Beer Leagues, Gear, and other Non-Pro Related Items

MiracleOfO2704

not AWOL
SoSH Member
Jul 12, 2005
9,528
The Island
I’m soliciting advice on a good pair of skates. I’m trying to get my kid on the ice (no real goal for athletics, she has had a couple friends’ birthday parties at rinks and she was the one non-skater), and figure me joining her would help.

Two key points:

-I have wide feet (4E for sneakers). When we got her skates, I tried a pair of EEs, and they still felt tight, particularly at the top of the foot. The skate shop guy said I’d likely have to get Fit3s, and the cheapest pair I’ve found are $400 CAD. My only issue with that is…

-I don’t skate. Like, at all. I took a skating course in college, but other than that, nada. So $400 skates feels a little like putting Pirellis on a Plymouth Horizon.

All that together, does someone’s EE have more room than another’s? Would I have to spring for the higher models for the Fit3? How long do a good pair last under light wear and tear?
 

wiffleballhero

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 28, 2009
4,529
In the simulacrum
I’m soliciting advice on a good pair of skates. I’m trying to get my kid on the ice (no real goal for athletics, she has had a couple friends’ birthday parties at rinks and she was the one non-skater), and figure me joining her would help.

Two key points:

-I have wide feet (4E for sneakers). When we got her skates, I tried a pair of EEs, and they still felt tight, particularly at the top of the foot. The skate shop guy said I’d likely have to get Fit3s, and the cheapest pair I’ve found are $400 CAD. My only issue with that is…

-I don’t skate. Like, at all. I took a skating course in college, but other than that, nada. So $400 skates feels a little like putting Pirellis on a Plymouth Horizon.

All that together, does someone’s EE have more room than another’s? Would I have to spring for the higher models for the Fit3? How long do a good pair last under light wear and tear?



Sounds like you might want to just buy some skates that are not for hockey. And if you can find a place to try them on, you'll likely be OK. something like this:
 

TSC

SoSH's Doug Neidermeyer
SoSH Member
Oct 25, 2007
12,280
Between here and everywhere.
I’m soliciting advice on a good pair of skates. I’m trying to get my kid on the ice (no real goal for athletics, she has had a couple friends’ birthday parties at rinks and she was the one non-skater), and figure me joining her would help.

Two key points:

-I have wide feet (4E for sneakers). When we got her skates, I tried a pair of EEs, and they still felt tight, particularly at the top of the foot. The skate shop guy said I’d likely have to get Fit3s, and the cheapest pair I’ve found are $400 CAD. My only issue with that is…

-I don’t skate. Like, at all. I took a skating course in college, but other than that, nada. So $400 skates feels a little like putting Pirellis on a Plymouth Horizon.

All that together, does someone’s EE have more room than another’s? Would I have to spring for the higher models for the Fit3? How long do a good pair last under light wear and tear?

Two thoughts -

SidelineSwap - buy used.

or.

https://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/126336?page=bauer-expedition-recreational-ice-skate-senior&csp=a&feat=126335-recsbottom.pdp

I believe these have a less custom/thus wider fit and may work for you.
 

wiffleballhero

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 28, 2009
4,529
In the simulacrum
Season over.

We unceremoniously lost in OT in the first round to a team that is going to get slaughtered themselves in the next round.

edit: deleted most of this. It doesn't matter. I stink. My team stinks. Nuff said.
 
Last edited:

wiffleballhero

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 28, 2009
4,529
In the simulacrum
I think the gods are trolling me: for a long time I've been saying to myself that I'm going to play beer league hockey until Brady retires. This morning I woke up and was absolutely saying, "F this, I'm out!" and .....
 

Monbo Jumbo

Hates the crockpot
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 5, 2003
25,231
the other Athens


Given the thread interest in playing longevity, I thought I'd give an update on these two chuckleheads.
I saw them last month at a family reunion. I took this pic and then asked each, 'When did you last play hockey?'

Robert on the right, wearing a "Spokane Old Timers Hockey Tournament 2019" t-shirt said he'd played "Monday" four days previous. Robert turns 78 in 4 weeks.

James, wearing a "Canada West Champions, 2016" hat answered, "I played Monday and Tuesday, and would've played Wednesday, but feared I'd be too stiff for this trip (we were in San Diego.)

A conversation excerpt.

"J. They have these skates now, they take a mold of your feet. I really, really want them, but they cost a thousand bucks. I know if I get them, I'll get a career-ending injury in two weeks. This guy Norm I play with has a pair.

Sister. Hockey is all you care about, just spend the money.

J. But the guys would laugh me off the ice if I showed up with those things.

Me. Do they laugh at Norm?

J. No. Norm scored 100 points on a line with Bobby Hull. Nobody laughs at Norm. I'd need to kick the boards at public skate for a month before I showed up with those skates.

Me. Is Norm still good?

J. He still has his hands. That's the thing the old guys don't lose."

James turns 79 in six weeks. He has between 5 and 6 hours of ice time a week (year round in Vancouver) and sometimes goes to public skating on Sundays to stay loose. He did say that if he were to stop playing for any length of time at this age, he would be unable to get back to it.

The old man's chromosomes were shit by the time I came around. I doubt I see 79.
50580

Update
Hanging with my brothers.
Asked the question, when did you last play hockey?

James, 81. left. "Tuesday" He says it's tough to stop and turn after a year and a half layoff.

Robert, 80 right. "I played Sunday in a tournament in Spokane."



keep on, keeping on.
 

TSC

SoSH's Doug Neidermeyer
SoSH Member
Oct 25, 2007
12,280
Between here and everywhere.
That's absolutely incredible.

I turn 40 next year, and if I play in more than 2 games in a week its tough to move around without significant pain. I hope I'm blessed to not just be alive, but still playing into my late 70's.
 

Monbo Jumbo

Hates the crockpot
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 5, 2003
25,231
the other Athens
That's absolutely incredible.

I turn 40 next year, and if I play in more than 2 games in a week its tough to move around without significant pain. I hope I'm blessed to not just be alive, but still playing into my late 70's.
40?!?

Shit, you were just a pup when we took in that Thrashers game.

Robert is often asked in the locker room "What's the secret?" and his answer is always "Luck."

Let me tell you how lucky he is. When he was 50, he hurt his back playing hockey. He thought he should have it x-rayed. Being a physician, he looked at the x-ray alongside the radiologist. The x-ray doc tells him his spine is good, and my brother replies, "Ok, but what's that thing over there?" That "thing" was a golf ball sized malignant tumor in his kidney. His kidney was quickly removed and he was told if he'd make the five year mark, he's got it beat. He's been playing hockey (and living) with one kidney for 30 years after spotting his own cancer on an x-ray. The heavy calcification of the tumor is the likely reason the cancer hadn't already spread.

A third, different and the most athletic brother's jam was hoops. Tore his achilles at 50, game over. Now plantar facitis (sp) is messing with his golf game at 70.
 
Last edited:

Dummy Hoy

Angry Pissbum
SoSH Member
Jul 22, 2006
8,232
Falmouth
Thanks Monbo, always love the updates.

I just started playing some pick-up with a guy who spent a little time in the League (15 goals in the show) and while he hadn't skated in 7 years (and kind of looked it), the hands man...your brother James is right.
 

wiffleballhero

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 28, 2009
4,529
In the simulacrum
I'm getting some pretty significant ulnar pain in my wrist on my top hand. I'm going to take a long break -- like a few weeks -- but I wonder if there is any wisdom on knocking this down. It hurts. And it is really cutting into my stick strength digging in the corners and so forth. Any ideas? I've resisted icing it because it just feels like ice will be bad, but IDK.
 

Dummy Hoy

Angry Pissbum
SoSH Member
Jul 22, 2006
8,232
Falmouth
All that the ice will do is reduce any inflamation. RICE and some ibuprofen...if it's still an issue in 2 weeks, see a doc

Source: years of living with my wife who is a PA
 

wiffleballhero

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 28, 2009
4,529
In the simulacrum
Thanks, yeah, I think I'll start doing that and I also probably need to just stop playing for a little while. I take a few days off and it starts to feel better, but OTOH, I don't like not playing.
 

Dummy Hoy

Angry Pissbum
SoSH Member
Jul 22, 2006
8,232
Falmouth
Not playing is the worst. I had to take about 3 weeks off to let a groin injury settle down and more than a month later I'm still trying to get my game back together.
 

wiffleballhero

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 28, 2009
4,529
In the simulacrum
Not playing is the worst. I had to take about 3 weeks off to let a groin injury settle down and more than a month later I'm still trying to get my game back together.
Yeah, it has been a good long season but the nagging injuries are piling up for me: the wrist thing, my right hip is getting gimpy, my shoulders are both a little banged up and my ancient meniscus injury on my right knee is starting to talk back a little if I skate too much in a week. I played a tournament last weekend (ended up with 4 stitches on my chin) and so I think it is time for some rest. But the wrist is the one that I am most worried about.
 

TFP

Moderator
Moderator
SoSH Member
Dec 10, 2007
20,380
Yeah, it has been a good long season but the nagging injuries are piling up for me: the wrist thing, my right hip is getting gimpy, my shoulders are both a little banged up and my ancient meniscus injury on my right knee is starting to talk back a little if I skate too much in a week. I played a tournament last weekend (ended up with 4 stitches on my chin) and so I think it is time for some rest. But the wrist is the one that I am most worried about.
Back in November I took a shot off my hand and shattered my knuckle/metacarpal bone. After that one, I've given it a lot more thought to hanging it up as well. Thank god it happened after golf season was basically over.
 

TSC

SoSH's Doug Neidermeyer
SoSH Member
Oct 25, 2007
12,280
Between here and everywhere.
Yeah, it has been a good long season but the nagging injuries are piling up for me: the wrist thing, my right hip is getting gimpy, my shoulders are both a little banged up and my ancient meniscus injury on my right knee is starting to talk back a little if I skate too much in a week. I played a tournament last weekend (ended up with 4 stitches on my chin) and so I think it is time for some rest. But the wrist is the one that I am most worried about.
Trust me when I say this - listen to your hip if it’s bothering you.

I played on a “sore” hip for a year. Ended up needing surgery and the Doctor said I absolutely made it worse by trying to ignore it/chalking it up to age.
 

wiffleballhero

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 28, 2009
4,529
In the simulacrum
Where'd you play?

Also, stick or puck?
Skaneateles NY.

It was a fun tournament at a nice complex with two sheets of ice in a really well designed facility. Skaneateles is a good town for a day or two.

So I had it coming. I wear a bubble. But, IDK, when I first started wearing a bubble I was really bothered by how far off my face the plastic was sitting so I took off the chin cup and adjusted the contact point at the ears so that the bubble is closer to my face. I put a small amount of padding on the bar near my chin, but clearly not enough.

Down a goal, playing 6v5 a guy on the other team got the puck deep in his end and he sort of went for the full ice slap shot on our empty net 185 feet away. I went flying in at him but was late and just got the follow through clean and hard into my mask. It drove the bar of the mask into my chin. Blood all over the place. I went to urgent care, got stitched up, played the next game (scored two in that one!).

I've worn a bubble for five years and never had a problem, including hits hard enough to break the bubble, but I've always come out of it fine. So I thought I had it worked out. Not my lucky day.


Trust me when I say this - listen to your hip if it’s bothering you.

I played on a “sore” hip for a year. Ended up needing surgery and the Doctor said I absolutely made it worse by trying to ignore it/chalking it up to age.
Yeah, I've been hearing rumors about this as a hockey specific thing that I need to not develop. If it comes back after a little break from the ice I think I'll go to a PT person I know who knows hockey so I don't grind myself into having surgery.

In the past I've felt like some off ice running and squats have been enough secondary development to sort of buffer against some of these skating specific injuries, but maybe not.
 

wiffleballhero

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 28, 2009
4,529
In the simulacrum
Back in November I took a shot off my hand and shattered my knuckle/metacarpal bone. After that one, I've given it a lot more thought to hanging it up as well. Thank god it happened after golf season was basically over.
This is the kind of injury that would have immediately happened to me if I had followed through on my crazy idea of switching to lacrosse gloves. I flirted with the notion for a while, but decided against it. Whatever marginal benefit is there in playing with less clunky gloves goes out the window pretty fast if you actually need the protection.
 

TFP

Moderator
Moderator
SoSH Member
Dec 10, 2007
20,380
This is the kind of injury that would have immediately happened to me if I had followed through on my crazy idea of switching to lacrosse gloves. I flirted with the notion for a while, but decided against it. Whatever marginal benefit is there in playing with less clunky gloves goes out the window pretty fast if you actually need the protection.
Yeah - it was a regular wrist shot that hit the outside of my hand/glove, I still have no idea how it broke my hand so badly. I wouldn't dare play with lacrosse gloves.
 

McDrew

Set Adrift on Memory Bliss
SoSH Member
Apr 11, 2006
4,060
Portland, OR
Took inspiration from all of you and went to disc golf league last week. Got last. Had a blast. Week 2 is tomorrow.
 

wiffleballhero

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 28, 2009
4,529
In the simulacrum
Anybody ever spray your blades with a silicone or 'dry' lubricant?

So maybe I have too much time on my hands, but I was out in the garage this morning fiddling with a bike and I got to thinking that when you skate the process is first one of the edge grabbing the ice but then, in the glide, the rest of the blade needing to slide over the ice. And what slows you down on the glide is the combination of wind resistance and the frictional forces of the ice against the blade.

So I wondered, can you reduce those frictional forces with a silicone spray that is otherwise designed to, you know, reduce friction? Would it work? Has anyone ever tried this?

What I can tell you already is that spraying a bit on a pair of scissors both did have the effect of making the scissors more slippery and it did not make the scissor edge itself slippery. If anything it may have cleaned residue off the edge and made it seem sharper.

So, what do you think?

I'm skating in about five hours at a drop in so I am really tempted to give it a shot.
 

wiffleballhero

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 28, 2009
4,529
In the simulacrum
I'm all but convinced it will not work, but won't do any harm to give it a shot, once.

My reasoning against it is that it will likely wear off almost immediately and, if it worked, it would have been a thing a long time ago. I'm going to find out soon enough.
 

Fred not Lynn

Dick Button Jr.
SoSH Member
Jul 13, 2005
5,253
Alberta
I’m glad your testing it for us.
I’m curious, though I kind of feel like it won’t make a difference?
I feel like I may have said this earlier in the thread, but will take the liberty to repeat; The vast majority of resistance you get when skating is air resistance. While tinkering with blades feels sexy, you’ll make more difference with a tighter fitting jersey/pants and the Lycra type socks instead of knit.
 

wiffleballhero

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 28, 2009
4,529
In the simulacrum
I feel like I may have said this earlier in the thread, but will take the liberty to repeat; The vast majority of resistance you get when skating is air resistance. While tinkering with blades feels sexy, you’ll make more difference with a tighter fitting jersey/pants and the Lycra type socks instead of knit.
I can't wait until I'm fat enough the play some pond hockey and use the Bernoulli effect around my stomach to get down the ice.
 

Monbo Jumbo

Hates the crockpot
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 5, 2003
25,231
the other Athens
My brother gave the Snoopy Tournament in Santa Rosa another go this year. He last played when he was 70. Back then a Calgary team picked him up and they won their division*. He put himself on the waiver wire (he's 81 now) and a team from Phoenix in the over 70 division took him. (there is also a 75+ division) They needed additional help so he recruited his buddy Bob Weir (tree guy, not musician) to join him. They drove down from Oregon. He reports the tournament has grown to 60 teams. They were unequivocally the worst team, losing their three games by wide margins. His buddy Bob scored two of their three goals. "The problem" my brother reports, "was Bob's wingers both legitimately belong in nursing homes. It was five on three when we were out there." My brother is an MD. He's giving us an informed opinion.

From the looks of their roster, it was two guys from Phoenix who grabbed the entire waiver wire. As my brother says, "Once you've been to the Snoopy tournament, you figure out a way to go back."

Did you have fun, I asked?

"A blast!"

edit - Now with Team pic!

* "That Calgary team was special. They did something I'm not used to, pass to players with the same color jersey."
Calgary beat Vancouver for the title, the same year the Bs beat Vancouver. At the banquet, a Calgary player cracked, 'Check the parking lot and make sure our cars aren't on fire.'

5488354936
 
Last edited:

wiffleballhero

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 28, 2009
4,529
In the simulacrum
Opening night of the year tonight.

Lost/ got rid of three players from last year, two of whom rarely showed up and the third was the oldest guy on the team and our biggest bender. Picked up one new guy in the draft who played junior college hockey with three of the other guys we've had for a few years (the league has a minimum age of 25 so we've been slowly adding this group of knuckleheads since they started to age in in 2019). We'll see how it goes. Mercifully, nobody in the draft before our pick was demonstrably superior to our pick so I don't think we slid back at all and probably got a little better relatively.

I am now officially the oldest person on my team (by five years I think) so we'll see how long it goes before I get shown the door! (I'm not too worried about it. Ball don't lie and all that.)

Interestingly, I think this year is really the last shot for this group I've been with. A couple of our better players are moving and a couple other players are making this their last beer league hurrah. We are also in about the fourth year of a window of seeming really close, but even for a beer league we're getting old. I'm 50 and the team average/median age is probably 40 (even with four guys under 30).

We are also, though, getting a little testy with each other and I think it is because the core 10-12 of us who are pretty good and take it too seriously are frustrated by a couple championship game losses and a Covid championship that was cancelled. We're in win-it-now mode!
 
Last edited:

wiffleballhero

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 28, 2009
4,529
In the simulacrum
Update:
We've started 5-0, beating both teams that were in the championship game last year and beating two teams in routs.

Lots of down time on the schedule coming up so the momentum is probably not going to last.
 

Dummy Hoy

Angry Pissbum
SoSH Member
Jul 22, 2006
8,232
Falmouth
Where do you play out of @whiffleballhero?

I started my 40+ league last night. Slow start, our backup goalie had the net and he hadn’t played in 5 months (and he’s 61!) so we got in a 3-0 hole but came back for a 5-4 win. Worst team in the league got replaced so all the teams are competitive…league keeps improving with new players too as guys cross over to threshold (you’re allowed 3 38/39 year olds). Top lines in the league are almost all ex-college/minors guys so it’s pretty solid hockey for old guys.

I played in an open league this summer that was silly. Current D1/Juniors/minors guys sprinkled throughout the league (and an active NHLer)…it was over my head but I didn’t embarrass myself (surely finished with a positive +/- on a mediocre team, so whatever that’s worth). Nice to squeeze a few last years out of quality hockey.
 

wiffleballhero

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 28, 2009
4,529
In the simulacrum
Where do you play out of

I'm in central NY in a rural, podunky area that I moved to just over six years ago and so I am now at the start of my 7th season in the league. It is a house league that sometimes has to get ice at other local rinks to fit in all the games. Last night I played at the Utica Auditorium, where some of the scenes from Slapshot were filmed, which is cool, if you are into that sort of thing (I've literally never played in front of so many empty seats!).

The league calls itself a 'B' league but it is not affiliated with USAHockey and the population density for hockey is not quite enough for it to really be a 'B' league by the standards of, say, MA or MI/WI/MN. It is probably a C league with some players who could play B elsewhere (and some who would play D). We sort of stink, but I don't care.

There is an A league above us with a few former NHLers and then also all the local former college/juniors/minors guys and then there is us in B where the best players are probably some of the older guys who aged out of A.

If the top of B is maybe players who played D3 35 years ago or played college club recently, the bottom of B is sort of a bunch of benders because, well, that's just the way it is. There is now a C league for the really marginal players.


But it is a great little league -- and cheap since we have virtually no overhead other than buying rink time and paying officials as the whole thing is run by old timers who have been around the league since the 90s or so and was set-up, as rumor has it, with the volunteer work of an accountant, a lawyer and an insurance agent who all played in the league.

It is an interesting dynamic for me since I moved to the area from my wife's job at this local snooty little college, but the hockey community is firmly on the other side of the town/gown divide. I'm like an emissary. I'm pretty sure I am the only person on my team who did not grow up within a 30 minute drive of the rink.

We have nine teams in the league, the league has a draft and players stay with their teams unless they quit or go back into the draft. So there absolutely is a sense of rivalries and a sense of really being 'in it' with your team. Some of the guys on my team have been on this team since it was an 'expansion' team 13 years ago. There is an informal skill level 'committee' to keep out ringers. It is a small enough area where people seem to know the better players by sight so it is very hard to slip someone into the draft who really shouldn't be there.

The only knock on the league I have, I guess, is that the refs we get are often obviously focused on keeping the clock moving and so games are really chippy. Last year I also played as a regular sub in a USAHockey league in Ithaca with my brother and that league played running time and was far less violent.

Maybe one other problem with the league is that there has never been a good way for teams to cut weaker players. Once you get a guy, you've got him. There are probably 40 local guys under the age of 35 who would be perfectly good players -- but not amazing -- but they can't get on teams because there are 40 other guys who just won't quit even though they really should move to the C league. It was a total miracle/stroke of weird drafting luck that I even got picked at all when I went into the draft 7 years ago. I was a third round pick on a team that, I don't think, has ever taken more than two players in any year since the team was added to the league. Some years we take none.

Your summer league would all be 'A' guys around here.

I thought about trying to get a local SoSH drop in skate going here for David Ortiz's Cooperstown weekend, but I let it slip.
 
Last edited:

kenneycb

Hates Goose Island Beer; Loves Backdoor Play
SoSH Member
Dec 2, 2006
16,090
Tuukka's refugee camp
I've shifted to an hour skate with the same group every week. Teams are different every week so you get some variety and skill level is a little lower than what I'd prefer but I'll take the consistent time and lack of NESHL-esque bullshit on and off the ice
 

TSC

SoSH's Doug Neidermeyer
SoSH Member
Oct 25, 2007
12,280
Between here and everywhere.
Me, for now. This summer made me take a long hard look in the mirror though.
Why?

I play down here in NoVa. Full time on a UC team, and sub on a B team. Age and injuries have really slowed me down the last 4ish years.

I recently started playing goalie, as well - cause why the hell now. I’m a not good LC goalie but decent in D league.
 

Dummy Hoy

Angry Pissbum
SoSH Member
Jul 22, 2006
8,232
Falmouth
Me, for now. This summer made me take a long hard look in the mirror though.
Puck don't lie, huh? Although I'd guess you're being modest.
I got a couple of offers to play in the open Winter league but I think I'd rather not tarnish my reputation (however limited it is). One competitive league is plenty.

Although I know you've got a few leagues below yours if you want to keep playing.

I've shifted to an hour skate with the same group every week. Teams are different every week so you get some variety and skill level is a little lower than what I'd prefer but I'll take the consistent time and lack of NESHL-esque bullshit on and off the ice
Pick-up skates are a blast with the right people.
 

Dummy Hoy

Angry Pissbum
SoSH Member
Jul 22, 2006
8,232
Falmouth
Why?

I play down here in NoVa. Full time on a UC team, and sub on a B team. Age and injuries have really slowed me down the last 4ish years.

I recently started playing goalie, as well - cause why the hell now. I’m a not good LC goalie but decent in D league.
I'm slowly accumulating equipment...been coaching goalies for a few years now, gotta get in the net.
 

TFP

Moderator
Moderator
SoSH Member
Dec 10, 2007
20,380
Although I know you've got a few leagues below yours if you want to keep playing.
Therein lies the rub. I only keep playing because it's with guys I grew up with and I enjoy being on that team. But I'm close to being unable to keep up in the summers - the kids keep getting younger and I keep getting older. I have no desire to play in a lower league with random guys. I've also had a few injuries the last couple years that are adding up.

Still doable in the winter though when the hot shots are all at their regular teams.
 

TheAOE

New Member
Jul 15, 2005
100
I'm curious what you guy pay for Beer League fees. I'm in San Jose, CA. We are now on a 3x/year schedule (it was 2x pre-Covid). Costs about $450 for a FT spot for those 4 months. Showers feature only cold water. How about you guys?

I will say - the new Barracuda rink that is attached to our rink-plex is very nice. But, I have no idea how they are going to manage the parking situation during game nights when beer-league is in action.
 

wiffleballhero

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 28, 2009
4,529
In the simulacrum
I'm curious what you guy pay for Beer League fees.
I mentioned above that my league is cheap, and it is. I paid $230 dollars for this season, for a 20 game season followed by three rounds of playoffs (if we keep winning). It would have been $200 but we cut our roster by 2 players and thus raised our per player cost on the team.

But I am in an area where people still buy perfectly nice houses for under $200K. It is like using a different currency than some other parts of the country.
 

TSC

SoSH's Doug Neidermeyer
SoSH Member
Oct 25, 2007
12,280
Between here and everywhere.
Jesus.

For our league it’s $4300 per team for a 12 game (plus playoffs) season.

So it really depends on how big you want your full time roster and how you handle sub fees.
 

wiffleballhero

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 28, 2009
4,529
In the simulacrum
Jesus.

For our league it’s $4300 per team for a 12 game (plus playoffs) season.

So it really depends on how big you want your full time roster and how you handle sub fees.
Different world.

I'm still paying $10 for drop in, although I think one of my drop in skates is going up to $15. We'll see if the guy who runs it can keep the accounting in the black at $10.

I used to think my tennis habit was expensive. Silly me.
 

Dummy Hoy

Angry Pissbum
SoSH Member
Jul 22, 2006
8,232
Falmouth
Yeah, we're $4700 a team for 15 games + playoffs too (roughly). Pick up skates are all $20 but most of the ones I do keep extra money in a kitty and provide beer and occasionally a free skate or food for grilling.
 

wiffleballhero

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 28, 2009
4,529
In the simulacrum
How are your seasons going everybody?

Here's my mid season update:

9-1. We're sort of rolling, with our only loss being a garbage game vs. a middling team in which our goalie, best defender and best forward all were absent. Brutal. Even a decent sub goalie and we maybe have a chance in that one. Otherwise we are either able to just be good enough to fight off the other strong teams or we're trucking teams.

I didn't see it coming, but our team was really helped by drafting a guy who is playing D and making it so there are just so few shifts where the other team has good opportunities on offense and just that many more shifts where we feel like we are quickly back pushing up on the rush. In previous years we've sort of had half the game where the other team couldn't score and the other half was an adventure, especially if the wrong defensive pair was out with the wrong set of wings. This year there is no wrong defensive pair and we've just sort of trimmed down the number of weaker wing shifts we have to fight off.

A couple worries ahead:

We are 2-7-1 in the third period and 0-7-1 in the third in our last 8. We are not a good team at closing games. We're like a bunch of panting St. Bernards down the stretch and I'm worried it is going to burn us in the end. Other than me and a couple other guys, really, we are a big beefy group of grinders (some people call us goons!) who really battle out the corners and greasy goals, but by the end of the third we're often just worn out.

We are in a ridiculous run on the calendar where we only play three games in two months. Holidays, kids tournaments and scheduled off weeks screw us from Thanksgiving until MLK. We might have trouble going into February maintaining any mojo.

In an update for another part of the conversation, I'm headed to the rink in a bit to skate in a drop in for which I paid $50 which gets me 1. M-F midday drop in hockey from 11-12:45. 2. Th night drop in hockey from 9:45- 10:45 and 3. Sunday night hockey from 6:15 - 7:45. This is every week from October to March. That's not $50 for the week, that is $50 for the winter.

The midday skates are often pretty thin and I can't go to that many, but let's just say I'm getting my money's worth there.
 

Rosey Ruzicka

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 16, 2013
457
Signed up for a beer league draft tournament that’s run around the year in different cities. It is a drunken mess but a ton of fun. They always pick themes with ridiculous jerseys but highly recommended.