Digsusted with Beer League in Colorado Springs

[Riddler 2]

Where do I start?  i could write a book on this so-called  "beer league." It's a total joke and managed/run by a ex-Bruin player. 

It's dirty as all hell and the refs do nothing to control it.Guys are getting seriously injured. 

No matter what the level (E2 and E1(Novice), D, C and B they all get worse as you go up. Slashing, fights, slewfoots and many "intent to injure" stuff is rampant. Refs are useless.

The overall mentality of this "butcher"  league is "win at all costs" and almost all the teams sandbag.They'll bring in guys from higher levels as subs to sit back in the grass then score at the end of the game to win it. SMFH. Heaven forbid you make a mistake or a bad play and they jump all over your crap and then talk about you behind your back...or get right in your face. This is common place in the 11 months I've been with this league. Oh, and there's a array of shitty players who think they can coach you. Passing the puck in low levels? Non-existent and they degrade you with a cocky-tonal "shoot the fu**en puck" on a regular basis. This is not how I was coached to play hockey in my youth when I played on REAL coached organized teams. 

The low levels are a nightmare as well. Benders who have no intentions of improving, run 4-6 minute shifts and never backcheck. I'm a forward and there were games where I got 2 shifts per period !  Seriously??? Most all these players, not matter what the level, play like it's Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

I'm an older guy and have played house leagues (with coaches and practices) and I've played some Division 3 level (Community College) in my youth and have ever experienced this type of BS. I've gone to different teams and skill levelsin this bush league to see if  anything gets better and it doesn't. My conclusion is that this is just how it is. Like it or leave it. And many choose to leave it, as no team stays intact as people constantly either get hurt or quit of fear of being hurt. Many leave as well as it's a big military town and they get shopped elsewhere. But overall it's a revolving door of new players in a unregulated goon-type atmosphere of non-hockey. 

Novice teams? Get this crap. Some have "try-outs!"  LOL ! They have a new guy sub a few games and then decide whether he stays or goes.It's freaking novice for Christ sakes ! WTH is wrong with these NHL dreamers??? 

i could go on but I'll stop there.Is this the norm of today's beer leagues? I have more fun on the dam' PU games. I'm attempting to find a team that has halfway decent players, wins maybe half their games and just  like to play for fun - but so far I've had no luck. One team I played for won 3-4 games in over 4-5 months (we played weekly!)...and that was only when they brought in a ringer. We lost constantly yet the team "leaders" thought they were NHL'ers. Total joke.  Rant over. Are all leagues like this? There are really no other leagues in this area. It's an total embarrassment to the sport. 

 

 

 

Edited December 26, 2021 by Riddler

[BenBreeg 493]

Not sure how ice time is or your desire to organize,  but I only skate in organized pickup.  One of them is structured where you pay for 6 months, he has a call up sheet, two full lines every game, teams and lines are assigned to make it even, and there are always goalies.  The other is a little looser but usually have 14-18 guys.  If someone is a jerk they get uninvited.  It is just as fun, the skates are fast, especially in the summer when all the young college kids come back.  Something to think about, you will eventually get a group of like-minded guys to play with.

[Riddler 2]

This is month to month dues. That is poorly managed as well. There's no win-loss stats either. Often game times aren't posted until the day of the game...or the day before game. It's a total shit-show IMO. I keep looking for something positive in this league but can't. 

[Riddler 2]

Personally, I love 3 full forward lines...when they are all playing 60 to 90 second shifts. D guys are definitely a bit longer.  

[beerleaguecaptain 999]

I have seen the same thing, albeit to a much lesser degree by us.  There are handful or teams and a handful of guys that are like that.  There is one team in my division I hate playing against because there are guys who think they are playing checking league and only want to hurt you.  And then God forbid you bump them back they act like you assaulted them and then want to fight.  Not a good group.  The refs are "meh" in terms of controlling play.  That said, its not quite as bad as your experience.  On my teams we have the same guys, very consistent and we treat each other with respect. I am the captain but lack the experience that others do so I never tell anyone how to play, I just organized things and leave the "coaching" to the better players.  

I guess my point is you have some options...  find a team or league you are happier with for one.  You can also find organized pickups.. I fill in on two and they are lots of fun... great guys.

Good luck, you are doing this ti have fun and if you are not having fun you really need to make a change.

 

[Riddler 2]

Yep, dkmiller, that's about where I'm at. If this team I'm currently on doesn't work out for me I'll just do PU games. 

[MLSman 22]

I stopped playing beer league around 15 years ago, because of the same issues many described in the thread. One bad apple doesn't spoil a whole bunch, but a slew of rotten apples takes the fun out of playing.  Since then, I've played elite level pickup with a bunch of private ice time slot purchased guys, but most of my time on the ice has come from coaching 8U through 14U teams. It's been way more rewarding giving back to the kids and seeing their game elevate over time. It's a lot more fun than playing around a bunch of losers hoping some 'ghost of Christmas past' scout stumbles their way into the rink.

[caveman27 208]

On 12/26/2021 at 11:22 AM, Riddler said:

Where do I start? 

Refs are useless.

There's your root cause of the problem. When the refs start putting people into the penalty box, the tough guys start losing ice time, get ejected from a game, get suspended and/or banned from the league. 

You are always going to have rough play, and jerks on the ice. The list of suspended players gets pretty long when the refs are doing their job, but it should send a message as the cost to play a season isn't cheap and no refunds are given.

The team captains should be going to the league director about things like sandbagging, bad refereeing, and players purposely injuring someone else. If they don't do that, the league director thinks everything is going fine.

There were problems in our league, and team captains did complain.

For uncalled penalties, the league would assign two refs to a game to mainly have a second set of eyes to catch penalties.

For sand-bagging, the one thing the league did was a player could only score up to three goals in a game in the lowest league. So, if there was a Gretzky skating circles around everyone and sniping the goalies, he topped out after his third goal and would need to pass the puck so the team could score more, or he would play D, to stop offensive pressure. It was kind of effective as most ringers would be able to get their three goals within the first or second period.  

 

[Giltis 116]

On 12/26/2021 at 12:40 PM, Riddler said:

Personally, I love 3 full forward lines...when they are all playing 60 to 90 second shifts. D guys are definitely a bit longer.  

I love 3 really experienced Centres and 2 lines of wingers. The Centres are most often fresh and can skate a lot. 

[chippa13 1844]

The only thing that impacts bad leagues is when lots of teams start leaving. No amount of captains complaining about this, that, and the other has any impact on how leagues are run as long as the league is still getting their money.

[Giltis 116]

There was a league in my previous area where a team in our division was just awful. Awful in terms of how rough they were, I got tomahawked first game against them, then elbowed in the second (fights every time a whistle blew in their zone). The Refs would call egregious stuff when they could and suspend them for league review. But one of them was a friend of the rink manager or something so nothing stuck for long.

A few other teams captains and ours got together and started protesting any games against them, we sent a message and we told them that it was too late and we would not be coming back next Season.

[215BroadStBullies610 435]

All of us who've played beer league for long enough have dealt with teams like this. We had our 'B' league fold because us and the other teams decided to forfeit every game against this one team that never seemed interested in playing hockey. It sucked because there is no more 'B' league at that rink but most players just want to show and compete. Sacrifice was made for the betterment of the whole as that "problem" team left and went to a different rink.