Beer league hockey

Is anyone else a fat old berkeley that plays hockey here?  Just got back from the rink and realized I've never heard anyone bring this up here. 

I'm heading out in about 15 minutes to ref 3 beer league games, outdoors like hockey should be. Reffed an [indoor] U18 game this morning. Been reffing hockey (including beer leagues) since 2008. 
 

I don't think I have had a stick in my hand more than 5 times in the past 3 years - 3-4 pond hockey outings and 1-2 rat hockey. Before that, between 2008 and 2019, I played about 5 seasons of beer league. And I played growing up basically from when I could walk to when I went to college in 2008. 

mtn said:

I'm heading out in about 15 minutes to ref 3 beer league games, outdoors like hockey should be. Reffed an [indoor] U18 game this morning. Been reffing hockey (including beer leagues) since 2008. 
 

I don't think I have had a stick in my hand more than 5 times in the past 3 years - 3-4 pond hockey outings and 1-2 rat hockey. Before that, between 2008 and 2019, I played about 5 seasons of beer league. And I played growing up basically from when I could walk to when I went to college in 2008. 

That's awesome.  Being in florida I've never played pond hockey but have always wanted to. 

Up until I had health problems in 2022, I had been playing in the "Over 60" (Howe) division of our local Golden Masters Hockey League. The league has a 10 team "Over 50" (Yzerman) Division in addition to the seven team Howe group. Lots of fun. It's a draft league , so every season will bring you different team mates. This season I'm skating on a semi-outdoor rink with a group of guys playing shinny. I don't play...just skate laps as I've had to learn to skate all over again.

Edit: And you're not old....we had an 80 year old goalie a few years ago, and I have a buddy in London,Ontario still playing goal at 75.

DeadSkunk (Warren) said:

Up until I had health problems in 2022, I had been playing in the "Over 60" (Howe) division of our local Golden Masters Hockey League. The league has a 10 team "Over 50" (Yzerman) Division in addition to the seven team Howe group. Lots of fun. It's a draft league , so every season will bring you different team mates. This season I'm skating on a semi-outdoor rink with a group of guys playing shinny. I don't play...just skate laps as I've had to learn to skate all over again.

Edit: And you're not old....we had an 80 year old goalie a few years ago, and I have a buddy in London,Ontario still playing goal at 75.

I play in C/D mixed league so comparatively speaking I'm old. I like watching the over 50 games because most of those guys have been playing thier whole lives and it shows. 

I like how the leagues are named after the Detroit greats.  I'm a huge Red Wings fan here in Florida.   I always followed favorite players more than favorite teams and in the mid 90's the dream team of Yzerman and Fedorov sealed the deal for me Red Wings for life.

I had a customer in Boston (Kenny) that was in his 60's that played in one - one day we hear a guy had a heart attack and he helped save his life - wild stuff!

Save guys life

In reply to Datsun240ZGuy :

In 2010 I'm sitting on our bench between periods, and I'm rubbing my chest because I had indigestion. One of the guys from the other team sees me and asks what's up. I tell him and he immediately says "It's your heart you berkeleying idiot". He tells me to go to his bench if it gets worse and help myself to a nitroglycerin...."It's in a bottle in the red sock". Later that week I went to my doctor , who sent me to a cardiologist. He scheduled a catheterization and sure enough, I needed a triple bypass. About three months later I start cardiac rehab and the chief therapist asks us all what our goals are. "I want to get back to playing hockey!" I say. She looks at me and says "Oh...you weren't playing in that league over at the Ice Cube where they share their nitroglycerin, were you?". Me: "Maybe...."

Ferda!

In reply to RonnieFnD :

Hey Ronnie, wanna know why they call Chicago the Windy City?

In reply to mtn :

Don't you say it!

Played for over a decade now...well, honestly, I just started a short break from it for my MBA program.

But a C-league player, love it, love the folks

I played from mites to college club and then stopped. About 15 years ago I started playing pick up again. It was all good for a few years and then one night I tripped and broke my collar bone. I called it then. Kind of wish I didn't stop but what can you do? I took one of my kids public skating today and it made me really want to play some stick and puck, not sure I want to play league games but shooting some would be great. 

I grew up skating - I lived within a block and a half of the Rideau Canal, which is a 5 mile long rink. But I never played hockey. 

My wife decided to take it up and started skating lessons a bit less than a year ago. I watched for a while to let her skates under her and then joined her. We started playing beer league last August and I got invited on to a B league team for the winter season that started in January. It helps when you can already skate :) Turns out you absorb a lot of hockey growing up in Canada even if you don't play.

Janel was playing tennis before this, and it turns out there's a very different personality type that plays hockey. Fewer rich bored housewives, lots of accomplished professionals. She's liking the people a lot.

I'm loving it. I'm playing 3 times a week - C league, B league and the 45+ drop-in session. One of my teammates is 72 and one of the goalies is older than that. So I've got a couple of decades ahead of me.  Goal is to get to A league in a couple of years, that's gonna be a challenge.

Got a game tonight at 10:20 pm. Gotta love beer league scheduling. Got the wooden Sherwood all ready :)

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Go get yourself a modern lightweight stick. You'll really notice the difference.

It's fun trolling people with it, and I'm not sure the stick is the limiting factor at the moment :) But when I'm in Ottawa I'm going to visit a real hockey store and try a few out. We don't have a lot of local selection here in the desert. I love the feel, though. 

I had a guy I supervised as an inside sales guy and he would play the late hockey game then drink a few beers afterwards. Maybe more than a few.....

Sometimes at that 3:00pm hour I'd get the head nod from the branch manager to wake him up as he was sleeping at his desk.

I gave my balls a tug this year and bought a used pair of Ultra Tacks, but the winter did not comply and my local rink has not frozen.

A similar thing happened when I bought a snow machine. I think I put 15 miles on it after the only storm of the year.

I just got a new pair of skates in spring, some expensive Vapors...all my skates up to that point didnt equal what these were (in terms of price). Then I was done two months later for 20 months.

I'll try to play this summer when Im not working

But work + grad school + family = not a lot of time for hockey

hybridmomentspass said:

I just got a new pair of skates in spring, some expensive Vapors...all my skates up to that point didnt equal what these were (in terms of price). Then I was done two months later for 20 months.

I'll try to play this summer when Im not working

But work + grad school + family = not a lot of time for hockey

Good skates are where it's at.  I bought a pair of CCM AS-V pros and they were literally a game changer.  It's just like good work boots.

mtn said:

In reply to RonnieFnD :

Hey Ronnie, wanna know why they call Chicago the Windy City?

Please enlighten me.

BIIIIIIG beer league hockey player.  Problem is I'm the youngest by like 10 years.

I play "beer league" softball. It's the most competitive sport I've ever played. One team has professional players on it. I'm handily the worst player in the league but I still love it. 

I played regularly until roughly 6 years ago when I suffered yet another conky, I sat out a few years but played a full season last year and a few games this year (mainly because our games have been scheduled for 9.30 or later).  My team went to the over 30's division when we were all mid 30's and dropped down to the second division last year as we're all getting older and slower.  The second division is much more enjoyable, some of the guys in the top div still think there's scouts in the stands.

I was playing on 3 teams, and in a summer league until my work schedule changed meaning I'd miss half the games. When I retire I plan to start playing again. 

RonnieFnD said:

mtn said:

In reply to RonnieFnD :

Hey Ronnie, wanna know why they call Chicago the Windy City?

Please enlighten me.

Because the Red Wings suck and the Blues blow. Chicago gets stuck in the middle