Being a 'New Fan'

I've never hidden the fact that I am new to the game. I never followed a season worth of hockey before this year. I only started playing ice hockey this January, my first game ever being on the Canal with the big freeze! The name of this blog even pays homage to how new I am to the sport. So what?

I bring this up after seeing a comment about my relative lack of experience following the Caps posted to Ted's post linking my blog a few days back. It was as if the rest of the words didn't seem to matter to the reader, just that I had only been with this team for two post seasons, and that made my take less worth while. I couldn't help but note that he hadn't mentioned anything about the Wounded Warriors program, good to see his fan rage takes precedent over thinking of something important like them.

So what makes one fan think his words are more important than another? Years following them? How often have they been out to a game? What seats they fill when they get there? How about how many practices they make it out for? Events in and around the area put on by the team? Merchandise owned? Signatures gained?

I hadn't paid attention to the NHL until this team was pointed out to me. This group of guys that skated fast, hit hard, and played the puck with a style I hadn't seen before. If it weren't for this team and the hard pressing offensive game they play, would I be paying attention to hockey right now? Were it not for them would I be watching every game I can every night it's on? Would I have my cable box tuned to NHL network nearly every day for at least a few hours to learn more about the game I've come to love so much all over again? If it weren't for the Washington Capitals would I be itching every day to get back out on the ice myself and press my game harder and a little further? Would I be hitting the gym to make myself better on the ice too? Would I even know about the Wounded Warrior hockey program to try and help with it?

This team created a hockey addict out of me. I can't get enough. My wife loves this game and watches every game with me because of this team. They've inspired me to get back to the game I loved as a kid on the street and to take it to the next step out on the ice. I've lost 15 pounds and am likely in the best shape of my life (even after 5 years in the US Army). I'm meeting new people I wouldn't have met before, striking up conversations I wouldn't have had. I'm finding new ground with old friends. The longer I think about it, there are more and more things that spring to mind about all of the great things I would be missing out on if it weren't for the Washington Capitals and the great cast of players/coaches/everyone who makes the team run.

So when you go to criticize someone about the lack of longevity in their respective fandom, think twice. Just because you've watched a bunch of games, doesn't make you more dedicated to the game and the team.

Media Craziness at Kettler and Open Hockey

Friday morning at Kettler started off calm enough. Sunny and warm outside, but cool and crisp as a rink should be in the stands of the practice rink. But then, this is the playoffs, and that slow start was soon broken by the buzz of media from the full spectrum of the hockey world.

To say there was a good bit of media represented for Morning Skate is more than an understatement. During the regular season, a practice or morning skate pulled a handful of personnel from various online and television sources. Post season? Well, I'll just let the photo do the talking.


They come out in droves this time of year it seems. Much of the throng seen seemed to be from North of the border, as there was more than a fair share of French being thrown about in a manner I've yet to be privy to outside of a High School French class. Standing about in front of the gate, I was hoping to catch one Jose Theodore for a minute of his time for the charity art project I've worked on. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to secure any signatures for the time at the gate, but ended up dragooning myself to opening the gate for media personnel with far too much equipment for their own good. A few nods of thanks and some tired legs from waiting I decided to have a seat.

The team didn't do a full on skate for the day, in fact a good portion didn't skate at all. I took a seat high in the stands to the close net behind the Russian contingent who I've seen regularly taking the boys morning skate in, with obvious attention to Semyon Varlamov.

As I took my seat there was a bit of a contest/game/competition going on with the boys out on the ice, a shooting practice using two sticks in either corner. I wasn't quite able to discern the objective unfortunately, but there was a good amount of chatter through the group as each shot. Eventually the group finished up and moved to other matters at hand.

The practice wound down slowly, with the healthy scratches doing their bit of extra skate before the the ice was quiet and the pucks and sticks were collected. I walked back over to the gate for a while longer, but no one was making their way back around that area. Joe B and Al Koken wandered over as a few kids were hanging about, they signed a few jerseys for them and chatted a bit. Both seemed very personable and were good sports about one fans attempt to take a photo that ended up being video!

After waiting for what seemed to be too long, I checked my clock and seeing as it was past noon, it was definitely time for a quick bite down in mall. A sandwich and a soda was to be the cap of my trip to Kettler, and I sat quietly to myself in the cafe checking through the Kettler website on my phone. I had plans to head back up to Rockville, closer to home, for some stick and shoot, but something told me to double check on the days and times for Open Hockey while I was still around. Luckily I did! There was ice time in 15 minutes! I scarfed down my sandwich and chugged a bit of soda and hoofed it up the stairs (Note: Take the Elevator!). Getting my sticker, I ran out to the Jeep and collected my gear and sticks.

Playing ice hockey on the Capitals practice ice was something of a special moment. I'd known you could for some time, but it was the first time I'd had the chance to do so. It's a great fanboy moment as you cut into the same ice that your team does. The moment was to be slightly short lived as my first shift on came up quickly and I realized just how dehydrated I was, and how eating just before taking the ice is likely a bad idea! A few moments of indigestion and a near issue with my past meal making reappearance, I got through the worst of it and guzzled water at every chance.

While in the locker room getting ready, there was talk of someone on the ice who'd mentioned their brother played for the Caps, a bit of peaked interest, I headed out not thinking too much of it. I took my seat alongside the rest of the guys out there and noticed a Swedish flag on a Bauer stick. A one Kristoffer Backstrom was playing a game of pick up. It was a neat thing for a newbie player like myself to play hockey with a guy who plays in the Swedish Elite League. Luckily, he was on my team so I didn't have to be embarrassed by him skating circles around me! There was no big kerfuffle made about his presence, but it was a fun addition to an already great group who showed for the ice time.

I really look forward to getting some more time out at Kettler, the locker room was far more mature than those I've be accustomed to in Rockville and the attitude on the ice is much more lax and fun. It's a drive, and actually costs more, but the level of fun was much higher than my past open hockey time. In fact I'm doing much the same as I did last week this week! Only this time I'll be putting my freshly cut and taped composite to the test.

Get out there, have some fun, and I'll see you on the ice!

Getting the shakes.

Jealous to no end...

It's been a while since I've strapped on my skates. I'm dying to get back on the ice. The months been tight though, and I haven't been willing to make it more so by throwing down a 10 spot for an hour and a half in the rinks. I keep hoping and praying for some seriously frozen weather to no avail too. There is a bit of freeze going on right now, but will it last long enough? The forecast is doubtful on the front!

This is not to say I've been sitting around not working toward my ultimate goal of league play in the summer. My wife and I are regularly hitting the gym in our apartment complex and making good with what little equipment there is available, or even functional. I'm on a bit of a cardio kick as of late and have been trying to re-gear my efforts into strength training after 15 minutes of hard cardio, be it running on the tread or stepping it out on the elliptical. Being able to use the bike on site would be great, if only it wasn't inop. With some core workouts gleaned from one of my best friends, who just so happens to be a Drill Sergeant at the moment, we make the best of the time and equipment and the results have been promising so far.

The workouts are great, but they're not enough...I need to get my stick on the ice and compete for the puck. I expect I'll try and get out to Rockville by the end of this week to get some stick and ice time though. If only that canal would harden up again...

Firefighters Eat Gooooooood.

That's me. This was last January, when we were still living in Texas. I was a good 2 years out of the Army at this point and working for the Killeen Fire Department. It was a great job, some really great people, and some really great food. The pace wasn't terrible, with only a few fires every month and while the EMS was a bit more busy, you didn't expect to do much in the way of heavy lifting during your shifts on the ambulance. Did I mention the food was amazing?

In the end it was the food that got me hovering over 200 pounds of not muscle. While on shift, if you could, you rested as often as possible and for as long as possible. You never knew when the next big call was coming in and didn't want to be burnt out by the time you got to the scene. The thinking obviously flawed, but man, it sure was nice to sleep while you're at work!

Quickly, I fell into a work out slump. With the longest I was able to keep my active streaks going being two weeks at a time, followed by another month or two activity drought. Soon enough I was feeling gross and fat and tired.

Throw a good helping of school in there, I found myself clamoring for some sort of workable routine. Unfortunately it never manifested.

The first time I hit 205 I could hardly believe it. I was always hovering at 175-180 when I was in the Army. Working out every single morning will help keep you in shape, even if the workouts aren't exactly amazing. But back then I had all the energy in the world, could go for as long as I needed to push myself and hardly felt any of it an hour later. That day I looked down to see the scale tipping into unexplored territory, I didn't have any of that.

So what changed my outlook? Hockey!

During the post season last year, my friend PJ, who I'd played so many games of street hockey with as a kid, told me about this team I should check out, the Capitals, particularly a player named Ovechkin. I had been out of the sport for a long time at this point, with no appreciable knowledge of the NHL. I decided to check out the playoff games and suckered my wife into watching with me. We were instantly hooked. The team was dynamic, fast, hard hitting, and the goals were oh so pretty. We even took time out of our vacation to South Padre to watch the last of the Caps playoff run. While Game 7 was a bust, it was the start of a reawakened love for a game that has always been in my heart.

When we moved to Maryland, Hockey was high on the priority list. October 11th the Caps played the Islanders and I got my first taste of a live NHL game. We went home and set about finding the next game we could make that night.

I soon decided to take up the sport again after those first few games. I felt like such a kid the first time I stepped out on the ice this winter. It's an amazing feeling to awaken that preteen joy in yourself after so many years. A good amount of public skates later I was fitted for skates and my wife was keen to pick them up as a Christmas gift.

I've watched what I eat a little, hit the gym a lot, and put the skates to good use when I could. More of the later two keeps me happier than the first of course! With all of that, after only about 3 months, and I'm walking around at 191. And it feels good.

What does this game cost anyways?

When you're trying to break into a sport like hockey, you become uniquely aware of the up front costs involved. There are obvious purchases that will make your wallet whimper as you dole out hundreds for a single piece of equipment, but then there are hidden costs that you likely didn't even know you needed or had even thought about when you decided you would pour your free time into the game.

My venture began with a few public skates using rentals at a few local rinks. At around $12 a skate, I quickly realized where much of my 'spare' income was going to sink itself. This is one of the few sports you need a special place to play the game in it's natural element. Ice is hard to come by in many places, let alone ice that you're willing to skate on. While yes, you can indeed just play it on the street with a ball, it's a different experience entirely to play out your NHL fantasies on solid sheet of the slippery hard stuff. Should you want to spend a lot of time out on the rink, you're going to rack up a lot of cost quickly. Pick up and Stick time will likely run you $10 or more per session, soaking up $520 a year from your pocket should you only go once a week!

To skate in rentals is an effort in masochism should you try and endure it more than once. Your going to want your own set of skates, and you will pay out your nose to get a good pair that will make your time on the ice a bit more comfortable. You could buy those bargain bin throwaways of course, and your feet will pay. Your feet are your livelihood in nearly all things, so expect to pay upwards of $600 for the top of the line. If you're like me, you want a middle ground of cost/effectiveness where you're getting the most for your buck. Picking out a set of Bauer Vapor X40's, I made sure my wife knew what I wanted when Christmas came around. $350 or so later, I'm skating in comfort.

Sticks run the full gamut of price ranges from the super cheap to the super expensive, and again, you get what you pay for. But for starters, wood sticks are enough to get you going, and there are actually a good amount of options should you do some searching. Expect to drop around $35-50 for a quality wooden stick. Composites are the hotness when it comes to transferring power from your hands to the puck, and that power transfer comes with a price. With some of the most expensive going for nearly $250 a piece and the cheaper side going from $70-100 it's going to be up to you to determine how much your shot is worth to you. Expect to see this n00b sitting toward the lower end of this spectrum for some time to come, unless another gift giving season comes around!

Gloves, Helmets, Shoulders, pants, shins, elbows, jock shorts, and a face mask. Did you consider how much all of this stuff was going to run you when you decided to start playing this game? I don't think I gave it much serious consideration. With all of these things, your running the price tag up anywhere from $25 to $100+ per piece of protective equipment! How much is your personal protection worth to you? How good is your insurance? After working out middle ground equipment using an online shopping cart, I found myself breaking the $400 mark rather quickly. Can I play yet?

Even with all of this out of the way, there are still more expenses to consider! Jerseys, hockey socks, under gear moisture wicking garments, suspenders, mouth piece, tape, and skate sharpening are yet more pieces of the personal hockey expense! Once sorted, you're finally ready to take to the ice fully prepared for a full contact game of hockey.

With any luck, I'll have figured out much of my own hockey budget by the summer. Without it, I'll be slowly gathering equipment bit by bit for the next year and a half! Is the cost worth it? Ask me in a year! I can tell you now though, I'm near certain of my answer already.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Washington Capitals Practice 12-4-09
Kettler Capitals Iceplex

With my last day before classes start for me, I decided to take a gamble and head down to Arlington and see if the Caps would be practicing today. There was no announcement by their twitter account or an update to Caps Today, their near daily talking points update and injury list, but with a game tomorrow, and knowing the regular practice time, I woke up early and headed out, skates in hand.

I really enjoy getting a chance to watch practices. Part of it is, of course, just being a fan of the team, but then there is the part that is all about gleaning tips and drills from the pros. One of the biggest things I've learned from watching, you can only do so much practicing alone! Much of the drill work revolves around passing drills and zone work, and while you can do the skating for these alone, you just don't get the full effect without all of the puck handling and passing involved in running them.

So what's the moral of the story? Get a team. Practice with your team. And get better on an exponential level compared to trying to do it all alone. Even just the little scrimmages between the forwards and the defensemen are going to be 100% more effective than any single skating drill I could pick up.

I need a team. I can't wait to find one.

Holiday Hours

Public Skate's are really the only time I can get on the ice and just practice skating with impunity. The only issue, is that with so many hockey leagues and other ice time hogging activities. Even with Three rinks, Rockville's rinks are still hard pressed to have much time available per day. Kettler has even less, but definitely has the added bonus of watching the Caps practice once in a while while you're there for them, since public skates nearly coincide.

Luckily, it's the holiday season, and while normally that means places are more prone to cutting back on hours, it's reversed and they're open for public skating far more often! Not to mention having the open air rink at Pentagon City open nearly all day long should I sleep in a bit too late one day.

All in all I can easily see myself taking advantage of the additional hours quite a bit through the rest of this week and into next! Should be nice and tiring, and hopefully, not painful...

Expenses, Holidays, and Motivation

So there's no doubt about it, hockey is a rather expensive hobby to break into. You need a lot of different gear, and not much of it is anything you really want to skimp in quality on when your talking about checking another person into the glass. But with the holidays lingering, and college starting up for me in January, money is going to be a bit harder to come by for a little while.

With ice time costing around $11-$12 every skate, getting on the ice for the time I want becomes a bit expensive. Might have to cut back to once a week to save the bank. Cutting back might help me schedule a more solid day of the week for my skate as well though, as the public skate times are some what random.

Motivating myself is hard as well still. I feel most of it stems from my wife's work schedule being so odd at the moment. Hopefully we can get used to it together sooner than later! It's rough being up until 4am randomly. Gym time should be easier to make happen, though I still find myself waiting and procrastinating on that when I'm on an 'off' day. I need to head down there some time today actually!

So if anyone was thinking of getting me anything for the holidays or my birthday, feel free to send cold, hard cash! Hockey gear doesn't buy itself!

It all started on the street.

When I moved to Pennsylvania, I was introduced to Hockey by a close friend. It wasn't a big organized affair, or even all that elaborate. We didn't have much in the way of equipment. We had a few sticks, a smattering of other equipment, a net, and a few of us even had skates we used on occasion. What we did have a lot of was free time, and empty parking spaces.

We would play every morning before school, and every afternoon directly after it. On days we were off, we would play. On days we went home early from the snow and ice, we would play. Sleet, we would play. Dark, we would play. I can't remember much else we ever did besides hockey. If we didn't get to play out on the street, we would go in and break out the Sega Genesis and play NHL, or Mutant League Hockey.

Being in PA, Philly end, we were all Flyers fans. Back in the days of Lindros, Hextall and Desjardins. We never really sat down to watch much in the way of games, but we knew a few of the players and watched SportsCenter as we got ready for school to see the awesome goals from the nights previous.

The entire nieghborhood would come out once we broke out the net. Pj would play goal much of the time, I would slapshot the hell out of him and everyone else just scrummed about in ad hock teams. Throwing sticks after a bad shot was normal. Slight altercations if someone played the ball to hard were uncommon but arose from time to time. With all that, it was the most fun I'd ever had playing any sport.

Buying my crappy street stick a few weeks back all of these memories began pouring back to me. And now every time I watch a game on TV, go skating, or go out to Verizon Center, I'm reminded of how happy this game has always made me, and how glad I am to have it back in my life.

Hockey is hard.

I can't skate. I've never handled a puck. I've never played a single game of Ice Hockey in my entire life. I haven't played an organized sport since I was in grade school. I have no gear to really speak up except a cheap stick I picked up to mess around on the street with. It's been some time since I've had a regular workout program.

With all of that, I think I've got my work cut out for me. I can only get better from here!

My goal with this blog is to keep a record of my progress, my thoughts, my inspirations, my motivation. I hope to keep this going for as long as I'm in the sport in any facet.

So pull up a chair, take a load off, laugh at my failures and injuries, for there shall be many I'm sure, give some advice where you might be able to, and generally enjoy the ride. I know I will.