2012 I'd say you are wrong on that one. Just look at how many players this shit league goes through. A lot of guys try it and realize it is a joke. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bruins89 1 Report post Posted April 5, 2012 I'd say you are wrong on that one. Just look at how many players this shit league goes through. A lot of guys try it and realize it is a joke.is that a guess or from experience? there are all sorts of reasons a player can be dropped or traded etc. especially in a league where theres nowhere to be sent down to. i was specifically talking about the people in this thread bashing the league. sure more talented players may realize its a joke. lets be honest though most of them know the deal when trying out for this leauge. "theres two types of people, people that do the talking, and the people they talk about". at the end of the day they are playing pro hockey, however meaningless, while we are on here bashing/analyzing them on an online forum.so your telling me that if they called you to play in a game, you would turn them down because the league is shit? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chippa13 1844 Report post Posted April 5, 2012 They wouldn't even get to finish the question. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MatthewRoach7 130 Report post Posted April 5, 2012 I think that most of us here have enough self respect not to play in a league that that other players are viewing as a joke. On another note I would not want to place my self into a position to get hurt my some goon who just is out the boarding people left and right. So if the choice is this league or this forum I would choose here. And the use of "pro" is very loose in this case. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Law Goalie 147 Report post Posted April 5, 2012 Exactly. I'd turn them down flat because I don't fancy spending the rest of my life limping and not enjoying hockey after having some gorilla dumped on top of me in the crease, or straining to read because one of my eyes doesn't work right after a brawl. I don't play in ungentlemanly pickup games; I'm sure as hell not going to play in a game where the other guy is being paid to injure me for the amusement of a crowd that could care less whether I see the light of day again.That said, I do know and play with guys who have had times in leagues like this, and they did enjoy it. Most of them have since moved on; the ones that haven't are in unbelievably good shape for professional reasons and more than capable of handling themselves. Still not a risk I'm willing to take or ever was.Now, if the question was whether I'd take a year or two playing in, say, the French 4th division, sure-- less risk, more benefit. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
coryroth24 15 Report post Posted April 5, 2012 What a joke. That's about all I can sum that up with... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shooter27 116 Report post Posted April 5, 2012 so your telling me that if they called you to play in a game, you would turn them down because the league is shit?They did and I did.It surprises me that a guy like Kevin Cooper is still playing in this league (I played against him in college). He's got a Middlebury education and could be doing a lot more with it then playing in some low-level pro league. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Doctor Hook 0 Report post Posted April 5, 2012 They did and I did.It surprises me that a guy like Kevin Cooper is still playing in this league (I played against him in college). He's got a Middlebury education and could be doing a lot more with it then playing in some low-level pro league.Not sure about Cooper's reasons are for playing in this glorified beer league, but if I was in his position (where I have a good education and I can do whatever I want after hockey), then I'd definitely play "pro" hockey at least for a few years before hanging em up and getting a real job. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shooter27 116 Report post Posted April 5, 2012 Not sure about Cooper's reasons are for playing in this glorified beer league, but if I was in his position (where I have a good education and I can do whatever I want after hockey), then I'd definitely play "pro" hockey at least for a few years before hanging em up and getting a real job.A few years sure, but he and I both graduated from college 8 years ago. I get living the dream for a while and seeing if you can make it up the ladder, but at some point reality has to set in. Look, I can't speak for his circumstances since I didn't know him well, but you would think after working that hard to get a good degree you would want to put it to use. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iceNsteel 0 Report post Posted April 5, 2012 is that a guess or from experience? there are all sorts of reasons a player can be dropped or traded etc. especially in a league where theres nowhere to be sent down to. i was specifically talking about the people in this thread bashing the league. sure more talented players may realize its a joke. lets be honest though most of them know the deal when trying out for this leauge. "theres two types of people, people that do the talking, and the people they talk about". at the end of the day they are playing pro hockey, however meaningless, while we are on here bashing/analyzing them on an online forum.so your telling me that if they called you to play in a game, you would turn them down because the league is shit?After I finished college I went to work at Home Depot while looking for a job in my field. I worked in the lumber department with a guy named Randy. Randy had played a couple years of junior college football, and a couple years at a D III school (or whatever the hell it is now, it was D III back then). He was playing in a semi-pro football league when I met him laboring under the delusion that the semi-pro league could get him a shot at the CFL and that get him into the NFL. You didn't exactly have to be a super talent scout to realize he just didn't have the size to play D I football, let alone the NFL. It was in July, I remember their season ran in the summer for some reason, Randy sustained a major injury to his knee. As one might imagine the semi-pro league carried no insurance, and even with the medical insurance we had through Home Depot Randy ended up with thousands and thousands of dollars in hospital and PT bills, not to mention an injury that fundamentally altered his life and left him unable to do a lot of normal activities.I'm not bashing anyone. I remember aging out of juniors and coming to grips with the reality that my competitive hockey days were over. It was hard, and I know it's hard for any serious athlete to come to terms with the end of their career. But at the end of the day most athletes don't make it to the show, or even the serious minor leagues. That's just reality, and when it's your turn you have to accept it and move on with your life. There are far too many Randy's out there stuck in menial jobs to accommodate delusion, and all too often the false promises of these gong show leagues. It's up to individuals of course, and I'd never advocate that such leagues should be banned or anything. But these guys' competitive careers are over, if you're okay being fodder for someone else's entertainment to delay the inevitable for a few years that's up to you. I'm just saying it's a waste of valuable time. I understand where they're coming from, but I still think most of them, if not all, would be better off just moving on into whatever their actual careers are going to be and playing some beer league hockey.And no, I would never play in a crap league like this under any circumstances. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
