Stick & Puck to Beer League: Where to Find Adult Hockey Games

THE_BEER_LEAGUER:
0:06

So you've watched the YouTube videos, you've seen every episode of Shoresy, and you've been stick handling with that golf ball in your living room. Now what? How do you actually get on team to play hockey? That's what we're gonna be talking about in this episode of The Beer Leaguer podcast. All right, you've got all your equipment, you've been practicing as much as you can at home, you're ready to give this hockey thing a try. So how do you do it? How do you find hockey to go play? That's what we're talking about in this episode of The Beer Leaguer podcast. Where to find hockey to play? This really is geared towards adult skaters. I'm sure this stuff, very much of it will apply also to young adults if they want to play. But I mean, for kids, that's a whole mother thing, that stuff you're looking for that. Honestly, I don't really know anything about. And goalies, this stuff still applies to you, but you have a much easier time, I think, of finding places that need you, because goalies are in way more demand than skaters are. So a lot of these ideas and stuff will work, but you're probably gonna have a much easier time finding out places to play. All right, so kind of what are your main options that you're looking for when you want to start playing? I would categorize it into three main things. And it's kind of the least serious to the most serious, the most commitment that you can have for playing hockey. One is stick and puck sessions, then pick up games or shinny, as it is also called, and then actually getting into beer league. All right, so stick and puck sessions, that's really just like, wear your stuff. You can wear all your gear, some of your gear, whatever kind of you want to feel comfortable with getting used to and get out to a rink. Usually it's bring your own puck, and just get out there and work on some skills, work on something. This is really perfect for new players, if you're really just trying to learn some things on your own, and you can learn on your own, to have a place to do it on the ice. And that's what stick and puck is supposed to be for. Now, I've been in stick and pucks that also turn into some pickup games. So be aware that that can happen. I've also been in stick and pucks where you have people that do coaching clinics and try and take up the entire ice as stick and pucks. And that sucks. And depending on the place that hosts it and how much they care, there might be nothing you can do about it. So be aware, every rink's stick and pucks are a little bit different. The people that are working there that day might be more or less care about making sure stuff like that doesn't happen. But you know, you kind of, it's a crap shoot. Stick and pucks also have very differing rules for, you know, if coaching is allowed on the ice like that, if games are even actually allowed, or what kind of equipment you need to wear. Stick and pucks that I've gone to by my house, they generally don't care what you have. I'm pretty sure you have to have a helmet. And beyond that, I don't think they really care what you're doing there. I've never seen really any coaching going on there, besides maybe somebody helping out friends, try to do something, no like real coaching. But I do see games that break out. A lot of times it's like half ice, especially with other people there. In my experience, what they'll do is usually say, hey, we've got a goalie that came to stick and puck. There's six or seven of us that want to play, but there's still a couple people here that are not going that aren't interested in playing or just there to do some skill sessions. And they'll take half ice, play a half ice game, and the other half is for people to do practicing and stuff like that. So it's usually just like an open ice where you can do different stuff. Everybody's aware it's hockey going on, so you can shoot and you can stick handle and do things like that. You don't have to be super worried about pucks flying around, but you have to be aware that there's going to be pucks flying around and doing stuff. So that's kind of your lowest barrier to entry and the least commitment to it, because it is usually pay as you go for stick and puck sessions with it. Next up is pick up games or shinny, as it is also called. And most of these are, they can also be a pay as you go. They can also be a pay for a set amount of time and show up kind of when you can in that, you know, like, hey, pay for this month. And there's four pick up games. You can just show up to any of those four, you know, or pay for whatever this season or something like that. So it kind of depends how regulated and how organized these things are, because there are pickups that are very open ended, you know, just kind of like the rink opens the door at whatever time lets people come in. You know, you pay and you guys figure out teams and do whatever versus, you know, somebody that's privately organizing it and maybe does actually have teams set up. Maybe the teams change every week. Maybe they don't know maybe they're balanced, maybe they're not. But it can very greatly in there for pickup, for how well organized and who's organizing this stuff. Kind of the great thing with pickup games, as opposed to stick and puck, is one, it's a game. You're getting to play with other players. So, you know, stick and puck, you might have a buddy go with you or you might make friends with somebody there. And, you know, you can try doing some kind of drills or passing back and forth or something like that, whereas pickups are games. So, there's people there to learn stuff from and to play with and to play against. Depending on how large the adult hockey is in your area, you might have just one or two pickup games around a week. And there might be people that just started skating and people that played college hockey, playing in the same game. Or if you have a large group that's out there and spread over a lot of different pickup games, it might be more segregated. So that's something to kind of see and ask about of like, what level of hockey is this out there, to know that. And the other great thing, I think, with pickup games is you get to meet a lot of people. You know, there's some people, hopefully that you've met that that's how you found out about the game and that's how you've picked up the game. But you'll also get to meet a bunch of other guys. I mean, you're playing hockey with them. So in the locker room, on the bench, playing against them, whatever, it's a way to just kind of get to know other people in the area that play hockey. All right. And then finally, you have Beer League. Obviously, that's mostly what this podcast and everything talks about is Beer League. But that's kind of the most, most commitment you're going to have of any of these things, and usually the most structured. You're going to have some kind of league rules and set teams and standings and all that kind of stuff you think of, and more than likely have different levels that people are playing at. So that's something to look out for and make sure that the Beer League, that if you're trying to join, it does have some kind of a beginner level or a very low level, and it's not just high level hockey. So that's something to look for because Beer League is usually the most structured of any of these things. And again, there's a variance in how structured Beer League is. There are some Beer Leagues that are pretty loosey goosey with things, and kind of keep track of stats, have a schedule for games and stuff like that. And then there's some that are very professionally run and put together that have this stuff very well figured out. But it kind of depends. Not all these are offered in every area, so it's kind of seeing what you have, and maybe you have different kinds of Beer Leagues in your area, because there's Beer Leagues that are run by particular rinks, there's Beer Leagues that are run by larger groups, there's Beer Leagues that are run by rink conglomerates. So groups that own multiple rinks might have a Beer League that plays at their associated rinks. So there's a lot of different levels of Beer League you can get to, and there's all pros and cons with those that you get from playing and how they're run, and they all run a little bit differently. So that's just something to keep in the back of your mind of looking for places to play. All right, so you've decided what kind of hockey you want to start trying to play, what hockey you want to get out there for, how do you find it? How do you find ice out there? How do you find teams that are looking for people? How do you find open spots? Well, there's kind of a lot of different ways to do that nowadays. The easiest thing is going and looking at any local rink in your area, look on their website, see if they have something that says, you know, pick up hockey, adult hockey, adult learn to play, shinny, whatever they're calling it. A lot of rinks I find have some kind of adult stick and puck or something like that. It's a lot of times at lunchtime. That is something that I have seen a lot of places is it's lunchtime and that's places that don't have regular leagues and something to look for. See if they have that on there, very blatantly that that's what it is. They're not going to say kind of what level it is usually, but they'll say if they have it and it's worth going to check out and see how it is. But also looking on there to see if they have something that mentions a league that they're associated with. Maybe they run their own league. Maybe they have a league that they, someplace they partner with that does a league. Rink websites will usually have this kind of information on there to let you know if they have adult hockey and how it's run and who's associated with it and somebody to contact to get a hold of for it. Other thing you can do is ask around, ask people. Like I said, you can ask people at the rink. If you're going to some kind of just, even if it's not a hockey particular activity, so even if you're just going to an open skate, we know where you just go around the rink and around and around and around, you can ask people to work at the rink. Maybe they know if there is some kind of hockey that's somewhere that's not advertised well. That is something that I think you will see a lot with adult hockey is the lack of good advertising. They really don't advertise it very well, usually. It's a lot of word of mouth stuff. So if you're going to something like that, and you're going to a rink, ask people at work there. If they have adult hockey, do they know a rink that does, that's in the area or something else that you could do that's similar to that? Those are good people to ask. They probably know what's going on in ice related activities in the area. Another thing you can do that I think people don't think of enough is ask at your local hockey shop. And I'm assuming you've bought some of your gear at a local hockey shop so it doesn't go out of business. That's just the thing I hope that you're doing. But ask the people that work there. More than likely, if you're working at a hockey store, and I say specifically at a hockey store. So if you're going to like a place that just sells all types of sporting equipment, maybe someone there plays hockey. If they have somebody working in the hockey section, much higher chance, but maybe not. But if you go to a hockey store, the people there should at least be interested in hockey, to be able to work there and know what they're talking about. And they probably know of hockey in the area and know if things are going on. They might not know specifically, you know, hey, this league does this, but they might go, oh yeah, have you talked to this rink? They do something, you know, or something along those lines. So that's, I think, an untapped resource for finding hockey in the area. It's also a great way to find like pickups and shinny and stuff like that, that are going on, that probably isn't being advertised at all, because it's just some guy running it, is talking to people. So that's why it's also good to talk to the people that you're playing hockey with. When you start playing hockey, and if you go to like pick up games, and if you go to stick and pucks and stuff like that, and ask them about other hockey that's going on, because maybe you're driving half an hour away to a rink, because you know that they have a weekly pick up game, and you talk to someone there and they go, oh, hey, well, you know, the rink that's 10 minutes from your house, they also have a weekly pick up. You just have to get a hold of this guy to get into it. So that's your best resource is always to ask people. And, you know, ask, like I said, ask the other players, ask them the games you're playing, ask them, you know, people that you know, that maybe you don't play hockey with, but you know, play hockey or play hockey at some level, somehow, and find out if they know anything like that that's going on. A lot of kids coaches, they play hockey, you know, they play beer league. So, if you know people that coach kids hockey, or if you have a kid that plays hockey, ask their coach. You know, that's a lot of the coaches that are out there coaching kids. They're also playing hockey or roughing hockey or something like that, and they're involved in it. So, that's another good resource to get out to asking people. And then finally, get online. You have your traditional kind of ways to look for stuff like Facebook groups. You can look up, you know, your kind of big city near you or municipality or whatever, near you hockey or beer league hockey or something like that. See if there's any groups about that have that or anything that comes up close to that. You can use Reddit. The Reddit hockey players thread always has somebody asking for, hey, is there anyone suggest a hockey league in whatever city for whatever level that they're saying. So, that's a good place to look for. There's also Bench App, which a lot of teams use to keep track of who's playing for a game, like checking in, check out for games, and keep track of schedule and stuff like that. That actually has a feature on it, or you can put yourself as a sub looking to play hockey on it, and people can use that for pickups. I know a lot of people do use that to run their pickup games, and you can say you're looking to play pick up hockey in the area, and you can set the area that you're looking for and put your skill level and everything in there. So that's an easy way of getting out there to some more people, too, doing it online. Another thing that you're going to come across when trying to find a team to play on or find some more regular hockey to play on is if you want to join a team or be a sub on a team, those are your options for playing regular hockey. Regular, I mean, like regularly playing in organized hockey. You can start by subbing. That's a great way to get on a team. That's a great way. If you find teams and nobody has spots available, see if they have sub spots available and get in there. And, you know, just kind of get your foot in the door with it. That's a way to kind of get into whatever league they have going on, and at least have your name out there. And if teams are looking for people, they might look at sub lists and try and find people that are on sub lists and aren't playing. Or if the team that you're on the sub list for, you can sub in for them, obviously, or if they lose people for whatever reason, probably going to go to the sub list to look for people to fill in more permanently for it. So that's a great way to get in the door for that. The biggest thing, though, if you're going to be subbing, especially if it's people that don't know you is one, be honest about your ability and your experience. You know, don't try and fake it that, oh, yeah, no, I've been playing for a long time, and, you know, I can do this and this and this. Let them know if you, hey, I went through a beginner, learned to skate class, and that's it. Or I haven't played in 15 years since high school and I'm trying to get back into it or whatever. Let people know, you know, so they're aware of what that is. And then also, if you're talking to a league and not a team trying to get on a sub list, because some leagues do have a sub list versus a team having a sub list, they know where to appropriately place you. So be very transparent and honest about your ability and your experience. And then show up to sub. I will say that if you're on a sub list and you get called a couple times and you're never available, you're just going to start getting passed over. So if your availability is very poor in the evenings and you're trying to play Beer League, yeah, good luck. You're not going to find a lot of teams that want somebody that's rarely available. You know, that's especially from subs. That's not going to be a great look for you for it. So try your best to be available and say yes when they need people. I think you do if you don't mess up list is very similar to that is a lot of leagues and even some more organized pickup games have this like a free agent list. You know, it's basically a sub list, but a sub list for an entire league or an entire division, a league or something like that versus just for one team. So, you know, if you find a league that you're interested in and they have, you know, division that you think is appropriate for you, but no one has availability, see if there's way to get on their free agent list. And that's usually either by talking to someone who's a league admin or even talking to a team captain. If you can get find a way to get a hold of a team captain, especially for the level that you're trying to play at, that's a good way to get on a free agent list and to try and get yourself, you know, into with the team, talking to team captains. They're the ones that generally, ultimately are the ones to get people for their team or not. So those are the people to get friendly with. And yeah, kind of last thought on this, your reliability is more important than your skill. Not that skill's not important at all, but if you consistently say you can't make things, or you say you can make a game and consistently don't show up, doesn't matter how good you are, you're getting passed over. Hope that was enough information to get those of you out there that are looking for a place to play hockey. Let's get you started the right direction of places you can find hockey to play, and play as much as you want. Play regularly, play as you can, or whatever the case may be. Find those things. So just some tips for everybody, general things that I think is helpful, especially for people that are kind of newer in their adult hockey jersey. One, a lot of rinks have some sort of adult learn to play program, and pretty much every rink has a kids learn to skate program. Most rinks that have that, somewhere in the area, it might not be every rink, but usually if you have a couple of rinks in the area, at least one of them will have some kind of adult learn to skate, learn to play program, which is a great way to start and a great way to learn and meet other people. Along with that, look and see if the leagues that are in your area have something like that. I know my league, they're a pretty, they're a big league. They're huge. They're multiple cities, but they do have a learn to play program. And that's how they get a lot of people every year because it's a very easy thing to get into because they take people that, you know, maybe you've never skated before. People have minimal experience, run them through a, I think it's eight week program. And then you're on a team with the people that you ran through the program with, and you kind of start meeting people throughout the league from there. And you're in, you're kind of in. Because once you're in with all these things, once you get your in for hockey and start meeting some people, you'll realize how much hockey is out there that you had no ideas going on. Also, for people that are going out to shinny's or stick of pucks and things like that, a couple tips. One, always have at least a couple pucks with you, just in case you might not always need them, but, you know, grab a couple next time you're at the hockey store, grab a couple and throw them in your bag and just have them. Good to have in case wherever you're at doesn't have pucks for you. Don't assume they always will. I will always harp on this of bringing a white and a dark jersey for any kind of competitive play. Now, if you're going out to a stick and puck with no intention of playing on teams, nobody cares, whatever. But if you're trying to do more and more pickups like that, and especially pickups where you're just kind of dropping in on things and they're not as established, black and white jersey, always a appreciated thing to have. You know, be open to playing different positions out there, especially pickups, because everybody usually plays kind of all over the place. So don't be the guy that goes to pick up and go, I only play left wing. Don't be that guy. You know, be open to trying other things. If you're going to pickups and stuff like that, don't cherry pick. Don't be a tryhard. It's pick up. It's competitive. It's hockey. Don't be a dick. Hopefully, that's self-explanatory to you. I hate to break this to you because no one's at the pick up game games to scout you for regular games. You know, there's no NHL scouts or anything like that. So sorry if that's what you thought. Don't be afraid to leave a pickup if you've gone to it and you're just like not enjoying the people that are there or something like that. I've had pickups that I've gone to where, you know, they're just, they're a level way too high for me, and it's just not fun. I've gone to pickups where it's, honestly, level way too low for me, and it's not fun. I've gone to pickups where there's just too many people and I haven't gone back. You know, it's pickups. It's supposed to be fun. It should be a good time, but don't be afraid to, you know, go to one or two, go, hey, that's not really for me, and find another one. You know, it's pickup, not a big deal. You know, if you're paying as you go, no one's counting on you having to be there every week. So just remember that. It should be fun. Well, and there you go. That is all of the tips I have for helping you find places where you can get out and play hockey. Hopefully, that answered all most of your questions. If you had some on where you can find some hockey to play, especially for starting out. And if you are starting out, I want to say I did create a playlist of past episodes and videos out there. It's aimed at adults that are newer to playing hockey, and it's answering a bunch of different questions on things like gear, kind of just locker room stuff. I don't know a better way to put it. How to deal with some maybe difficult situations that you might find yourself in, and all kinds of things like that. I will put a link to that playlist in the show notes for you to check it out. And I will constantly be adding any kind of, you know, episodes or other videos I do that are appropriate to it, and are also kind of aimed at people playing for their, you know, very first time or coming back after a really long time to play. Keep that resource out there for everyone. So I encourage you to go check that out. And as I say in every episode, go check out thebeerleaguer.com for past episodes, all the goofy social media stuff that I've been up to, fun things, stuff that's upcoming, everything that's going on. Go check that out. Always appreciate a like and a share of the show. Any kind of comments that you have, you can leave a comment for the show or go over to thebeerleaguer.com and send comments or voicemails to the show, or click the link that says text the show in the show description and send a text to the show. Let me know places that you have found to play hockey, different ways you've found to play hockey, or if you have any show ideas or anything like that, that you'd like to let me know. I'd love to hear from you. All right. Thanks a lot, everybody. Catch you in the next one.