The official (i.e. only) GR Ice Hockey thread: EIHL, NHL, CHL or any other HL

[LewisD]

Didn't realise we had a hockey thread

[Vermilion]

I wanted to get into ice hockey when i was 12 after watching the first Mighty Ducks movie.

Unfortunately, such a plan did not come to pass as i was A: Living in the UK where the sport has no following, B: Living in Devon where it rained 24/7 and there wasn't even any ice in winter (and the school curriculum consisted of rugby, football, cricket, and communal showers in front of teacher), and C: Had nowhere to try and do anything with regular hockey stuff as my back garden consisted of a tiny little square of concrete and doing so outside of the house would likely have led to getting the gooseberry fool kicked out of me for daring to try something which wasn't rugby/football/cricket.

I hated living there.

[Rex Kramer]

There's a reasonable spread of pro and semi pro ice hockey teams around the UK of varying standard. Obvs it's a million miles from NHL but GB are now in the top tier of international hockey and we hold our own against all but the top countries (last time out we avoided relegation by beating France and sending them down instead).

Aren't you in Wiltshire? Swindon have a fairly decent tier 2 side.

[Vermilion]

There's a reasonable spread of pro and semi pro ice hockey teams around the UK of varying standard. Obvs it's a million miles from NHL but GB are now in the top tier of international hockey and we hold our own against all but the top countries (last time out we avoided relegation by beating France and sending them down instead).

Aren't you in Wiltshire? Swindon have a fairly decent tier 2 side.

I am in Wiltshire, but i'm not really up for having a go at it anymore tbh, i think for me, the moment has long since passed.

That said, there's certainly more chance of folks being able to get into it now than back when i wanted to try.

[LewisD]

I played Ice Hockey on the Guildford Junior team back in the day and Roller hockey all the time with my mates (my shirt number is still my lucky number in fact!)

Only thing was I had to give up the ice hockey as my parents couldn't keep affording the pads, skates & sticks as I grew etc.
Being the youngest of four boys was a shitter.

I did buy some skates again about 10 years or so back, but had no one to go with and didn't want to look silly trying to get into the Guildford Smoke amateur team.

So, now, with my knees starting to go and my fitness is a long distant memory, I've given up ever getting on the ice again


Luckily... my youngest son seems to LOVE hockey and is a little dare devil with no fear.


Tiny little kid skates have been ordered

[Rex Kramer]

One of my kids plays ball hockey which means I almost get the same costs as the equipment is the same as ice apart from the skates. Tempted to give it a go myself once we're out of lockdowm just to get fit.

I'd love to play pond hockey one day on a big frozen lake but I can't skate for gooseberry fool.

[OrangeRKN]

I played U14s and U16s for Mercian Menace, which is the cov juniors b team. Which is unfortunate because most other teams don't have b teams and the sport isn't widely played, so we would consistently lose all our matches like 20-0 except against solihull

It was good fun though, and we came third in a tournament once so I got a medal for that. There were 4 teams total...

[LewisD]

I played...

You thinking what I'm thinking?!
(I've been researching "for fun" non-checking amateur teams near us this evening )

[OrangeRKN]

It's tempting but I stopped playing because I broke my wrist twice and I don't really fancy that happening again!

[Buffalo]

There used to be a team around my way called Durham Wasps but I don’t think they exist. There was/is a team based in Whitley Bay who’s claim to fame is that a current NHL coach used to also train them.
I don’t follow UK stuff, just the NHL - Boston and Vegas are my go-to, like watching Buffalo as they’re the perennial underdog. The gf is a Ducks fan, to her current eternal shame. Reckon the Avalanche are gonna win it this year.

[Rex Kramer]

Panthers vs Steelers is free on YouTube at the moment because the streaming software borked. You can find it by searching Elite League.

[LewisD]

Maaaaay have bought some skates on eBay.
Un-used Bauer One.4s for approx £40.. happy with that.



Should be here next week, to go along with the two pairs of tiny kid skates for my boys.

My oldest wants to be a goalie

[Rex Kramer]

Every parent's dream nightmare. The cost The smell

Panthers got absolutely shafted last night by Steelers shipping 5 in the first period. Kind of wish they'd entered this series as someone else. What's ridiculous though is every teak qualifies for the semis so you can 0 - 12 and still win it. That's something to cling to I guess.

Flyers beat Boston so there is some good in the world.