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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Duckslayer100" data-source="post: 273601" data-attributes="member: 1485">I haven't laced up my skates since college, and even then I only skated a few times. It's been probably 20 years since I seriously played hockey, and prior to that it was 11 years straight of practices, games and tournaments. Now at 35, I find myself back on the rink. Why? Not really sure. The wife said I should, and I knew a guy who played. He said it was fun and they were always looking for people. Playing evenings on Wednesdays means I really have nothing else going on. And with the wife's blessing, what was there to loose? 20 weeks of weekly play and some much-needed exercise. Now after night 1 for me, and with new stupid-expensive skates, here are some stark realizations I had: 1) I forgot what it's like to skate at top speed down the ice, back again, and down once more. I nearly horked last night right on the blue line. Did I mention I was out of shape?2) Hockey equipment is expensive. I get it -- it's always been expensive. But holy shit, $200 for a flippin' stick?? You can't even find wood ones any more. Everything is composite crap. Don't they break, like, 10 of those a game in the NHL?? Christ! Don't even ask me what I spent on the new skates. Thank God I still have my old-fashioned wood Christian sticks from middle school. 3) Beer league really is a thing! I always thought it was tongue-in-cheek, but no: Before we even hit the ice, someone started passing around whiskey and there was a case of silver bullets for everyone to have. I decided against it for the first time on the ice (see point No. 1), but it certainly seemed to liven up the game a bit. I could get used to this "healthy recreational opportunity" as the wife put it. 4) You can't imagine how stress-free a friendly game of hockey can be without parents screaming from the stands. It took me this long (two decades) to realize that. Folks think football parents are extreme, but I've seen both sides and hockey parents definitely give them a run for the money. Which brings me to my last point...5) I hope my kids don't want to play hockey. I had no idea how much work it was for my parents to bring me to all those practices, games and tournaments. Never mind the expense of equipment, fees and volunteering. Pretty sure they threw a party the day I told them I was quitting so I could focus on hunting instead.</blockquote>

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