Because It’s The Cup

It is a great day for hockey and a wonderful time of year.

27th September 2012

2012 NHL Lockout

So you probably have heard that the NHL season is in jeopardy because an agreement hasn’t been reached between the NHL and NHLPA. The link below is a good read about the lockout and the labor terms.

2012 NHL Lockout CBA Lockout Strike Boycott NHLPA

The only positive thing about the lockout is I will probably cancel my cable TV service and save some money until the season resumes. The only thing I regularly watch on TV is hockey games. I use Netflix and Hulu when I want to watch a tv show or a movie.

If the KHL knew what was good for it. Open up a live steam, charge 5 bucks a game. I’d pay 20

— TPB Derek (@TPBderek) September 19, 2012

I agree. I hope the KHL has live streaming since some of the players from the NHL signed deals to play in the KHL. Maybe the NHL will steal the idea as well. I dream of the day I can watch the Penguins via a streaming service. All games. No blackouts. I would pay plenty of money for that service because I could permanently do away with cable TV.

27th June 2012

Hockey Update

I started playing hockey again as some of you know so I wanted to post an update mid season and let you know how things were going. I have been playing 1-2 games a week and practicing once a week. I am definitely improving and getting my brain, my feet, and my hands all working together again. I feel more confident carrying the ball and making passes. I am playing with the Raptors and most of the guys are about 10 years younger than me but it has been really fun playing with them. Right now we are 1-8-1 and are in 9th out of 10 in our division.

One surprise is that I made the All Star team. I will be playing Saturday night June 30th at 8pm and I will be playing for the East. The game is at Stiefel Park in Ellwood City. It should be fun to try and play defense against all the best guys in the league at once.

26th May 2012

I Started Playing Hockey Again

I signed up to play roller hockey at Stiefel Hockey with the Raptors. It has been about 13 years since I played any kind of hockey. I have played plenty of ice hockey but never any organized roller hockey. Last month I started thinking about getting back into hockey to get some exercise and have some fun but didn’t expect to be playing on a team so soon. I bought some used gear a couple weeks ago and started going to Brady’s Run Park to practice at the inline rink. I ran into guy I used to work with and he asked me to join the team he plays for. This past Saturday was my first game and I played okay. I can still skate well but my mind is a little rusty. I got caught in a few defensive break downs last game and couldn’t make decisions fast enough which resulted in a goal and some bad turn overs.

Roller hockey is a lot different for me than ice hockey for these two reasons:
1. I can’t stop quickly. Playing on ice you can quickly stop and change directions but on inline you have to make wide turns.
2. No checking. Not that I want to be throwing body checks in my 30s but I was trained to hit and separate the player from the puck. I need to figure out how to best play defense without any checking.

So give me a few more games and then stop out and watch me get my butt kicked by college kids. I was always #30 growing but since I can’t remember why I went with #5.