What hockey stuff have you done during quarentine?

[MyBoxersSayJoe 133]

Just wondering if anyone is taking the time to work on something specific, or what they're doing just to stay in shape or involved with the sport?  I broke out my old inline skates and skated a few blocks and got winded.  I probably should continue to do that and/or get new inline skates.  I have all my stickhandling stuff in my unfinished basement.  I should probably work on that as well.

There are a few hockey documentaries on Amazon Prime that I watched that really make me miss the game.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Absolutely nothing.

[marka 526]

Howdy,

I bought a SuperDeker and have been sporadically using that.  I already had a shooting tarp and tiles, so I tried to use that a little more.

I was doing pretty good about getting out there fairly regularly (every other day) for a while, but then my back started bothering me (unrelated) and I stopped.  Back is now fine, but I haven't gotten back into the habit... 🙂  I need to fix that!

Hockey stuff around here (Pittsburgh, PA) is starting to open back up.  I'm going to give it until July I think just to let any dust settle, then get back to it if things still are looking good.

Mark

[BenBreeg 493]

Playing in a limited attendance pickup tomorrow morning, get the AED ready!!!!!!

[chikinpotpie 137]

Haven’t touched any of it since mid-March 

[IPv6Freely 2092]

7 hours ago, BenBreeg said:

Playing in a limited attendance pickup tomorrow morning, get the AED ready!!!!!!

Yeah I’ve heard private skates like that are likely the first things to return. I should probably be reaching out to the guy who runs the pickup I sometimes attend

[shoot_the_goalie 281]

Been stick handling and shooting on dry-land tiles a bit.  Been really trying to work on more fluid toe-drags, forehand and backhand.  Also working on short flip ups of the puck on both sides and cleaner backhand sauce passes.  Also messing around with between the leg dekes and shooting through the legs...stuff I'll never really do in a game, so now's the time to try it out.

Just ordered a pair of Marsblade O1, so that should be fun.

[caveman27 208]

Nothing hockey specific. Just working out by running and doing pull ups.

[MyBoxersSayJoe 133]

On 6/4/2020 at 1:09 PM, marka said:

I bought a SuperDeker and have been sporadically using that.  I already had a shooting tarp and tiles, so I tried to use that a little more.

What's a SuperDeker?

13 hours ago, shoot_the_goalie said:

Just ordered a pair of Marsblade O1, so that should be fun.

I was about to, but the skate does not seem like it'd fit my foot well.  I'd order some cheap boots that would separately, but I don't think any hockey shops are open to mount them. Plus, they keep pushing the release date back from what I've seen.

[SirJW 207]

2 hours ago, MyBoxersSayJoe said:

 

I was about to, but the skate does not seem like it'd fit my foot well.  I'd order some cheap boots that would separately, but I don't think any hockey shops are open to mount them. Plus, they keep pushing the release date back from what I've seen.

I've read here from many that the ModSquad Pro Shop does a great job converting skates. 

 

 

 

[marka 526]

Howdy,

2 hours ago, MyBoxersSayJoe said:

What's a SuperDeker?

https://superdeker.com/products/superdeker

Pretty fun.  And more importantly, I think its actually helping my hands a bit.

Mark

[puckpilot 312]

Running every other day, and on days I'm not doing that, might do some slide board and work on some stickhandling on my tiles. Learned how to get the puck onto my blade with the digging under it method to set up for a lacrosse goal, but only with a naked blade. But it's a different animal doing it on the ice.  

[beerleaguecaptain 999]

Lost 17 lbs, been walking, jogging and rollerblading...  (had to buy rollers... never did that before).

[Monty22 833]

Been lifting and using the eliptical with my son, as well as shooting pucks in the driveway.  We got a dog in September (named him Gordie) and he keeps us active. Doesn't like fetch, but wants us to chase him when he has a toy in his mouth. He also really likes hide and seek. So we are getting some sprints in too. 

[YesLanges 127]

Working out as much as always, because I haven't been dependent on a commercial gym for more than a decade...never been happier about that than this last 3 months, obviously. Skating for about an hour 3 x/week on a pretty good deck behind my building (roughly 80 x 40')...the only thing I can't do at all is shoot the puck out there. There's a railing on 3 sides and a gap on the bottom right over the parking lot...so I grabbed a whole case of those hollow 5' foam pool noodles on eBay for $50 and strung about 30 of them together (in 3 sections with carabiners on each end) and set them up around the 3 exposed sides of the perimeter (the 4th side is the building itself). I carry them out there tied up in a big bundle about the size of a boxing heavy bag and it only takes me about 5 minutes to deploy them and about twice that long to fold and bundle them all back up when I'm done. I was prepared for it to be a total waste of time and effort, but they work perfectly...maybe one of the best ideas I've ever had (besides putting together my own gym in 2008, after I realized we wouldn't even need a second car anymore if I did that). I've gotten very comfortable on my 1997 Bauers ("Breakout 50s") with 72-76-76-72 and with 78A wheels, my "edges" feel pretty close to ice but my Marsblades came back today installed on a pair of entry-level Bauer MS-1s that seem infinitely better than the boots I've been using. 

21 hours ago, shoot_the_goalie said:

Been really trying to work on more fluid toe-drags, forehand and backhand.

Hey, are toe drags much easier with a green biscuit than with a puck on ice or something? Because they suddenly just clicked for me since I've been out there on wheels. The GB puck speed on the surface I'm using doesn't seem much different than pucks on ice, but something suddenly changed very dramatically for me and I'm dragging that shit all over the place with relative ease, and pretty fluidly without them coming off my stick very much at all...in front of me, to the side, and from pretty far back behind to my back skate. The improvement really seems way out of proportion to the amount of extra time spent on it and I was expecting only gradual improvement and nothing like this improvement curve at all. Just hoping it carries over to the ice. When you guys perfected your toe drags, did they suddenly click for you like that, too?

Edited June 6, 2020 by YesLanges

[shoot_the_goalie 281]

2 hours ago, YesLanges said:

Hey, are toe drags much easier with a green biscuit than with a puck on ice or something? Because they suddenly just clicked for me since I've been out there on wheels. The GB puck speed on the surface I'm using doesn't seem much different than pucks on ice, but something suddenly changed very dramatically for me and I'm dragging that shit all over the place with relative ease, and pretty fluidly without them coming off my stick very much at all...in front of me, to the side, and from pretty far back behind to my back skate. The improvement really seems way out of proportion to the amount of extra time spent on it and I was expecting only gradual improvement and nothing like this improvement curve at all. Just hoping it carries over to the ice. When you guys perfected your toe drags, did they suddenly click for you like that, too?

The funny thing about toe-drags for me, is I only started to really try them as an adult, cause back when I played competitively, my coaches would always berate us for trying to dangle/toe-drag, even if we could pull it off.  It would be we were playing too "fancy" or "showboating", so I never really tried to get good at it until later in life.  (We also played north/south, dump & chase, poke checked, hip-checked, never drop passed, etc...you get the idea; older style hockey compared to the puck-possession style today...but I digress.)

To answer your query, I find toe-dragging/dekes/dangles are MUCH easier on roller, but not because of the puck or whatnot.  It's because I'm wearing minimal to no padding, so your joints, wrists, etc are all unencumbered and more free-flowing, allowing you to be more precise with movement.  In general I can pull off moves in roller much easier than I can on ice, just due to the equipment factor.  Try doing the between the legs dangle on ice after doing it on roller; the first couple of times, you'll mess up cause you can't bend your arms as fluidly, plus your "wider" legs get more in the way, now that you're wearing shins and pants...

The nice thing is that practicing stick-handling/dekes on roller (where imho it's easier), builds up your confidence to do it on the ice.  So there's a huge benefit to it, cause you're more apt to try it when on the ice.  I think Pavel Barber, in one of his videos, says as much.  He attributes his stick handling to his roller hockey days.  (and in his videos, he's wearing minimal to no padding, so there's that too...heh)

[beerleaguecaptain 999]

I find rollerblade skating impossible....   I constantly feel like I'm gonna die.

[Larry54 243]

I did some roller blading with my old roller hockey skates that I haven't played with in 7-8 years. I started doing more cycling now and that has mostly replaced roller blading which I'll probably continue to do sporadically.

[YesLanges 127]

11 hours ago, shoot_the_goalie said:

To answer your query, I find toe-dragging/dekes/dangles are MUCH easier on roller, but not because of the puck or whatnot.  It's because I'm wearing minimal to no padding, so your joints, wrists, etc are all unencumbered and more free-flowing, allowing you to be more precise with movement.  In general I can pull off moves in roller much easier than I can on ice, just due to the equipment factor.  Try doing the between the legs dangle on ice after doing it on roller; the first couple of times, you'll mess up cause you can't bend your arms as fluidly, plus your "wider" legs get more in the way, now that you're wearing shins and pants...

I'm not doubting any of what you say about why roller is noticeably easier for you, but I don't think it's the gear in my case. I'm using some gloves, helmets, and elbows that are in my ice rotation and I've just never felt as balanced or as athletic in skates only...roller is the only time I don't wear shins and pants...I'm much more comfortable and usually do everything better in shins and pants...and I don't wear shoulders to practice and usually use my lightest gear. I'm thinking there might be other variables related to being on wheels vs. ice...like maybe 1 upside to 10 downsides of wheels vs. ice is more leverage pulling in from on top of gripping rubber wheels across a much larger surface contact area and maybe that makes the motion quicker and more efficient...something like that. Obviously, what you're describing is the case for most guys, because it's much more common to prefer to skate without pads anytime that's allowed at sticks & pucks. The one TD I can actually do fairly well on ice is pulling it straight through my legs from behind and my pads don't interfere with that at all. Pulling it between my legs and off my far skate is harder for me, but been working more on that lately, too.

11 hours ago, shoot_the_goalie said:

I only started to really try them as an adult, cause back when I played competitively, ... (We also played north/south, dump & chase, poke checked, hip-checked, never drop passed, etc...you get the idea; older style hockey compared to the puck-possession style today...but I digress.)

I never even even saw a TD until one of my freshmen college roommates did it messing around in a room with a hard floor...and he was still just learning it when he became the 5th or 6th D-man at a Div II school ...he was about where I was with it before all the rinks closed, messing it up much more often than pulling a nice tight one. I never saw them at pickup in the late 70s, either, and that group included 2 future NHLrs (brothers), one of whom is now a HoF'r...and another NY Metro  teammate of theirs back then who (barely) showed up on my first 50+ team in 2014. Never saw a TD among them (but I never saw the HOF'r play personally). Nowadays, it's a stickhandling fundamental that kids all can do really young. Back then, it was more of an elite skill among the highest-level players. Today, most bantams and  lot of peewees have already mastered it.  As you say, it's definitely a confidence booster and my body is getting very used to doing all the right patterns and postures....I'm even practicing it just with the top hand, which really reinforces the right mechanics. With a GB on a tiled (kitchen) floor, it's definitely as fast as a puck on ice...and the GB is lighter, so I'd be sort of surprised to be fumbling it again on ice for that reason....but the extra speed only seems to help stick it to my blade...so I dunno what to think...just gonna suck if it doesn't translate to ice.

Edited June 6, 2020 by YesLanges

[IPv6Freely 2092]

3 hours ago, dkmiller3356 said:

I find rollerblade skating impossible....   I constantly feel like I'm gonna die.

Right there with you. You have to constantly be watching for every crack or gap or lip. Not being able to stop very well doesn’t help there either. 

[shoot_the_goalie 281]

4 hours ago, dkmiller3356 said:

I find rollerblade skating impossible....   I constantly feel like I'm gonna die.

I do find it messes up my stride a little when I go back onto the ice.  I ordered the Marsblades in hope that that issue will be reduced.

[shoot_the_goalie 281]

48 minutes ago, YesLanges said:

I'm not doubting any of what you say about why roller is noticeably easier for you, but I don't think it's the gear in my case. I'm using some gloves, helmets, and elbows that are in my ice rotation and I've just never felt as balanced or as athletic in skates only...roller is the only time I don't wear shins and pants...I'm much more comfortable and usually do everything better in shins and pants...and I don't wear shoulders to practice and usually use my lightest gear. I'm thinking there might be other variables related to being on wheels vs. ice...like maybe 1 upside to 10 downsides of wheels vs. ice is more leverage pulling in from on top of gripping rubber wheels across a much larger surface contact area and maybe that makes the motion quicker and more efficient...something like that. Obviously, what you're describing is the case for most guys, because it's much more common to prefer to skate without pads anytime that's allowed at sticks & pucks. The one TD I can actually do fairly well on ice is pulling it straight through my legs from behind and my pads don't interfere with that at all. Pulling it between my legs and off my far skate is harder for me, but been working more on that lately, too.

I never even even saw a TD until one of my freshmen college roommates did it messing around in a room with a hard floor...and he was still just learning it when he became the 5th or 6th D-man at a Div II school ...he was about where I was with it before all the rinks closed, messing it up much more often than pulling a nice tight one. I never saw them at pickup in the late 70s, either, and that group included 2 future NHLrs (brothers), one of whom is now a HoF'r...and another NY Metro  teammate of theirs back then who (barely) showed up on my first 50+ team in 2014. Never saw a TD among them (but I never saw the HOF'r play personally). Nowadays, it's a stickhandling fundamental that kids all can do really young. Back then, it was more of an elite skill among the highest-level players. Today, most bantams and  lot of peewees have already mastered it.  As you say, it's definitely a confidence booster and my body is getting very used to doing all the right patterns and postures....I'm even practicing it just with the top hand, which really reinforces the right mechanics. With a GB on a tiled (kitchen) floor, it's definitely as fast as a puck on ice...and the GB is lighter, so I'd be sort of surprised to be fumbling it again on ice for that reason....but the extra speed only seems to help stick it to my blade...so I dunno what to think...just gonna suck if it doesn't translate to ice.

Totally hear you.  I was speaking more from my personal experience.  I can definitely dangle/toe-drag much better with less equipment on.

I'm totally guessing here, but maybe for you it has to do with the friction/glide differential when using a GB.  I do notice that the original GB "sticks" a bit better when I'm stick handling.  Could be the weight too.  I also have the heavy duty GB and a whole other different types of roller pucks, and I noticed that with the original GB, stick handling is a bit more fluid and easier.  Also could be your stick (if you use a different one for roller) or even could be the difference in your roller skate height vs your ice skate height?  Maybe even snow buildup on the blade on ice making it more difficult?  So many variables...

Agreed... kids today, from even very young ages can do so much ridiculous stuff with the puck.  Back when I played, even if if you were good at it, you just didn't do it cause you'd get benched for being too "fancy".  Was a different mentality back then I guess.  Or maybe my coaches couldn't do it themselves!?

[shoot_the_goalie 281]

21 hours ago, marka said:

Howdy,

https://superdeker.com/products/superdeker

Pretty fun.  And more importantly, I think its actually helping my hands a bit.

Mark

I really wanted to buy one, but was worried it would get me into the habit of looking down at the lights/puck.  Do you find you're looking down a lot, or do you use it using more peripheral vision?

[marka 526]

Howdy,

33 minutes ago, shoot_the_goalie said:

I really wanted to buy one, but was worried it would get me into the habit of looking down at the lights/puck.  Do you find you're looking down a lot, or do you use it using more peripheral vision?

I look down constantly.

However, I also really suck at hockey.  🙂

Friends that have them say that they can use peripheral vision to reinforce good habits though.

Mark

[caveman27 208]

10 hours ago, marka said:

Howdy,

I look down constantly.

However, I also really suck at hockey.  🙂

Friends that have them say that they can use peripheral vision to reinforce good habits though.

Mark

I have that same problem. The thing I hate is that the ice is real smooth in the first period so I can let the puck glide while moving and I don't need to look down. When it's the third period and the ice is rough (because we aren't cleaning the ice between periods), the puck can slow down so I double-check the puck's location before shooting so I know the puck is where I want it to be. I can fire a nice, powerful, low slap shot. I really feel the mid-kick blast the puck... but it's two to three feet wide of the net after I look up. 🙄