CAHL - Summer Session - Who's Playing?

[MrEckted]

12 minute periods dont allow for a ton of ice time on deep teams. We generally try and keep it at 12 or less players.

Very good point. If everyone on your team is in decent shape I think 10 players works out pretty well. A good workout to be sure.

 

[anteater90]

Loved hockey since I was a kid but had no opportunity to play. Started skating to play at 38 and started playing in the leagues at 40. I play in D West B for Jet Stream formerly Ice Hawks and love it! Have played for 5 years now. I also coach my sons teams and started refereeing this year. ADDICT!


Clarification, I ref the youth leagues not the adults.

 

[MrEckted]

Clarification, I ref the youth leagues not the adults.

Too bad, I was wondering how long it took to learn a Braille keyboard..

 

[The Press Express]

Hey guys, I need a bit of advice here from current / former participants of the E league

Last year I purchased some gear and begun learn to skate classes, I have progressively gotten better but I still suck! I can give a few pumps but then need to glide or else id lose my balance. My hockey sense and skill are strong as I grew up playing plenty of street hockey, its my lack of skating ability that has me tied up. My question for you guys is, how bad are the participants in the E league?, Im an extremely weak / noob skater, can I keep up with these guys or should I refine my skating skills to the point where I can hockey stop and hit top speed?

 

[v3rs3]

Hey guys, I need a bit of advice here from current / former participants of the E league

Last year I purchased some gear and begun learn to skate classes, I have progressively gotten better but I still suck! I can give a few pumps but then need to glide or else id lose my balance. My hockey sense and skill are strong as I grew up playing plenty of street hockey, its my lack of skating ability that has me tied up. My question for you guys is, how bad are the participants in the E league?, Im an extremely weak / noob skater, can I keep up with these guys or should I refine my skating skills to the point where I can hockey stop and hit top speed?

Not sure if it applies to you, but I notice a lot of people who have this problem have ill fitting skates or just bad quality skates.

My skating improved immensely when I had a good pair of skates fitted to me. Now you don't need $600 skates, but $200-300 will get you a good pair. Definitely your most important piece of gear.

That said there are plenty of guys in e that can't stop, there are plenty of guys in e that belong 1 or 2 levels up as well.

 

[Sore Loser]

Wow, that Summer league must be rough! Hopefully they spread the crazy good players around a bit.

Having all the competition is great.. lots of teams to play for and plenty to play against. However, the rub is that with so many teams game times can be rough. It's not unusual to have 10pm and later starts for Fall and Winter session. If the league keeps growing I feel like they need to consider adding a few more sheets in town.

What are your start times like? Do you compete with many high school teams for ice time?

You show up for summer league never knowing what you'll get. You might have 20 guys show up to play with you, or 5 guys and a goalie. And, you might be playing a team from the "A" league, but they may only have 5 of their worst guys show up. Sometimes you get guys subbing for the lowest level teams and they sneak up on you. Really, summer league is ridiculous ... our team has stopped playing in it altogether.

Ice times are what they are. During the winter season for example, we played almost every game on Wednesday night this year (save for a couple of Thursdays moving up to play "A" league teams) ... times are either 8:30, 10:15, or 10:30. The 8:30 games are great ... the others, not so much. We're all working adults, it's tough to be out that late ... especially if you want to hang out after the game and have a beer or something.

There are no high school teams here. What we do have are several highly touted junior programs in the immediate vicinity ... for kids who want to play hockey, that's the route they pretty much have to take. There is the NORPAC league, the NAHL, and if someone is really good they can go the BCHL or AJHL routes in Canada. After that, it's junior A, the CHL, or collegiate hockey. To put into perspective, Tampa Bay Lightning forward Tyler Johnson skated with the Coeur d'Alene team in the NORPAC league as a 16 year old ... put up unreal numbers (like 3 or 4 points a game); then came to Spokane and the WHL as a 17 year old. The rest, as they say, is history.

For being a lower population area, the hockey market is thriving and huge here. It's a deep rooted, long-standing sport that is absolutely adored by most people in the area. Granted, we are less than two hours from the Canadian border - and the Canadian Rockies, where dozens of hockey players are born every year - but, it's cool to see so many people who love the game. It's a lot easier to play hockey as a kid here, and your chances of going pro are far higher than it felt like they were when I lived in Columbus.

So, back on topic: the rec leagues are highly competitive, no matter what level. It seems like every team has a former junior or collegiate player of some sort. There is zero tolerance for nonsense, and celebrating too hard after a goal may cause your teeth to get knocked out. It's taken very seriously.