Take The Number 69: Game One

Welcome to Take the Number 69, a blog by Eric Brook charting his ice hockey journey from being introduced to the sport, volunteering with the Australian men and women’s ice hockey leagues, learning to skate and now playing in the “beer leagues”. This week, Eric relives his first Beerginners game.

Ready or not, week one of Beerginners was here.

For some, weeks of training was going to pay off. For others, they were up for the challenge – but would they be successful?

I’ve often thought that moving hockey players around is like herding sheep. On night one, we had four newly minted teams filled with many newly minted players. Based on the attendance at the previous night’s development session, I worked out and implemented a plan to keep the teams together and in places that would directly relate to their timeslot and bench positions. There was added logistics of handing out jerseys and socks to many, many players.

Ice Zoo is unlike many other rinks – there are no dressing rooms in which players can store their gear and get ready for games. Thanks to my system, each team stayed where they were supposed to go and there was few problems.

One thing I did not budget for was spectators. Yes, spectators! Actual spectators who weren’t players. Somehow, we accommodated spectators plus four teams! Presumably, the spectators were friends and family of Beerginners players. What has also stunned me is that people who aren’t playing also want to wear Beerginners jerseys to show their support.

Finally, it was game time for the first game. I spent some time on the night’s logistics and some more time getting ready for my game that was to follow. In between these tasks, I was surprised about the speed and game play that the Wayward Sons and Trash Pandas played. They certainly set the standard and gave my Mascot Jets and the Mighty Drunks an idea of what they were about to face on the ice.

The teams have been constructed with an experienced player-coach, people who have played some hockey, people with some skating skills along with skating and playing total rookies.

Before game one, some of the captains had not seen some of their team members skate before. For the Jets at least, it was decided that the more experienced skaters would mostly be playing defence with others playing forward.

The game started against the Mighty Drunks and I found myself on the wing on the third line. Working on tactics and line changes on the fly, all of the teams would be better off for their initial experience. I mostly played on the right wing with some simple on-ice instructions about where I should be in attack, defence and at faceoffs.

There’s a difference between watching a more experienced team going on and off the ice and Beerginners, however this will improve with experience.

Play-by-play hockey commentary isn’t easy either but I am now more comfortable with that after several games. I’ll even burst into commentary while watching a game. But even I surprised myself with how vocal I was on the ice for game one as well as in the dressing room environment.

In previous scrimmages and development sessions, I’ve been one of the quiet ones. It’s like I’ve found a new voice. It certainly did help having the familiar faces of Em, Ev and Ryzer alongside me on and off the ice.

Sure, who hasn’t yelled “SSSHHHOOOTTTT!” at a player before while watching a game? Who hasn’t been a grandstand referee? On the ice as an actual player in an actual team of an actual league, here I was yelling instructions and encouragement to myself and my team mates. For opening night, there was a lot of chatter on the ice and from the benches. This will only increase as the season goes on and players gain experience and confidence.

I was getting some good ice time on the third line. With instructions to head towards the goalie in the attacking zone, I almost ended up with a couple of goals. One incident in particular could have led to a goal as the goalie did not have control of the puck. I didn’t quite have the skill to avoid the goalie’s pads at point blank range. I haven’t really worked with a goalie at point blank range before, especially in a game situation. Something to think about for next week…

I had also interrupted the attacking Drunks. Getting close to the puck while other players are in possession is something I have not done a lot of and certainly something to work on. I must also remember not to try and steal the puck off my own players! With more defined roles in attack and defence, I am already looking forward to next week.
Parts of it were a blur and not just because I didn’t anti-fog my visor! Being short sighted, a foggy visor has been an intermittent problem. I do love my sports goggles which is a lot better in my opinion compared to wearing regular glasses. I’ve had issues with contact lenses and the idea of laser eye surgery does scare me. Mind you, the idea of playing hockey has scared me in the past.
In a game that was faster than I was expecting, my Jets took the win, 5-2. My first real game of hockey with a nice big W to show for it. For a team mostly filled with people who had not played together before and with several hockey playing newbies, it was a tremendous effort.

Overall, all the teams showed that Beerginners is already a winner. Hockey is already a winner. Everyone who is on the ice has had a victory of sorts by making it to game one. There was a lot of support on and off the ice regardless of the logo on the front of the jersey or the name on the back.

No doubt there will be a lot of discussion and tactics discussed before next week. Next week, I must remember to stretch more and prepare well.

Bring on game two next week!

Week 1 results:

7pm: Trash Pandas def Wayward Sons 3-0.
8pm: Mascot Jets def Mighty Drunks 5-2

Erk’s stats:

1 game played
1 win
0 goals
0 assists
0 points
0 penalty minutes

Week 2 schedule:

7pm: Mighty Drunks v Wayward Sons
8pm: Mascot Jets v Trash Pandas