Tell us about your hockey playing background

[Mattb124]

I suffer from adult-onset hockey, having started playing 12 years ago at age 42. My first team was in the PHA at Vallco/Bridgepointe and we moved to Sharks Ice a couple years later. Currently on three SIAHL teams (captain one), and am strictly D because I only have one lung and don't have the cardio to play F. Right-handed, always felt natural to shoot left.

 

[Tw1ster]

Born in Saskatchewan, started playing hockey at 5 or 6 as a Novice and played all the way up until Peewee (first year of contact hockey) which is when my parents pulled me out of it due to being undersized. I was oblivious to the fact I was probably pretty bad which was the real reason they pulled me out. When I was super young, I never watched a lot of NHL or hockey in general until I latched onto the Sharks. After I was pulled out of hockey, me and my family moved out to BC and joined soccer and did quite well with it. Once I turned 18, got a job, and moved out, my love of the Sharks inspired me to get back into hockey so I joined a beer league that I’ve played in ever since, I’m 36 now. I’ve never been a great skater or puck handler but I’ve always been able to put up a lot of points just for knowing where to go, being good along the boards, and being a good passer. It’s been a great hobby in my adult years and I plan to continue to play until I physically cannot.

 

[bluefunnel]

Played some roller hockey as a young kid in goal. Got into an accident that required no activity for several months and then I never really felt up to doing anything through my high school years so I never really got back into it.

 

[Pavelski2112]

Used to play a fair amount of street hockey when I was younger. A summer program I went to when I was a kid was run by a guy who was pretty buddy-buddy with the Sharks and I remember he was able to get us a bunch of hockey equipment and I played goalie for a while.

After that, nothing until I was about 21, when I started playing roller hockey at Silver Creek and did that for about 5 years. Mostly played D7.5/D7 but played a bit of D6C. At that point I was pretty much a Jacob MacDonald type F/D - good at nothing in particular, but not so horrible that I shouldn't have been on the ice (usually).

 

[tiburon12]

I've been playing ice hockey since I was 4. Was always big and fast and could score, but i never got good enough stickhandling and making plays with my head up to be a solid player. Played youth through highschool, topping out at JV (NE prep school hockey, so not THAT bad). Took a year off for freshman year of college but then joined a local men's league. Moved to BKK, found hockey here after 2ish years, and have been big in the hockey scene here since about 2016.

It's kinda cool, when I started playing here I was one of the better players, leading the league in goals a few times. Now hockey has grown so much that i'm a 2nd line guy in our league and some of the Thai kids i used to help coach and stuff are the better players in the league. Last night at shinny i actually skated with a former SHLer - we get a lot of amazing talent passing through.

Hockey is the best and I'm lucky to play in a country with average temps of 95 lol. I hope to play for the rest of my life.

 

[Munnyro]

I've been playing ice hockey since I was 4. Was always big and fast and could score, but i never got good enough stickhandling and making plays with my head up to be a good enough player. Played youth through highschool, topping out at JV (NE prep school hockey, so not THAT bad). Took a year off for freshman year of college but then joined a local men's league. Moved to BKK, found hockey here after 2ish years, and have been big in the hockey seen here since about 2016.

It's kinda cool, when I started playing here I was one of the better players, leading the league in goals a few times. Now hockey has grown so much that i'm a 2nd line guy in our league and some of the Thai kids i used to help coach and stuff are the better players in the league. Last night at shinny i actually skated with a former SHLer - we get a lot of amazing talent passing through.

Hockey is the best and I'm lucky to play in a country with average temps of 95 lol. I hope to play for the rest of my life.

I'd be interested in hearing some tidbits about hockey in Thailand. An expensive sport in a relatively non-wealthy country and all.

It's gotta have its own unique flavor (see what I did there).

 

[tiburon12]

I'd be interested in hearing some tidbits about hockey in Thailand. An expensive sport in a relatively non-wealthy country and all.

It's gotta have its own unique flavor (see what I did there).

Because of the costs most of the kids who play come from super wealthy families, like stupid wealthy. For the most part, that's a negative, because these kids are spoiled and grew up being the #1, so they have a more difficult time playing a team sport like hockey. Everyone wants to be the superstar; role players don't really exist.

we're at an interesting point in Thai hockey where the best players are 28-35, then there is a gap, and then a whole wave of really good kids aged 16-20 rising the ranks. Many of those kids have already gone overseas (US, UK, Finland, Germany, etc) to play. It's really interesting to watch unfold. When i started there were probably 200 players (both thai and foreigner), now there are about 800 thais that play, and about 120 of those are girls/women. It's great.

 

[CJL182]

Born and raised in the Bay, and grew up watching the other 3 big sports but wasn't exposed to it much besides what I saw on Sportscenter in the mid-late 90's. I remember randomly watching a full game on a Saturday afternoon on Fox in 98/99, was intrigued and wanted to watch more. Started catching games on ESPN and watched all of the 99 Final with the infamous Hull goal. I was hooked after that. The Daryl Sydor crawling on the ice moment in the 2000 Final is the first distinct memory I have of "Damn, THIS is how special the Cup is. THIS is what it means to players and what they'll do for it." I didn't realize the Sharks were so close and started following them closely and got invested. Went to my first game at the Tank in '03 and it was over after that. Football was probably my favorite sport growing up, but nothing has come even close to hockey since then.

After watching hockey for nearly 25 years, my buddy convinced me to start playing last year. I always knew it was incredibly hard, but it's definitely a new found appreciation trying to do it myself. I really wish I at least learned how to skate growing up, but better now than never lol. Want to play D eventually (played D pretty much exclusively in NHL), but my skating isn't there yet. My friend says my brain and hands are way faster than my feet haha. Finally scored my first goal last night though, that was a sweet feeling.