Seduced by ice - Part II

It was a very warm fall and beginning of winter. Our outdoor games were able to continue well into December without any ill effects from the weather. There was even a game one evening in late November or early December when it was about 60 degrees! No one was complaining about global warming then.

By January though, we were hurled headlong into a typical winter for our area, and the rink that the town had lined with plastic and filled with water eventually froze over. One Sunday morning, we showed up sleepy-eyed and groggy-headed, to find a town employee walking around on the ice and... oh my goodness.... what did he just do? Turn the sign to "Skating Allowed"!?! Out came the cell phones. We called everyone who wasn't there yet and told them to turn around and grab their ice skates- we were going to play outdoor winter hockey like the Canadians do.

The group that morning consisted of mostly people who had never played on ice, or had played on ice so long ago it almost didn't count, but there were a handful of guys who actually preferred ice and played on a semi regular basis. But because most of us were new to this experience, it lent a giddy air to the morning. I discovered instantly why goalies prefer ice to roller- lateral movement is a cinch on blades. Not only that but when you drop down, you can use your momentum to keep moving to the side if need be. At least, if you can control yourself. Otherwise you end up sliding halfway to the boards.

I was elated to finally be playing on ice. Just standing still and listening to the sound of 10 pairs of skates carving up the ice made me wildly happy. I was an instant convert. Throughout the next two months, we met about twice a week in addition to Sunday mornings, and most of the time we were able to play on the ice. Much like our dedication in the summer, coming out to play even in 90-degree heat, we were there whether it was 27 degrees or 7. Some of those nights I seriously questioned my sanity. But it really wasn't all that bad once the game got going.

That was all I needed to push me to making playing on ice - indoors, regularly- a reality. I decided the best way to go about it was to get some training first, then see about finding a beginners league I could join. I called all of the rinks in the area, asking about lessons or clinics, but all of them were geared towards kids. (Again I encountered the "...and how old is your son?" response to my query about lessons). Finally though, I managed to find a guy who had recently started up a goaltending "school" at a rink about a half hour from me. After quite a bit of back and forth, for about two months, I finally was able to stop by for a lesson. I was woefully behind the other two goalies there in terms of skill, but I listened closely and worked my butt off and really got a lot out of it. I haven't gone back since then, and it's been a few months, but I do plan to go back again when I get a little more stable on my skates.