Stick and Puck / Pick Up

[SoftwareDev 8]

Can someone explain to me the formats you have experienced for both of these type of sessions? I am new to Hockey, and right now am only good enough to be serviceable on skates... can stop, stride forward, skate backwards but not crossover backwards, crossover strong side forwards, and was just interested in what these sessions are like (not that I believe I need to attend one of them very soon until skating gets better). 

Do you bring your own pucks to stick and puck? Do they have nets already setup for practice? 

For adult pick up, how does this work?

[badger_14 601]

I am told that in other places, Stick & Puck and Pickup/Adult Hockey sessions are different things and advertised as such.  This isn't (usually) the case where I live, however:

Generally, a stick & puck is more for practicing skills.  Nets are provided, but in my experience pucks are not.  Caveat: the pucks will be filched by others.  Either mark only a few, or resign yourself to losing at least two every session.  Where I live Stick & Puck has the tendency to devolve into a pickup game, but depending on the number of people, they might only take up half the ice.  If Stick & Puck is essentially a practice session or one of those times/locations where it's basically deserted, it's a great chance to work on skating and basic skills without being run over (unintentionally or otherwise) by better skaters or feeling overwhelmed by a game situation.

Pickup is just that - a pickup game.  For public pickup, bring a dark and light jersey (try not to have it be grey or yellow).  Teams get sorted out one way or another - if you dress in one jersey, bring the other with you to the bench in case you need to switch sides.  Sometimes it's just "x players are in dark jerseys, y are in white, even things out", sometimes it's throwing the sticks in the middle and splitting teams that way.  I've found that certain pickups get populated by the same people, so it can feel a bit intimidating and like you're not part of the crowd when everybody knows each other.  Some places note what level a pickup is, some places you have to play it by ear or learn by word of mouth.

During school breaks, both stick & puck, and pickup, are sometimes overrun with students who have better hockey skills than they have hockey manners.

 

[puckpilot 312]

Pretty much what badger_14 said.

[jmiro 55]

Pick up is pick up here.  Stick and shoot is practice. Once and a while a half court game busts out.  But i have never seen a full court game.  I dont beleive it is allowed.  Pucks are provided

[SoftwareDev 8]

What skill level should you be to start going to Drop In hockey ? Feel like it would be great learning, but also feel like some folks would take it as Stanley Cup finals and not want to play with newbs.

[beerleaguecaptain 999]

2 hours ago, SoftwareDev said:

What skill level should you be to start going to Drop In hockey ? Feel like it would be great learning, but also feel like some folks would take it as Stanley Cup finals and not want to play with newbs.

Mostly anyone should be able to play in a drop in.  There are always some sessions that have a reputation for competitive play though so you have to kind of ask around.  For example one summer lunch hockey in my area has pros, juniors and the like.  Needless to say I don't go.  Night time open is truly a mixed bag of talent.

[marka 526]

Howdy,

Around me, the "everyone is welcome" pickup / drop in hockey is way more common than the "only former pros / Junior A / Div 1"...  You might ask the rink, but absent other info I'd just go and try it.  My guess is that you'll be welcome.

And what Badger_14 said applies pretty well to my area too.

Mark

[SoftwareDev 8]

Thanks for the input all!

[DRR 112]

Pick up is almost always for all ability levels and if the players have manners, they'll treat it as such. For example if they see that they're a much better player than you, they'll let you skate with the puck a bit and back off to defend differently. Or they'll look for a pass to a teammate and pass up a shot on goal. 

This is if they have manners, sometimes you just get that one puck hog or the one guy that just makes it frustrating to play against. That's fine for games but really doesn't have a place in pick-up/drop-in hockey. 95% of the time guys are just out there for a fun pickup game.

[xstartxtodayx 343]

17 hours ago, dkmiller3356 said:

Mostly anyone should be able to play in a drop in.  There are always some sessions that have a reputation for competitive play though so you have to kind of ask around.  For example one summer lunch hockey in my area has pros, juniors and the like.  Needless to say I don't go.  Night time open is truly a mixed bag of talent.

Wouldn't be the Bethpage one would it?  I work around the corner and have been very tempted to drop in for their lunch break pick up hockey sometime.

 

As for the topic... I've given up on late night open hockey since most I've been to in the past few years have been mainly college kids with a lot more skill and stamina than us old timers haha, I miss being that college kid :-/

[beerleaguecaptain 999]

27 minutes ago, xstartxtodayx said:

Wouldn't be the Bethpage one would it?  I work around the corner and have been very tempted to drop in for their lunch break pick up hockey sometime.

 

As for the topic... I've given up on late night open hockey since most I've been to in the past few years have been mainly college kids with a lot more skill and stamina than us old timers haha, I miss being that college kid :-/

Long Beach and Dix Hills lunch hockey have a rep for some SERIOUS talent.  Bethpage on Mondays is fine.  I can mostly keep up there and its a mix.  Yeah, its tougher when the kids get back from college though.  I can't keep up with them.

[SoftwareDev 8]

Played in my first pickup on Friday night... It was rough. Being able to do things on open skate is one thing. Applying that to more of a game pace is another, and it's hard to do both at once, but felt like it was a great experience and highlighted what I need to work on. 

I also went to several stick and puck practices over the weekend, and found that puck handling improves a lot more when you practice at home. I saw a significant improvement in just one session at home between my first stick and puck session and second session. 

 

[IPv6Freely 2092]

I will say the improvement I’ve seen in people who have been in way over their head at pickup after a short while has been shocking. Likely because people are (generally) willing to hit you with a pass over and over and over again until you get it right. 

I had a friend who was awful until she started going to pickups. Then I noticed in games she was taking hard passes into her feet or off the boards perfectly in full stride after only a couple months. 

I honestly think going to pickups would have made me a much better forward, but I switched to goalie full time before I realised how much good it was doing for others.

[jisatsu 4]

Stick and pucks in my area are mostly practice sessions.  Unfortunately most of the rinks have allowed coaches to take over the ice the entire session which forces the average player to be stuck at center ice doodling with the puck.  Luckily monday's are the lightest and there's only one coach out there and he's very respectful of players trying to practice in that he will dialog with you about where you want to practice at (corners, do you need the net for shot practice, which side of the ice do you prefer).  

As far as pucks go, I always have 3-10 pucks in my bag and always just take one out on the ice with me.  If I lose it over the glass or in the netting, I go back to the locker room and grab another.  That way the kids don't skate off with my pucks.  

If you are going to hit up stick and pucks, I highly recommend having a practice routine, other wise just skating around for an hour or so will just be wasted money.  Work on skating drills, work on stick handling in stride, work on keeping your heads up while skating with the puck, shooting in stride, etc.  In other words, take advantage of the session to improve yourself.

 

That said, there is no substitute for actual game experience.  I recommend one stick and puck session and one drop in game a week.

 

As far as drop in games go, try to find one that has a good mix of skill.  If you ask around the rink you'll usually find a decent private group looking for lower end players or players with good attitudes.  Open drop in games were removed from the Everett rink many years ago for a myriad of reasons (fights, underage drinking, players sneaking on without paying), but there are a few organized drop in groups that recruit for players.  Usually talk to someone at a stick and puck and they can get you in contact with someone who runs one.  I run a drop in friday mornings with another guy and we also have a tuesday night drop in during the summer months.  We encourage beginner players to come out and play because a lot of the core of the group started out as learn to play players that wanted a decent skate to improve their game.  It's important to find a group with mixed skill levels so you can learn from experienced players, but not feel overwhelmed the entire game.  We treat new players well and help them work on all aspects of the game.  If you can find a group like this, it's the perfect way to get ready for actual league play.

 

The only better option is to find a good developmental learn to play league.  

 

Anyways that was way too long winded, but I hope it helps.  

[fatwabbit 93]

No stick and puck in my area, let alone time for team practice sessions. We did get lucky with the league committee agreeing to get some ice time at lunchtime for drop in once a week. So far the turnouts have been pretty good, and a great mix of skills as its open to many people in A, B, and C level. 

I was a little apprehensive at the start, but noticed that many of the A level players tend to split themselves up between the two teams, making it more evenly strengthed. There is plenty of chirping between guys who know each other well (even the C level players), and I think everyone has a good time. More are wiling to try moves or passes they might not typically do during the league game, and it keeps the game at a decent pace.