It's Hockey Time

Well at a 30th B'day i was chatting to one of the Americans who plays AFL with me and he told me he plays pick up ice hockey on Sundays. For the Aussie's who read this, 'pick up hockey' is just social hockey where any one can play, all you need is a stick and either hire skates or buy your own.

Well, Sunday i went to the local sports store and purchased the cheapest stick i could get my hands on, about $20 worth, and headed off to the rink with my skates, stick and shin/knee pads (all bought 7 years earlier during my 6 months in Canada during the Hockey season). The great thing about pick up hockey is that it is non contact (heavy blows anyway) and there is a huge mix of talent so all are welcome. There were some seriously talented guys and some awesome kids about 8 years old that were skating rings around me....................literally.

Well to say i was rusty when i first hit the ice would be an understatement but after about an hours i had my skating improving and i was again comfortable defending while skating backwards. Defending is all i did as the teams were a little uneven and there appeared to be a team of NHL draft picks up against the local rag tag team. Obviously i was in the rag tag team.

It soon became known to all on the ice that the clumsy bloke was an Aussie so whenever i intercepted a pass or really did anything at all there would be a cheer come up from the subs from both teams. I think they appreciated a bloke from a non hockey country giving it a good go. Well the roof nearly came off when i got around my American AFL mate and scored a goal .................. then i did 3 victory laps then fell on my arse and slid into the boards. Instant Karma for being a dumb arse I guess.

Well I am really glad i found somewhere i can renew my hockey passion even if i am being blitzed by the locals. As an aside there was one bloke from Russia who did this fancy stick work and picked up the puck from the ice with his stick before flicking it from waste height straight at the goal. I had never seen anything like it and was in awe (along with everyone else there) for about 5 minutes. Anyway i gave him a good hit during the game and knocked him on his arse. He obviously didn't read the sign plastered all over me saying "Caution, Aussie who can't stop"