USA Hockey Website Review

Anyone interested in ice hockey should check out www.usahockey.com. This is a great site for fans, players, coaches and referees. It is broken down into categories ranging from Players to Education and Safety, with information pertaining to those subjects. This site includes manuals, videos, and links. There is a lot of information from safety, drills, sport education, rules, news and a ton of other options. There is also information for parents of players and what they can do to support the children playing and to reduce injuries, anger and to promote a fun environment. My favorite find was the Adult Skills Manual. This is a great reference for any players and for fans. I used this site for registration, as the leagues require an active registration to USA Hockey. I did not know and did not take the time, until now, to really look at what is available. I would encourage anyone to check out this site.

New Season, Another Win!

Hey there hockey fans! The Gobblers win the opening game of the season 3-2 against the new Orange team. It was a good battle back and forth with some nail-biting action. There were a lot of penalty and one of our players even got ejected from the game. No points for me, although I sat for a couple of minutes in the penalty box for an accidental trip; at least I got on the score sheet! It was a nice way to start the season and with new owners and a new structure that leads to playoffs, a win is exactly what you want to get on the first game. The next game will be on Thursday against the Yellow team at 7:50pm. Feel free to attend as the Yellow team is always an interesting opponent.

Hockey...the Sport. What is it?

Hockey...what is it? Hockey is a very tough team sport that involves skating on ice and trying to score goals. OK, a few basics. The concept of the sport is to get a hard rubber disc, called a puck, into the goal. The problem is that the puck needs to get past the goalie, a heavily padded player that is doing anything they can to keep the puck out of the goal. Each team has five players and a goalie. This includes three forwards (left wing, center, and right wing) and two defensemen (left and right). Each player wears pads for protection, ice skates, and carries a hockey stick that is made to move and shoot the puck. The player has to be skilled in ice skating and be able to "stick handle" or dribble the puck on the ice while trying to avoid the other team trying to get the puck from you. The most goals wins. Each goal that is scored awards the individual players either a goal or an assist. These points are added up and followed by hockey fans everywhere. There are many rules to protect the players and help to keep the game flow smooth. Broken rules can result in a penalty, or time spent in the penalty box, while your team plays short handed for the amount of time the penalty is for. More to come...stay tuned!

Another Win to Finish The Season!

With another season just around the corner, our final game was a chance to finish this season strong. We played the Blue Team, which consists of mostly female players, and won 6-2! I tallied another assist, but again no goals. I felt great during the game and felt as if it was one of the best that I have played. It feels great to get another win, but it feels better to get started with a new season. I am entering my second year playing and I am even more addicted then when I first started. I encourage everyone to come down and watch on Thursdays; free admission for all. It's a great sport and a great workout. Feel free to ask any questions you may have.

The Gobblers Win! Finally Beat The Green Team!

This last Thursday game was a very exciting game with a lot of action. I played for my normal Grey Team (AKA: The Gobblers) against the Green Team. The Green Team has always been a tough competitor as we had never beaten them prior to this game. The final score was a crazy 8-6! A high scoring game and a great work out. Many players scored multiple goals and assists. I tallied a point earning an assist, but no goals. The goal streak has not returned yet, but next game is another chance. I will have to try my other pair of skates next week, as I did not feel comfortable this week. The next game is on Thursday the 16th and is a playoff game. The season is almost over, so a new season is right around the corner providing another chance for the Gobblers to strive for first place. As always, we play at the Las Vegas Ice Center (see map for location: http://www.lasvegasice.com/Map/tabid/133/Default.aspx) and admission to watch is FREE! Come out and watch some great ice hockey in Vegas!

My first "shot"...at blogging.

This is a blog about ice hockey and one player's perspective about the game. Starting in January 2011, I starting playing organized ice hockey in Las Vegas. Yes, you read that right! Las Vegas has ice hockey rinks, adult leagues, even a professional team (The Wranglers). I am a member of the Thursday Night Adult League and play for the Grey team (also known as the Gobblers). Since the first game I played, I have fallen in love with the game. It is hard to image not playing hockey and I doubt I will ever stop. I am addicted to the game, the workout, the competition and really every aspect of it. My intention is to post my thoughts, game results and summaries, and anything else that relates to hockey I find interesting.

Get ready for an interesting journey on ice and watch out for flying pucks...