New to the game
First year on skates. Or returning after fifteen years off. Start with edges, stride, and where to stand without panicking.
Skating basicsFirst year on skates. Or returning after fifteen years off. Start with edges, stride, and where to stand without panicking.
Skating basicsYou can skate. You can pass. You're tired of being the one icing it on the breakout. Time to sharpen the small stuff.
Positioning readsKnees of duct tape. Hands of stone. Wisdom for days. Here for the laughs, the bench stories, and small tune-ups.
Find your lineStride length, edge work, crossovers without faceplants. Starts at the ankles and ends with your quads burning by shift two.
Open the chapterDefensive coverage, neutral-zone reads, forecheck without becoming the backcheck. With a top-down rink so you finally see "weak side."
Open the chapterWrist, snap, slap, and the bar-down prayer. Where to grip, where to shift your weight, where to look so the goalie can't read you.
Open the chapterFrom the pasta-loaders to the chicken-wing crowd. What real beer leaguers actually eat before a 9 p.m. start. Plus a hydration section that mostly says "water, please."
Open the chapterLower your center of gravity by bending at the knees, not the waist. You'll be more stable, faster, and you'll stop looking like you're skating through a windstorm with both hands on a coffee.
Watch a five-year-old at public skate. Now watch yourself. Match the five-year-old.
Knees over toes. Chest up. Stick handle brushes the inside of your thigh, not the back of the bench guy's head.
Standing straight up. You will fall. Everyone will see. Someone will absolutely film it.
Three sets of 30-second wall sits before puck drop. Or skate a slow lap in a deep squat. Five minutes, three times a week.
Hands like silk. Flow under the bucket. Once scored twice on his own goalie.
Doesn't score. Doesn't fight. Blocks shots with his face. Beloved.
Skates squeak. Helmet stickers crisp. Believes offsides applies to everyone.
Knees of duct tape. Knows every ref by first name. Last open-ice hit, 2007.
Two-minute minor per shift. Always brings the postgame case.
Different kind of broken. Buy him the first beer.