The First Group Lesson.
It was pretty obvious that if I wanted to meet my goal of playing on a team next
October, I'd need some lessons. I scoured over the arena websites and tried to
digest all the information; Group or private lessons? Weekends or
weeknights? Hockey or beginner ice lessons? My head was spinning
so I resorted to emailing just one question to multiple different instructors
and all four rinks…
"I want to play hockey around this time next year.
How do you rec
My First (Adult) Attempt At Ice Skating.
Well I had my shiny new Bauers in my passenger seat as Itook to the northbound
freeway. Traffic was good on that Saturday afternoon and it took a mere ten
minutes to get to the Mt View Ice arena in Washington State. From the outside
the facility looked nice and well kept. I was surprised to feel a bit of the
butterflies as I walked in the door.
I was greeted by a lady at the counter, and paid her seven dollars for the public
skate sess
My First Pair of Skates.
After a six month battle with the wife, I finally got her approval to play hockey.
Sure, I could have told her to "bugger-off" months ago, but I knew that she
wouldn't keep me from anything I REALLY wanted to do. A variety of excuses
were slowly confronted and the Wifey eventually gave in. My foster son (also
named Matthew) just offered up a chuckle "Youre gonna get
smashed" he said with a grin. I responded with a nod.
"I know! Its gonna be awesome!"
Growing up, hockey was little more than a fleeting idea. The family home was more interested in the NFL and our local NBA team. The lack of exposure to the sport didn't leave me thinking it was much of an option. Despite all of the cards that hockey had stacked against it, it didn't stop me from endless hours of street hockey in the Portland rain.
At the tender age of 12 I had single handedly put together a small roller hockey league in my elementary school. The overall lack of understanding