Starting hockey

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Cryptkeeper

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Hi all.
My name's Mo. I'm not exactly an active person :p but I've decided I'd like to get into hockey (playing). given the fact that I have not skated in 24 years, It's something I'd like to start doing. Granted, I won't exactly be playing in a low-level league this season, it's something I'd like to try for next season.

for all of those who play hockey, what are some tips and tricks, what are decent drills to practice?

this week I am heading out to go pickup skates, a helmet, a stick and some gloves, any suggestions on types? do you know anywhere where there are some specials going on, or places that usually have deals?

any info is much appreciated, I should be starting weekly skating lessons next week and hitting the gym 5 days a week coupled with about an hour of skating.
 
Sportsplexe in pierrefond usually has shinny hockey goin on, its someting like 5$ for 1 and a half hours? all you need is skates, gloves, sticks and helmet...
 
I just started 2 seasons ago, and i've improved quite a bit. My first season i could barely stop, and now i have no problem playing in pickup games with some decent guys. I was considering joining a league as well for the winter.

I dont know if I could give you any tips, but i bought all of my stuff at canadian tire (skates,stick,gloves). I didn't want to spend that much because i didn't know if i would enjoy it. Everything is still good, although i bought a better stick because my skill was increasing. The best tip i could give was to really practice skating before u get into the hockey aspect. Skate around with your stick in hand, practice stoping, getting speed from a stopped position etc.

Im sure someone has better advice, but this is what helped me. One of my new favorite sports!
 
I was actually in you're position a couple of years ago. I hadn't skated in years and even when I was skating, I was no good at it.

I started with the basics. Got my gear and hit the ice. For me the most important thing was to improve my skating ability since I could already stick handle half decently due to playing cosom hockey. Two things that were difficult for me in the beginning were stopping and going quickly and being stable once you reach high speeds. You have to allow time for you're ankles to strengthen and for you're legs to adapt to the nature of skating.

I would also like to share that I bought 100$ skates in the beginning and just purchased some 500$ skates last season. I definetly should have bought better skates in the beginning.

The best tip I can give you is PRACTICE. If you want to evolve fast, then get on the ice as much as physically possible and you will be able to play in pick up games in no time.
 
IN terms of equipment.... dont be fooled by the sales guy tryin to sell you top of the line skate... .although i do not recommend buying skates from canadian tire, I suggest you opt for a mid level pair as the boot will not be as stiff and that because you havent skated in a while, you won't see the major difference with the top of the line. Because you are only starting I'd say opt for the mid level for all equipment you are willing to buy.

IN terms of skates, if you like a skate that will wrap around your ankle, i would suggest you opt for a bauer or a nike skates, in the case of the contrary, i would say you try on the CCMs or the MIssion, although at this point, all you need to do is to try them all on. I say you go for a pair in which you are already comfortable even before they go in the oven. The oven is not necessary, but it does help break in the skate (although it does play with the durability of the product).

For helmet, I guess bauer is the way to go but then again you gotta find one thats not hurting you.

For the stick, there are plenty of different price ranges but since you are just picking up hockey, do not go for the one piece as the feel of the puck is lost. Then again, i haven't bought a wooden stick in ages so i can't help you with them, but try to go for the lightest one..
If you find the wooden stick to be too heavy, there is always the option of buying a shaft with a blade. It is a bit more expensive, but if your blade breask, at least you can change it. in case of your shaft to break, you do have a warranty but i believe its one year. I would suggest you go towards an Easton Z bubble or Ultra Lite. I've had both over the years and I always like them. You can either buy a wooden blade or a composite blade. I'm a 5'9 165 guy and I always played with 100 flex which is the in between model..it does become a bit more stiff as I cut mine, but I think its the perfect compromise between a stick that's too soft and a stick that's too hard to flex.

As for the curve its really up to you! lol gotta find one that fits your style, depending on if your a player that will lean more on his stick or if you will stand up more straight.

Now moving on to drills lol. There is always the standard going around circles which practices your cross overs. Breaking well there ain't no real solutions to learning how to break but to just practice....

You do however have ot practice your balance and like someone mentioned before strengthen your ankles..but its not that hard...so if you want just try not lifting your skates off the ice and just open and close your legs to move forward...this shouldnt be too hard to pick up, but will be hard on the legs....

That's pretty much what I would recommend...if you have any other questions, PM me, my mom brought me to a rink at 2yrs old and I never stepped off lol so I got my fair share of skating and was pretty much my best asset at the game!

Good luck in learning the most beautiful sport on earth!


I haven't bought gloves in a while, but I do have a pair of Vapor XX and if you can still get your hands on those, I would recommend them as they are a very good overall pair. However, if you have small hands I would opt for another model..then again comfort is key!
 
I suggest you get good skates, as your feet won't be growing anymore, and getting use to new skates is a pain. It really all depends on your budget, if you pay around $200-$300 for a pair of skates, you should be fine. Personally I'd avoid Nike, but thats my opinion, check out CCM and easton, if you have a wide foot, I know easton has numerous models. I"m about to buy Graf G9's which are $700 in stores, but I've always played hockey in leagues, and now I play twice a week. However, if you know your way around ebay, and want to get good equipement, you can always go to a store to find out your sizes and figure out which brand fits you best, and then buy them of ebay. That's what I'm going to do for my skates, save about $300 that way. Just remember, skates are the most important, it's like tires on a car, if you by cheap quality or the wrong ones for the type of ride, performance and security will be affected.


If your out of shape, I suggest you only go to the gym for 2-3 weeks, and then hit the ice, or else it's going to be really hard, and you won't enjoy yourself. As for drills, you can probably find alot of them on the web, doing the circles is very good, probably one of the most popular drills. Do them while skating frontwards and backwards, and then you can to them while always looking at one end of the ice, it will practice your pivots.

I hope this helps a bit, if there's anything, just PM me, I'll gladly help you out.

Oh, if your in brossard, check out hockey experts at 10/30, it's a good store.

Good luck.
 
great replies.

update: I picked up a pair of RBK 1K's got them for 160 (180 with tax) new, size 10.5

I was going to get a used pair of rbk's for 65$ but i figured I'd look at the new ones too, there were a pair of bauers on special for 120 which were equal to the 1k's but they were out of stock.

Got them sharpened and left them at my friends place downtown.

yesterday I went to the open rink in westmmount at 7:30. put on the skates (pretty comfy) and stepped on the ice for the first time in 24 years.

WOW.

I could not keep my feet straight ;) I felt like bambi on ice. there were little kids skating all over the place. Skated for about 35 min and all the little kids left, started skating faster and kinda picked it up well (for the first day ;))

then I tried stopping ;)

my feet flew in the air, and I landed on my shoulder blades hahahaha!! (neck, ass and elbows still hurt now :S)

it was really fun, but I'm relly sore in my abs, back and shins. I'll be heading out again tonight. I'm aiming for 5days a week.


where will you be skating?

right now, westmount arena, in the little rink. I live on the shore and will be skating behind dawson when the rink opens, or on the shore occasionally just to skate around. I'm focusing on skating now and will pickup a stick in november for shimmy hockey.
 
Breaking well there ain't no real solutions to learning how to break but to just practice....

yeah, my ass still hurts! ONE fall, but man, was it spectacular!


You do however have ot practice your balance and like someone mentioned before strengthen your ankles..but its not that hard...so if you want just try not lifting your skates off the ice and just open and close your legs to move forward...this shouldnt be too hard to pick up, but will be hard on the legs....
my balence wasnt so bad, I DO however have to focus on leaning forward, if i stand up even straigh a bit I ahve a tendancy of falling backwards.

why would i try to get balance from not lifitng my legs off the ice? I did that yesterday, left both feet on the ice and opened and closed my legs to skate, and it got tiring, but really didnt improve my balance. it DID however, help with the not falling over, since I put my hands on my knees and way trying to position my upper body. (bent forward)

I haven't bought gloves in a while, but I do have a pair of Vapor XX and if you can still get your hands on those, I would recommend them as they are a very good overall pair. However, if you have small hands I would opt for another model..then again comfort is key!
[/quote]

I got my friend a pair of uh.... SOMETHING, really light gloves, so he is lending me his pair of good gloves that fit me perfectly for a while.
 
buy a good pair of skates, its the most important thing since you will most likely only buy them once. im still in love with my 705 grafs with the wax laces lol

gloves make sure your wrist can move freely and they are fairly light

and as for a stick cant go wrong with a warrior :) (but buy a sherwood PMP5030 with a coffey curve or somethin to start off lol)
 
yeah, my ass still hurts! ONE fall, but man, was it spectacular!



my balence wasnt so bad, I DO however have to focus on leaning forward, if i stand up even straigh a bit I ahve a tendancy of falling backwards.

why would i try to get balance from not lifitng my legs off the ice? I did that yesterday, left both feet on the ice and opened and closed my legs to skate, and it got tiring, but really didnt improve my balance. it DID however, help with the not falling over, since I put my hands on my knees and way trying to position my upper body. (bent forward)


.

The tendency of falling backwards will leave as you get better....and for the drill, i meant try to do a skating motion without lifting your skates not just open and close lol sorry about that, miscommunication...it will give you a workout im telling you
 
When you hit the gym, concentrate on leg excercises. The stronger your legs are, the easier it will be to learn to skate hard. Do lots of squats, and directional LUNGES!

IMO you should work on skating for now, the rest will be picked up while playing. If you can find any ball hockey games in your area, sign up (this will help stick handling and cardio).

Good luck!!!!
 
btw, does anyone knwo whens the best time to go hockey equip. shopping? when most deals will be on and such.. i need, skates, gloves, stick
 
I need to get into hockey too, i'd like to know the best place to get skates that will fit (I wear size 14 shoes)
 
Where in westmount do you play?

Can anyone come? Cost $$$? Can we get a game going, or is it just skating

there isd a larger rink, but its always reserved, I'm only working on skating rigt now, so its a small rink, no hockey sticks allowed.

its on st cathrine I belive its called westmount stadium?

The tendency of falling backwards will leave as you get better....and for the drill, i meant try to do a skating motion without lifting your skates not just open and close lol sorry about that, miscommunication...it will give you a workout im telling you

yep did that :p didnt fall over yesterday! :p

When you hit the gym, concentrate on leg excercises. The stronger your legs are, the easier it will be to learn to skate hard. Do lots of squats, and directional LUNGES!

IMO you should work on skating for now, the rest will be picked up while playing. If you can find any ball hockey games in your area, sign up (this will help stick handling and cardio).

Good luck!!!!

I'm doing only skating at this moment. I will be starting hitting the gym before skating starting monday.

I need to get into hockey too, i'd like to know the best place to get skates that will fit (I wear size 14 shoes)

I got my shit at play it again sports next to vendome metro.
 
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