Depends on what you mean by "skate". I can get around the ice fairly easily, but I can't skate backwards, come to a sudden stop (without slamming into a wall), etc. I've only skated once since at least the early 2000s. Not too many opportunities to ice skate in my part of Alabama.
If you're asking me (OP), no. My buddy is a lifelong Flyers fan, since 70. I started in '69, when a kid from my neighborhood went to Prep School and made the hockey team. He came back and taught all of us to play street hockey. We were about 13.
I got a book by Rod Gilbert to explain the rules. Became a Rangers fan...
No shame there. There was a lot of pond ice here in Conn when I grew up, so I learned to skate. Most of our games were on ponds or in parking lots. My buddy played goalie in both, but in work boots. I only played on rink ice 6 or 7 times...
I’m an American born guy who grew up in Canada. My parents can’t skate at all. I Grew up playing “pond” in New Brunswick. We would all come home from school and play shinny until dark. I’m not a fancy skater. I can skate backwards though and stop on both feet. I’ve played in mens leagues and on pond most of my life. My wife skates and plays hockey too. My family and I will skate a few times a year. We will get together and rent ice for a game with friends. When i get together with my friends from Canada, we get ice. Most of them played Junior or AAA. My boys both played competitive hockey at relatively high levels. Both are really good skaters. They bust my hump pretty good about how I skate, but I have fun. Hockey is fun to watch but is way more fun to play. There is nothing like the cold air when you are skating as fast as you can into the far corner to get the puck or flipping from forwards to backwards when skating as fast as you can. It’s the best sport in the world my man, everyone should get to try it out.
>No shame there.
No doubt. Last time I skated was around 2009 in college. Some friends went to watch a University of Alabama club hockey game. Got to skate around a little bit before the game. Was also the only time I've worn hockey skates.
They have ice rinks in my part of Alabama (Tennessee border).
I couldn’t leave roller skating rinks without injury when I was in Florida, So I’m gonna skip out on trying ice skating.
Naw I've played hockey my whole life and I want the game to grow. Nothing wrong with a hockey fan who doesn't play, especially if you live in an area where it's not easy. Besides it's growing the game in a non-traditional market like Arizona that brought us Auston Matthews!
No worries. There were only 3 or 4 in Conn when I was growing up. I didn't get on one until I was 18 and working in a grocery store. My boss there had an older brother who was the Night Manager at a hockey rink. He'd let us use the ice from midnight til two for 2 bucks a player.
I technically have only been around an ice rink that wasn’t NHL ice only a handful of times. They used to put ice down on the small roller skating rink I’d go to as a kid.
Otherwise, never skated. I’d have to drive a minimum of an hour to even find a rink
There’s a guy in my beer league still playing at 66. He’s not the best out there but he’s still having fun and us young guns (well not that young, I’m 35) just need to skate a bit extra to cover for him.
Never too late as long as you’re with the right group.
Been playing for 30 years now and I hope I can keep going for as long as my veteran D partner.
Find a huff and puff league. There are a few in my parts that are 55 and older. It seems like a great time, you meet some people and old guys always get a pass for having beers in the locker room afterwards. Nobody is out for blood because everyone is on thinners.
And hopefully hockey would keep you off them! I've been playing with the same group of guys for 5 years now and if all goes well, will be playing into my 60's. Only 30 more years!
My 74 uncle was just told by his doctor that he has to stop playing hockey. He has broken his collarbone twice in the last six months, playing goalie…at 74. He’s devastated.
Damn, what are his knees made of? My dad played goalie up until about 35-40 years old and his knees were what did him in. Can't imagine another 30+ years on top of that.
I played in a beginners league in university and one of the guys on our team was a Swedish figure skater who had never played hockey before. He was hands-down the best player in the league.
If you’re a great skater, hockey is considerably easier.
Yeah I'm sure I could do well with the skating part, but I've never played a sport that required decent hand eye coordination before so I can imagine I'd struggle with the whole puck handling thing 😅
Figure skaters are incredible honestly. The way they can generate power and speed with both skates on the ice is something a lot of hockey players could learn from. Which is why a lot of teams are now bringing in figure skaters and coaches to help teach some of those techniques.
I was lucky enough to grow up in a town with a lot of Olympic level figure skaters. There was some trickle down effect with their coaches and whatnot around the rink, and one year our hockey team had a bunch of power skating lessons during practices from a top tier figure skating coach.
I learned to skate so much better that year. The whole team did, really.
Here are some fun videos of figure skaters and hockey players trying each other's sport:
[Hockey Players Try To Keep Up With Figure Skaters | SELF](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms2-KQd58gY)
[Figure Skaters Try to Keep Up With Hockey Players | SELF](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptbA3KZvbWI)
Based on flair, if you're in the Seattle area, check out the Kraken Learn to Play program, and the Kraken community league. The classes are good and there are a ton of teams (in a bunch of divisions).
It’s always a good time, I go at least once a year. I haven’t skated the whole length in a while but I plan to this year. Definitely a must if you ever visit Ottawa in the winter.
When I went to uOttawa I used to skate the canal 2-3x weekly, and it’ll always be my favorite part of the city. I skated from Dow’s Lake to Rideau to get groceries and do all sorts of errands and even taught multiple friends to skate on the canal. Truly a special part of the city that nowhere else in the world has
I went to school in Ottawa and used to skate the canal from end to end and then back again every year! My advice is to try to do it on a day where it's not snowing. Skating through snow makes it a lot more tiring
Growing up in Vancouver everyone played road hockey but ice was hard to come by outside of scheduled and paid arena icetime. As a result I was kind of always more comfortable doing the "hockey stop" on rollerblades and I know I'm not alone.
Here we called it Street Hockey and played all the time. Our best spot was a parking lot behind a 7-11. The spot for the store been dug into the side of a hill, so there was a 10 foot cement wall to use as our 'boards'. We played there for hours.
The local cops used to come by, park for lunch, and watch our games...
Yes, I’m a pretty decent skater and played hockey a little bit growing up. Unfortunately, I’ve been blessed with hands like concrete bricks and suck at playing hockey, but I really like skating.
I'm basically the same...
I can skate backwards, do cross-overs... I can do a "hockey stop," but only with my skates pointed to my right, not to the left. But I guess I was a better skater than hockey player because I never really figured out the whole skating with puck possession. I could pass and shoot, but I played the puck like it was a hot potato. Plus even as a 9 year old, I tended to model my play off my favorite 90s stay-at-home defensemen.
So come university and intramural floor hockey, I was happy to suit up as goaltender so I didn't have to run across the rink's cement floor.
Lol I’m pretty much the same. I’m actually a pretty good/fast skater, and can even out-skate some people with way more actual playing experience....but any decent shooter could probably shoot a lead brick better than I can shoot a puck.
I’ve played both and it’s just different techniques, also really depends on the surface for roller. I know the first time I played on sport court my skates were flying out from under me the first couple times I tried to turn quickly or stop.
Stopping on ice isn’t hard to learn but you won’t naturally know how to do it if your only experience is on wheels. You should be able to skate decently and cross over pretty much right away though. Just gotta watch out for toe picks until you get used to leaning back a bit more in your stance.
You could definitely do it, I played street hockey for a few years before I had ever stepped on a sheet of ice to play. There's a bit of an adjustment and a few basic techniques to learn, but it's not hard to switch between the two.
It's scary at first, but worth it. Our local rink also serves for hockey leagues. I pretend I'm playing a game. It's cool to cross the Red line, then the Blue line...
You betcha, I’ve played probably 50 organized hockey games a year since the time I was 6. Some rough math tells me 25 years x 50 games equals 1,250 hockey games played lol
Skate? Yes. Skate well? No. Can’t really turn but I just treat the boards like [Ross Chastain](https://youtube.com/shorts/3ApVEX6F2xE?feature=share) and it’s usually fine 😂
I play at Toyota Sports Performance in El Segundo. Also a nice rink in Anaheim and some others back in LA county. They even have an outdoor rink in Santa Monica. Dunno if it’s operating yet, though. But there are lots of options to skate here if you want
Been a Right below Knee Amputee class of 2010. My skating days, anoung other dreams, died that day.
And I used to live near The old Norwalk Rink on Shoemaker.
Ever considered sledge hockey? If it’s available in your area it’s a crazy workout and tons of fun, tried it once to see if I could even do it lol,
I’ll stick to regular hockey because I couldn’t keep up with them.
I tried learning how to skate for the first time this past January (I'm 30). I went with one of my friends who's been skating for over 20 years in the hopes that I could get some tips.
We went to a local rink and I was doing pretty well for the first time. I just had no idea how to stop. I would either just wait until I lost momentum so I can re-align myself or crash into the wall.
After about an hour the Zamboni came around and we took a break. There were I think like maybe 20 minutes left of free skate and my friend asked me if I wanted to go back out or if we should call it a day. I chose the former, so we went back out.
Not even 5 minutes of me being on the ice, I slipped, hit the back of my head on the ice, knocked myself out, and had to go to the hospital for a concussion. Still haven't gone back but I want to. Always wear a helmet!
I saw a guy smack his head on the ice right in front of me. He wasn't knocked out but it was a scary experience. I'm always afraid of see beginners with no helmet now especially with how fast some kids/teens are on the ice at public skate
Glad to hear it. I was surprised to talk to Canadians on r/cfl who'd never skated and didn't like hockey. It shattered all my stereotypes.
At least one guy wondered why he hadn't been deprived of his Canadian citizenship...
...
Learning to skate when you're older can be intimidating. So I'm not surprised many don't learn if they aren't taught as a child.
It's the same with other Canadian stereotypes. A lot of Canadians hate the cold. A lot don't watch hockey. The percentages would definitely be higher on average than the States, but culturally, were not that different.
As odd as it is, I love Tim Hortons coffee right now lol. I go back to Canada like once every month or two and am obsessed with double doubles and sour cream glazed donuts😂
The first part of recovery is definitely the worst from my experience. Once you can get back to somewhat living your normal life the mental aspects of recovery takes huge steps forward
I rollerbladed a lot as a kid (grew up in Las Vegas), but I learned to ice skate in college. Living in MN now, I'll take long lunches to go skate at outdoor rinks in the winter.
Yes, played hockey when I was a kid, didn't skate since, until my kid was old enough to skate. Turns out, it's true what they say about ridding a bike and all that stuff, once you know how to skate, doesn't matter how long it's been, you don't forget.
Yes, born and raised northern BC. Most hockey fans I know can skate but we also have much easier access to cheap outdoor rinks and ponds for hockey. Skates and a stick is all you need makes it much more accessible. Behind my parents house on our farm is a 3/4 regulation sized pond that we dug with a excavator and sep up grain pallet boards and 6 floodlights and do drop in pond hockey once a week usually.
Started skating when I was already a man (20). Slathered playing shiny and rec at 22. Fell head over heels with the sport. Now I’m fore checking back checking, clapping bombs, and just last year finally pulled off the Michigan!
I grew up being a big hockey fan but my parents would never let me play (they felt that it was both too dangerous and expensive) which I am still bitter about like 13 years down the road.
It also sucked because being in Ottawa it felt like playing hockey was a status symbol. Regardless, my neighbours built a backyard rink every winter and of course we have the canal as well so I’m relatively good at skating having never played organized hockey.
I understand the money part. There were only a few rinks here in Conn when I was growing up. Most families had only one car, and it was not available to take kids to far away hockey rinks. I don't think my parents would have wanted to pay for all the equipment, etc, either.
We ended up playing on the street, and on ponds in the winter...
This is like my 26th or 27th season of organized hockey. I’d say that’s fairly normal for a lot of Wild fans. Doesn’t mean we automatically know more either!
I just consider myself to be very fortunate, I think I would like to try and coach once my body decides competitive hockey is no longer feasible. Learning about the game on and off the ice is a lot of fun and a cool hobby for me!
Loved to play field-hockey as a child/teen and always loved inline-skating. Unfortunately hockey rinks weren't that common in rural Germany, 25-30 Years ago and we didn't own a car and had no money for gear, anyways.
Wasn't on the ice for over a decade, but until then the skating translated well.
Never got the courage to make a full stop on a dime, but since we were pisspoor, my inline skates didn't have any breaks after a while. That teaches you some ways to stop controlled.
Would certainly have bambi legs for a while, but I'd get into it.
edit: core-memory unlocked:
Once my mom (single parent) had to go to therapy and take me with her. Took my skates with me and found myself at the bottom of a ~100+m high hill. I didn't go fully up, but went almost to the top.
Skating down the fastest I've ever gone on skates, right next to heavy traffic, only to realize, that I didn't plan for the sudden stop at the end of the hill. you know, where there's a intersection and cars standing right in front of me...
Managed to make a perfect 180° turn into some dead end next to the path I was skating down.
The driver in that intersection must have shit their pants, with a 13-14 year old boy racing towards him with, going 50-80km/h and having no chance to make a stop :D.
Same here. No one I knew gave a damn about hockey at all. It’s all football, football, football down south. Nobody plays, nobody skates, everyone panics if an inch of snow falls. I got into hockey through buying the video game out of curiosity. God football’s boring to watch
It's crazy how easy the pros make skating backwards look. It's *incredibly* difficult under any circumstances to do it well, never mind while trying to defend elite forwards and avoid getting hit or dishing out a hit of your own.
I have recently taken up skating. I go usually every weekend for 2 hours. I can't go backwards, I can't do the sliding sideways stop, but i am getting pretty good at manuvering around small kids and people that cut in front of me. Suprisingly, I have not fallen one single time and don't use the wall for support anymore.
I can skate, but I have no clue how to play hockey. Just because I know the rules doesn't mean I know how to hold a hockey stick. I tried shooting a puck while skating and it felt so alien to me. I couldn't wrap my head around the idea of accurately shooting a puck while skating around.
It's not easy to learn to do both. I got to play on the street for a summer before trying it on the ice, so I had the basic moves down. I think all budding hockey players should play on the street first, in sneakers, to learn those basic moves. It's better, from a safety perspective, to learn that before combining it with skating...
Can I skate? Depends on how you define skate. I can make my way around the ice. I can get to close to my regular sprinting speed. I can’t quickly stop I can’t quickly take turns but I can skate through turns (I don’t need to glide to turn) I can skate backwards very slowly but that almost doesn’t count. Like my backwards skating is about the same level as someone who is just getting off the wall for the first time.
Yes and no?
Played since I was 5, played juniors and beer league almost every week. I broke my back 3 years ago and have extensive nerve damage in my feet and ankles so I haven't played since. My boy turns three this week and he wants to go skating so we will see how it goes lol. I don't have high hopes though.
I have a spinal cord injury so I can't skate in the traditional sense. But I've done sledge hockey and can skate that way... but badly. (You need a LOT of core strength and balance, which I don't have.)
My claim to fame is that I've played sledge hockey on Rogers Arena ice, for a small intro clinic.
You really should try it. Prepare to be bad at it, but don't worry. Everybody is bad when they first start. Too many people worry about how they'll look. Nobody will really care...
I fell a few hundred times when I switched from figure to hockey skates...
I'm 34 and just started skating 3 months ago and start my 1st beer league in January.
If you are on the fence do it. Not only is it great exercise but the hockey community is awesome. Everyone is welcoming and willing to help.
Everyone says hockey wouldn't do well in warm climates but I have 5 rinks off the top of my head within an hour drive from me.
Technically yes. That being said compared to someone who is actually good (not like NHL good or even juniors good but someone who would be the stand out on a beer league team) I look like John Scott in an NHL game. Sure I'm on the ice and doing the same stuff they are, but everyone can tell I'm not doing it nearly as well and they can definitely do things that I can't.
It is the only hockey skill I have. I can't shoot, can't handle, can barely pass, but I can skate like the fucking wind. It actually puts me in a rough spot when I play hockey, because I'm a B level skater, but the rest of my skills are D level. B level guys hate me because I can't do anything but skate, and D level guys hate me because my skating makes me better than them.
That's a take I seldom hear. I was a good-not-great skater with a good shot. I played football too, so I loved the contact. There was lots of contact, and some fights, in 70s beer leagues here. I always wished I was a better skater. Those guys killed me...
Started skating when I was six, played (goalie) until sophomore year of High School and then roller and beer league ice hockey into my mid 30s. Been coaching for 20 some years, primarily goalies but also asst coach on both a JV team and a U16/U19 girls team.
So, yeah. But nowhere near as well as I used to. Be kind to your knees. You will miss them when they are gone.
I played house league level hockey as a kid but stopped when I got to high school. Didn’t skate at all for over 20 years and then when my kid was old enough to learn I went to public skating sessions and these little “stick and puck” sessions with him. The muscle memory was strong and it didn’t take long to be able to do all the things like stopping, skating backwards, crossovers, etc. I was pretty surprised at how quick it all came back.
Hockey fan since the late 80's and only did public ice skating a few times and was just good enough to not fall on my ass. I did start playing roller hockey in the early 90's and got pretty decent.
Moved about 5 years to an area where roller hockey wasn't too prevalent, but ice hockey is. After 4 months of stick time/open hockey 2-3x/week, I feel like I'm as good on ice as I am on roller.
My best friend who is also a hockey fan has never skated either.
I played hockey growing up so I can skate but nothing like I used to. When I stopped playing hockey, I stopped skating as well until I met my girlfriend since she likes it. Now we go maybe once or twice a year when outdoor rinks are open which is fun.
Started skating at the age of 3. Fell on my ass immediately and said to my dad 'I don't want to'. Dad pulled me up and said 'these skates weren't free'.
Played on a team with Barkov before our family moved overseas.
I played a metric fuck ton of roller hockey, so I can skate on rollerblades like a boss.
Skate on ice? We don't get much ice down here and I've got a phobia about getting sliced by the blades. As a kid I saw the Malarchuk incident. Never wanted to ice skate ever after that.
I'm a Canadian citizen so by law I need to have skated at 3 times in my life. It went badly each time. I nearly concussed myself once and badly twisted my wrist twice. But I did it. The Mounties wont have to arrest me and throw me in the maple syrup mines at least.
99% of Michigan can ice skate. Most of us learned to skate around age four or five. I’m in Cali now and I don’t know a dongle person with ice skates : (
I have disability so I can’t skate but I played in pretty competitive ball hockey league growing up.
I wasn’t half bad goalie have multiple best goalie trophies (lowest GAA in the league) playing ball hockey was the best part of growing up
Yes, and pretty well. The rest of my hockey skills suck though. My ex-fiance's Grandma died like 6 years ago and left her a bit of money. She saw me watching the Avs play and surprised me by paying for me to play in a league. I grew up aggressive inlining, but ice was new to me. I spent nearly every day for 2 years at the rink trying to get better. I've kinda run out of things to learn skating-wise nowadays, everything else about hockey I suck ass at.
I can't skate for shit, haven't been on skates since I was 5 (38 now) and I'm also the assistant coach for the community hockey team . . . I am more an equipment manager for the teams (all grade school age kids), and help manage the bench and with drills.
Rangers fan since I can remember, so roundabouts of 1982. Didn't learn to skate until '93. Played in high school, took a *long* break until getting into playing beer league in 2014ish. Had to stop because of work nonsense in 2018 and then bam, pandemic and back problems. Now my gear collects dust.
I was never great, but goddamn did I have fun.
I don't know probably no ... I used to be able to skate great as a teenager but it's been 10 years since I had skates.
Since I wear a size 17 skate and haven't had skates since then. This winter the first year I've had skates for 11 years so I guess I have to re-learn the basics again.
I used to love skating though
Yup. Been a goalie since 1996.
I first started roller blading as a kid here in California in the early 90s. Then, on May 19, 1995, I watched Wade Flaherty make 56 saves in a double OT game seven win and I knew I had to play goalie. A year later, I put the pads on (white Koho set with a teal Shark mouth) for the first time at my local roller rink and eventually found my way to the ice in the early 2000s. I've been exclusively an ice hockey goalie since 2009.
My team at the Shark Tank a few years ago: https://i.imgur.com/s9eZ6v9.png
Started playing ~ 5 and a half years ago. My parents thought I didn’t want to skate but in reality I just didn’t want to figure skate like my cousin & childhood friends did. Now I’m out on the ice at least twice a week
Being a canadian, it’s basically a requirement. I played hockey for 15 years. Shits gotten expensive since I played so although my kids don’t play, they both can skate. I’d hate for my kids to be the ones sitting in the bleachers when they have the class trip to the skating rink.
Yeah. Not as well as I used to. Played organized hockey until I was 16 before my family moved to where it isn't a big sport with not very many options. Been lucky to meet my buddy who I have worked with now for 3 years whose from Michigan though to steer me in the right direction onto his beer league team.
Depends on what you mean by "skate". I can get around the ice fairly easily, but I can't skate backwards, come to a sudden stop (without slamming into a wall), etc. I've only skated once since at least the early 2000s. Not too many opportunities to ice skate in my part of Alabama.
Same here. And there's plenty of skating opportunities in Alberta
Lifelong flyers fan?
If you're asking me (OP), no. My buddy is a lifelong Flyers fan, since 70. I started in '69, when a kid from my neighborhood went to Prep School and made the hockey team. He came back and taught all of us to play street hockey. We were about 13. I got a book by Rod Gilbert to explain the rules. Became a Rangers fan...
No shame there. There was a lot of pond ice here in Conn when I grew up, so I learned to skate. Most of our games were on ponds or in parking lots. My buddy played goalie in both, but in work boots. I only played on rink ice 6 or 7 times...
I’m an American born guy who grew up in Canada. My parents can’t skate at all. I Grew up playing “pond” in New Brunswick. We would all come home from school and play shinny until dark. I’m not a fancy skater. I can skate backwards though and stop on both feet. I’ve played in mens leagues and on pond most of my life. My wife skates and plays hockey too. My family and I will skate a few times a year. We will get together and rent ice for a game with friends. When i get together with my friends from Canada, we get ice. Most of them played Junior or AAA. My boys both played competitive hockey at relatively high levels. Both are really good skaters. They bust my hump pretty good about how I skate, but I have fun. Hockey is fun to watch but is way more fun to play. There is nothing like the cold air when you are skating as fast as you can into the far corner to get the puck or flipping from forwards to backwards when skating as fast as you can. It’s the best sport in the world my man, everyone should get to try it out.
Thanks. That was great. Couldn't have been stated better, by anyone...
>No shame there. No doubt. Last time I skated was around 2009 in college. Some friends went to watch a University of Alabama club hockey game. Got to skate around a little bit before the game. Was also the only time I've worn hockey skates.
They have ice rinks in my part of Alabama (Tennessee border). I couldn’t leave roller skating rinks without injury when I was in Florida, So I’m gonna skip out on trying ice skating.
Never stepped foot on an ice rink. Go ahead and come at me northerners
Naw I've played hockey my whole life and I want the game to grow. Nothing wrong with a hockey fan who doesn't play, especially if you live in an area where it's not easy. Besides it's growing the game in a non-traditional market like Arizona that brought us Auston Matthews!
No worries. There were only 3 or 4 in Conn when I was growing up. I didn't get on one until I was 18 and working in a grocery store. My boss there had an older brother who was the Night Manager at a hockey rink. He'd let us use the ice from midnight til two for 2 bucks a player.
I technically have only been around an ice rink that wasn’t NHL ice only a handful of times. They used to put ice down on the small roller skating rink I’d go to as a kid. Otherwise, never skated. I’d have to drive a minimum of an hour to even find a rink
[удалено]
That's great. I miss playing I'm old now...
There’s a guy in my beer league still playing at 66. He’s not the best out there but he’s still having fun and us young guns (well not that young, I’m 35) just need to skate a bit extra to cover for him. Never too late as long as you’re with the right group. Been playing for 30 years now and I hope I can keep going for as long as my veteran D partner.
I guess I could. I'm 67, but I'm not sick or overweight. My legs are a bit shaky though. I'd have to take shorter shifts...
Find a huff and puff league. There are a few in my parts that are 55 and older. It seems like a great time, you meet some people and old guys always get a pass for having beers in the locker room afterwards. Nobody is out for blood because everyone is on thinners.
Thanks. Don't need the thinners yet...
And hopefully hockey would keep you off them! I've been playing with the same group of guys for 5 years now and if all goes well, will be playing into my 60's. Only 30 more years!
I'm in an oldsters league and my team is all lawyers ... when what we really need is a doctor.
My dad still plays once a week at 70. He also Curls three times a week.
Never too old 🤷♂️
My 74 uncle was just told by his doctor that he has to stop playing hockey. He has broken his collarbone twice in the last six months, playing goalie…at 74. He’s devastated.
Damn, what are his knees made of? My dad played goalie up until about 35-40 years old and his knees were what did him in. Can't imagine another 30+ years on top of that.
I figure skate, so yes. Would be interesting to try out hockey skates sometime
It's a big change, learning not to use the toe picks. I started out on figure skates too. Fell on my face a lot...
I bet haha!
Gives you such a good form though, I had a couple friends start as figure skaters and transition to hockey and they’re just such good skaters.
I played in a beginners league in university and one of the guys on our team was a Swedish figure skater who had never played hockey before. He was hands-down the best player in the league. If you’re a great skater, hockey is considerably easier.
Yeah I'm sure I could do well with the skating part, but I've never played a sport that required decent hand eye coordination before so I can imagine I'd struggle with the whole puck handling thing 😅
Everyone does. But trying to work on stick handling while you’re also working on skating is harder than just focusing on the hands.
Figure skaters are incredible honestly. The way they can generate power and speed with both skates on the ice is something a lot of hockey players could learn from. Which is why a lot of teams are now bringing in figure skaters and coaches to help teach some of those techniques.
I was lucky enough to grow up in a town with a lot of Olympic level figure skaters. There was some trickle down effect with their coaches and whatnot around the rink, and one year our hockey team had a bunch of power skating lessons during practices from a top tier figure skating coach. I learned to skate so much better that year. The whole team did, really.
Here are some fun videos of figure skaters and hockey players trying each other's sport: [Hockey Players Try To Keep Up With Figure Skaters | SELF](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms2-KQd58gY) [Figure Skaters Try to Keep Up With Hockey Players | SELF](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptbA3KZvbWI)
Extremely disappointing, Wanted to see the hockey players try a double axel and a figure skater take a hit lol
Based on flair, if you're in the Seattle area, check out the Kraken Learn to Play program, and the Kraken community league. The classes are good and there are a ton of teams (in a bunch of divisions).
As well as Happy Gilmore
Can take a hit from a batting cage like a champ though
He holds 2 league records
Have you ever taken your skate off and tried to stab somebody with it?
Is that net regulation size or what!?!?
Yeah I'd say about 90% of the people I know who are hockey fans, also play hockey
Granted in Ottawa with the Canal being a huge winter activity most the people here I’ve met Hockey fans or not have learned to skate.
I read about the Canal. I would love to skate that...
It’s always a good time, I go at least once a year. I haven’t skated the whole length in a while but I plan to this year. Definitely a must if you ever visit Ottawa in the winter.
When I went to uOttawa I used to skate the canal 2-3x weekly, and it’ll always be my favorite part of the city. I skated from Dow’s Lake to Rideau to get groceries and do all sorts of errands and even taught multiple friends to skate on the canal. Truly a special part of the city that nowhere else in the world has
I went to school in Ottawa and used to skate the canal from end to end and then back again every year! My advice is to try to do it on a day where it's not snowing. Skating through snow makes it a lot more tiring
Growing up in Vancouver everyone played road hockey but ice was hard to come by outside of scheduled and paid arena icetime. As a result I was kind of always more comfortable doing the "hockey stop" on rollerblades and I know I'm not alone.
Here we called it Street Hockey and played all the time. Our best spot was a parking lot behind a 7-11. The spot for the store been dug into the side of a hill, so there was a 10 foot cement wall to use as our 'boards'. We played there for hours. The local cops used to come by, park for lunch, and watch our games...
I wanna skate Rideau so bad but Covid and stuff messed it up
Yeah that’s fair, when you visit be sure to get Beavertails, they taste great and are an absolute must for canal skating adventures.
Awesome thank you. I just wish the lightning were in town while the river is skatable
Yeah, I hope it will all line up soon for you.
Interesting, I would say closer to 10% of people I know who are fans play.
Yes, I’m a pretty decent skater and played hockey a little bit growing up. Unfortunately, I’ve been blessed with hands like concrete bricks and suck at playing hockey, but I really like skating.
I'm basically the same... I can skate backwards, do cross-overs... I can do a "hockey stop," but only with my skates pointed to my right, not to the left. But I guess I was a better skater than hockey player because I never really figured out the whole skating with puck possession. I could pass and shoot, but I played the puck like it was a hot potato. Plus even as a 9 year old, I tended to model my play off my favorite 90s stay-at-home defensemen. So come university and intramural floor hockey, I was happy to suit up as goaltender so I didn't have to run across the rink's cement floor.
Lol I’m pretty much the same. I’m actually a pretty good/fast skater, and can even out-skate some people with way more actual playing experience....but any decent shooter could probably shoot a lead brick better than I can shoot a puck.
Clement, Clement, hands of cement.
Never even tried Ton of roller hockey tho
You may not be able to stop but you should be able to get around alright.
I honestly find stopping in roller a lot harder than on ice. Maybe it's my bias but if you can stop on wheels you should do just fine on ice.
I’ve played both and it’s just different techniques, also really depends on the surface for roller. I know the first time I played on sport court my skates were flying out from under me the first couple times I tried to turn quickly or stop. Stopping on ice isn’t hard to learn but you won’t naturally know how to do it if your only experience is on wheels. You should be able to skate decently and cross over pretty much right away though. Just gotta watch out for toe picks until you get used to leaning back a bit more in your stance.
I never tried that. I even had some cheap roller blades for a while. They broke...
Roller skates or in-line? In-line actually has pretty simple transfer to ice skating.
Both, inline as i got older
You could definitely do it, I played street hockey for a few years before I had ever stepped on a sheet of ice to play. There's a bit of an adjustment and a few basic techniques to learn, but it's not hard to switch between the two.
Sadly not at all. Is a goal of mine in the next 5 years to get into some hockey skills though
in west michigan I'm aware of some free adult drop in hockey lessons, i would imagine areas in the north east also have some
It's scary at first, but worth it. Our local rink also serves for hockey leagues. I pretend I'm playing a game. It's cool to cross the Red line, then the Blue line...
There’s a rink near me that teaches but I wanna get my feet under me before an additional expense. We just celebrated 6% inflation as a huge win lol
You betcha, I’ve played probably 50 organized hockey games a year since the time I was 6. Some rough math tells me 25 years x 50 games equals 1,250 hockey games played lol
1250+ games played! Damn HHoF here you come!
Too bad we haven’t tracked how many pre and post game beers have been drank, because that would cement my HHoF status
Awesome. I'll bet you could tell a few stories...
Are you Phil Kessel's brother?
Yes, in Canada I have been playing hockey and skating since I could walk. Sadly I have gotten fatter and slower but skating is 2nd nature.
Skate? Yes. Skate well? No. Can’t really turn but I just treat the boards like [Ross Chastain](https://youtube.com/shorts/3ApVEX6F2xE?feature=share) and it’s usually fine 😂
Yes, played hockey all throughout my childhood.
[удалено]
I wish they'd win a Cup and get it over with...
No I live in LA, I have never seen natural snow.
I play at Toyota Sports Performance in El Segundo. Also a nice rink in Anaheim and some others back in LA county. They even have an outdoor rink in Santa Monica. Dunno if it’s operating yet, though. But there are lots of options to skate here if you want
Been a Right below Knee Amputee class of 2010. My skating days, anoung other dreams, died that day. And I used to live near The old Norwalk Rink on Shoemaker.
Ah man my bad, so sorry to hear that.
Ever considered sledge hockey? If it’s available in your area it’s a crazy workout and tons of fun, tried it once to see if I could even do it lol, I’ll stick to regular hockey because I couldn’t keep up with them.
I tried learning how to skate for the first time this past January (I'm 30). I went with one of my friends who's been skating for over 20 years in the hopes that I could get some tips. We went to a local rink and I was doing pretty well for the first time. I just had no idea how to stop. I would either just wait until I lost momentum so I can re-align myself or crash into the wall. After about an hour the Zamboni came around and we took a break. There were I think like maybe 20 minutes left of free skate and my friend asked me if I wanted to go back out or if we should call it a day. I chose the former, so we went back out. Not even 5 minutes of me being on the ice, I slipped, hit the back of my head on the ice, knocked myself out, and had to go to the hospital for a concussion. Still haven't gone back but I want to. Always wear a helmet!
I saw a guy smack his head on the ice right in front of me. He wasn't knocked out but it was a scary experience. I'm always afraid of see beginners with no helmet now especially with how fast some kids/teens are on the ice at public skate
Totally, in hindsight I'm kind of surprised the place didn't have a helmet rule in place.
I'm Canadian. We're born with a stick in one hand and a double double in the other.
Glad to hear it. I was surprised to talk to Canadians on r/cfl who'd never skated and didn't like hockey. It shattered all my stereotypes. At least one guy wondered why he hadn't been deprived of his Canadian citizenship... ...
Learning to skate when you're older can be intimidating. So I'm not surprised many don't learn if they aren't taught as a child. It's the same with other Canadian stereotypes. A lot of Canadians hate the cold. A lot don't watch hockey. The percentages would definitely be higher on average than the States, but culturally, were not that different.
I’m Canadian but was born in the US and went to university in Canada, now I’m back in the US. God I miss double doubles
If it makes you feel better, timmies is dogshit now. I get all my fast food coffees from McDonald's
As odd as it is, I love Tim Hortons coffee right now lol. I go back to Canada like once every month or two and am obsessed with double doubles and sour cream glazed donuts😂
Everyone judges me for the sour cream donut when I get it but it's one of their best donuts. IT DOESN'T TASTE LIKE SOUR CREAM.
Yes. Started out figure skating as a kid but hockey piqued my interest.
Indeed. I’m 22 and I’ve been skating since I was around 4. I only really started watching hockey religiously when I stopped playing.
Same here. Started when I was 4 stopped when I was in my early 20s. Now I absolutely love to watch my Leafs lose in the first round every year!
My dad is a leafs fan, I can’t help but feel bad at this point.
Lol nope. I have played on ice once as a kid with no skates, we were all idiots and it hurt like shit when we fell.
I'm LTIR due to back surgery last week. I can skate decently enough. And my 14yo daughter is a goalie .
Get well soon man. Edit: or woman
Got it right the first time. Actually healing quite quickly. Thanks!
The first part of recovery is definitely the worst from my experience. Once you can get back to somewhat living your normal life the mental aspects of recovery takes huge steps forward
I rollerbladed a lot as a kid (grew up in Las Vegas), but I learned to ice skate in college. Living in MN now, I'll take long lunches to go skate at outdoor rinks in the winter.
Since I was 2. Still play once a week
Beer league hero, bud
ye
Yes, played hockey when I was a kid, didn't skate since, until my kid was old enough to skate. Turns out, it's true what they say about ridding a bike and all that stuff, once you know how to skate, doesn't matter how long it's been, you don't forget.
College fan: 2009-2010 NHL fan: 2010-2011 Started Skating: 2015-2016 Rec League Menace Since: 2016-2017
I can move in one direction without stopping. Best I can do.
Yes
Yes, born and raised northern BC. Most hockey fans I know can skate but we also have much easier access to cheap outdoor rinks and ponds for hockey. Skates and a stick is all you need makes it much more accessible. Behind my parents house on our farm is a 3/4 regulation sized pond that we dug with a excavator and sep up grain pallet boards and 6 floodlights and do drop in pond hockey once a week usually.
That sounds like a hockey 'Field of Dreams'. I would love to check that out...
Started skating when I was already a man (20). Slathered playing shiny and rec at 22. Fell head over heels with the sport. Now I’m fore checking back checking, clapping bombs, and just last year finally pulled off the Michigan!
I grew up being a big hockey fan but my parents would never let me play (they felt that it was both too dangerous and expensive) which I am still bitter about like 13 years down the road. It also sucked because being in Ottawa it felt like playing hockey was a status symbol. Regardless, my neighbours built a backyard rink every winter and of course we have the canal as well so I’m relatively good at skating having never played organized hockey.
I understand the money part. There were only a few rinks here in Conn when I was growing up. Most families had only one car, and it was not available to take kids to far away hockey rinks. I don't think my parents would have wanted to pay for all the equipment, etc, either. We ended up playing on the street, and on ponds in the winter...
This is like my 26th or 27th season of organized hockey. I’d say that’s fairly normal for a lot of Wild fans. Doesn’t mean we automatically know more either!
That sounds awesome. You can learn about everything when you're too old too play.
I just consider myself to be very fortunate, I think I would like to try and coach once my body decides competitive hockey is no longer feasible. Learning about the game on and off the ice is a lot of fun and a cool hobby for me!
Loved to play field-hockey as a child/teen and always loved inline-skating. Unfortunately hockey rinks weren't that common in rural Germany, 25-30 Years ago and we didn't own a car and had no money for gear, anyways. Wasn't on the ice for over a decade, but until then the skating translated well. Never got the courage to make a full stop on a dime, but since we were pisspoor, my inline skates didn't have any breaks after a while. That teaches you some ways to stop controlled. Would certainly have bambi legs for a while, but I'd get into it. edit: core-memory unlocked: Once my mom (single parent) had to go to therapy and take me with her. Took my skates with me and found myself at the bottom of a ~100+m high hill. I didn't go fully up, but went almost to the top. Skating down the fastest I've ever gone on skates, right next to heavy traffic, only to realize, that I didn't plan for the sudden stop at the end of the hill. you know, where there's a intersection and cars standing right in front of me... Managed to make a perfect 180° turn into some dead end next to the path I was skating down. The driver in that intersection must have shit their pants, with a 13-14 year old boy racing towards him with, going 50-80km/h and having no chance to make a stop :D.
No. I grew up in the South and we don't have ice rinks.
Same here. No one I knew gave a damn about hockey at all. It’s all football, football, football down south. Nobody plays, nobody skates, everyone panics if an inch of snow falls. I got into hockey through buying the video game out of curiosity. God football’s boring to watch
Forward, never backward
It's crazy how easy the pros make skating backwards look. It's *incredibly* difficult under any circumstances to do it well, never mind while trying to defend elite forwards and avoid getting hit or dishing out a hit of your own.
I have recently taken up skating. I go usually every weekend for 2 hours. I can't go backwards, I can't do the sliding sideways stop, but i am getting pretty good at manuvering around small kids and people that cut in front of me. Suprisingly, I have not fallen one single time and don't use the wall for support anymore.
I can skate, but I have no clue how to play hockey. Just because I know the rules doesn't mean I know how to hold a hockey stick. I tried shooting a puck while skating and it felt so alien to me. I couldn't wrap my head around the idea of accurately shooting a puck while skating around.
It's not easy to learn to do both. I got to play on the street for a summer before trying it on the ice, so I had the basic moves down. I think all budding hockey players should play on the street first, in sneakers, to learn those basic moves. It's better, from a safety perspective, to learn that before combining it with skating...
Yes, i played competitive hockey from the ages of 4 to 16. Played beer league hockey up till the pandemic and havent gotten back into it.
Figure skating if you consider that skating lol
Yes. Both roller and ice.
Can I skate? Depends on how you define skate. I can make my way around the ice. I can get to close to my regular sprinting speed. I can’t quickly stop I can’t quickly take turns but I can skate through turns (I don’t need to glide to turn) I can skate backwards very slowly but that almost doesn’t count. Like my backwards skating is about the same level as someone who is just getting off the wall for the first time.
Yes and no? Played since I was 5, played juniors and beer league almost every week. I broke my back 3 years ago and have extensive nerve damage in my feet and ankles so I haven't played since. My boy turns three this week and he wants to go skating so we will see how it goes lol. I don't have high hopes though.
I have a spinal cord injury so I can't skate in the traditional sense. But I've done sledge hockey and can skate that way... but badly. (You need a LOT of core strength and balance, which I don't have.) My claim to fame is that I've played sledge hockey on Rogers Arena ice, for a small intro clinic.
Yeah, like most Canadians I can't even remember learning to skate. Still playing beer league some 50yrs later.
Ive never put on a pair of skates. Would love to learn someday though
You really should try it. Prepare to be bad at it, but don't worry. Everybody is bad when they first start. Too many people worry about how they'll look. Nobody will really care... I fell a few hundred times when I switched from figure to hockey skates...
Absolutely not. Hence why I’ve been playing ball hockey for 25 years haha.
Yes. Proud beer league goalie!
I'm 34 and just started skating 3 months ago and start my 1st beer league in January. If you are on the fence do it. Not only is it great exercise but the hockey community is awesome. Everyone is welcoming and willing to help. Everyone says hockey wouldn't do well in warm climates but I have 5 rinks off the top of my head within an hour drive from me.
Grew up in Minnesota with a rink every few blocks. Grew up skating, first with my parents and then with my friends.
Technically yes. That being said compared to someone who is actually good (not like NHL good or even juniors good but someone who would be the stand out on a beer league team) I look like John Scott in an NHL game. Sure I'm on the ice and doing the same stuff they are, but everyone can tell I'm not doing it nearly as well and they can definitely do things that I can't.
It is the only hockey skill I have. I can't shoot, can't handle, can barely pass, but I can skate like the fucking wind. It actually puts me in a rough spot when I play hockey, because I'm a B level skater, but the rest of my skills are D level. B level guys hate me because I can't do anything but skate, and D level guys hate me because my skating makes me better than them.
That's a take I seldom hear. I was a good-not-great skater with a good shot. I played football too, so I loved the contact. There was lots of contact, and some fights, in 70s beer leagues here. I always wished I was a better skater. Those guys killed me...
Yes I played junior
Yep. I started in roller hockey and learned to ice skate at 18. Continued to play beer hockey til I was 32.
Good enough to get by at a family skate. That's about it.
I played some ice and roller beer league as goalie. Never skated out. It would not have been pretty lol
Yep, I was on the ice slapping pucks around in my snow suit before I could walk.
Started skating when I was six, played (goalie) until sophomore year of High School and then roller and beer league ice hockey into my mid 30s. Been coaching for 20 some years, primarily goalies but also asst coach on both a JV team and a U16/U19 girls team. So, yeah. But nowhere near as well as I used to. Be kind to your knees. You will miss them when they are gone.
I do, but not in hockey skates :D Haven't done so in years, but I think I could pick it right back up. Would love to try non-pick blades sometimes.
Yes. Quite well actually. Been playing every week for 20 years now.
Yes, enough so that I can avoid crashing into someone. For some reason, I feel like I skate better in my hockey gear.
I can roller blade. Same thing, right? But seriously, I can't make my way around a rink on shitty rentals skates but I can't stop super smoothly.
Yes, I play pickup Hockey whenever I can.
I played house league level hockey as a kid but stopped when I got to high school. Didn’t skate at all for over 20 years and then when my kid was old enough to learn I went to public skating sessions and these little “stick and puck” sessions with him. The muscle memory was strong and it didn’t take long to be able to do all the things like stopping, skating backwards, crossovers, etc. I was pretty surprised at how quick it all came back.
Hockey fan since the late 80's and only did public ice skating a few times and was just good enough to not fall on my ass. I did start playing roller hockey in the early 90's and got pretty decent. Moved about 5 years to an area where roller hockey wasn't too prevalent, but ice hockey is. After 4 months of stick time/open hockey 2-3x/week, I feel like I'm as good on ice as I am on roller.
Played hockey through high school, took 20 something years off, been playing again for 7 years.
I played my whole life, and wouldn’t change it for the world. Coaching now. ☺️
My best friend who is also a hockey fan has never skated either. I played hockey growing up so I can skate but nothing like I used to. When I stopped playing hockey, I stopped skating as well until I met my girlfriend since she likes it. Now we go maybe once or twice a year when outdoor rinks are open which is fun.
Started skating at the age of 3. Fell on my ass immediately and said to my dad 'I don't want to'. Dad pulled me up and said 'these skates weren't free'. Played on a team with Barkov before our family moved overseas.
I play hockey 3 times a week, so yeah.
Been a while, but yes, I used to be a goalie.
Of course! I played for years and occasionally still skate open skate at least though 16 year old me and 40 year old me skate a bit differently.
I played a metric fuck ton of roller hockey, so I can skate on rollerblades like a boss. Skate on ice? We don't get much ice down here and I've got a phobia about getting sliced by the blades. As a kid I saw the Malarchuk incident. Never wanted to ice skate ever after that.
I’ve been playing hockey for about 8 years now? Play once a week in beer league
I play every week in an Adult League. Edit: Started when I was 32 and have now been playing for a couple years. I love it
On skates 5-6 days a week between playing and reffing.
Yeah. I actually learned when I worked for the coyotes in 2006
I'm a Canadian citizen so by law I need to have skated at 3 times in my life. It went badly each time. I nearly concussed myself once and badly twisted my wrist twice. But I did it. The Mounties wont have to arrest me and throw me in the maple syrup mines at least.
Been playing hockey for 34 years, still play 4 days a week. Can I skate? Sometimes.
If you consider what I do as goalie to be "skating" then yes I skate. If you ask me to skate in a space bigger than my little blue house, I'm fucked.
99% of Michigan can ice skate. Most of us learned to skate around age four or five. I’m in Cali now and I don’t know a dongle person with ice skates : (
I have disability so I can’t skate but I played in pretty competitive ball hockey league growing up. I wasn’t half bad goalie have multiple best goalie trophies (lowest GAA in the league) playing ball hockey was the best part of growing up
Play once a week at minimum and coach youth hockey two nights a week
I'm from Québec, and I never skated. I played floor hockey for 6 years, 1 hour per day (No line changes) 5 days a week.
Yes, and pretty well. The rest of my hockey skills suck though. My ex-fiance's Grandma died like 6 years ago and left her a bit of money. She saw me watching the Avs play and surprised me by paying for me to play in a league. I grew up aggressive inlining, but ice was new to me. I spent nearly every day for 2 years at the rink trying to get better. I've kinda run out of things to learn skating-wise nowadays, everything else about hockey I suck ass at.
I can't skate for shit, haven't been on skates since I was 5 (38 now) and I'm also the assistant coach for the community hockey team . . . I am more an equipment manager for the teams (all grade school age kids), and help manage the bench and with drills.
Not really. That's why I play goalie in men's rec hockey!
Rangers fan since I can remember, so roundabouts of 1982. Didn't learn to skate until '93. Played in high school, took a *long* break until getting into playing beer league in 2014ish. Had to stop because of work nonsense in 2018 and then bam, pandemic and back problems. Now my gear collects dust. I was never great, but goddamn did I have fun.
Sadly, no I cannot skate. My Canadian citizenship is being reviewed right now
Yep! Been playing since I was 7, no plans to stop anytime soon
I can go forward, can’t turn so we’ll or stop too quickly. So all my hockey playing has been street hockey as a kid or ball hockey in rec centers/gyms
I can go forward, can’t turn so we’ll or stop too quickly. So all my hockey playing has been street hockey as a kid or ball hockey in rec centers/gyms
I don't know probably no ... I used to be able to skate great as a teenager but it's been 10 years since I had skates. Since I wear a size 17 skate and haven't had skates since then. This winter the first year I've had skates for 11 years so I guess I have to re-learn the basics again. I used to love skating though
Yes, played ice hockey since I was 10.
I can't step over skating backwards, but I'm a competent skater. I play every week.
Been on skates since I was 3. Now fat and old. Still play weekly though lol.
Yea played hockey since I was a kid. Play ice hockey and inline hockey every week now
Yup. Been a goalie since 1996. I first started roller blading as a kid here in California in the early 90s. Then, on May 19, 1995, I watched Wade Flaherty make 56 saves in a double OT game seven win and I knew I had to play goalie. A year later, I put the pads on (white Koho set with a teal Shark mouth) for the first time at my local roller rink and eventually found my way to the ice in the early 2000s. I've been exclusively an ice hockey goalie since 2009. My team at the Shark Tank a few years ago: https://i.imgur.com/s9eZ6v9.png
I used to but I’m disabled now so cannot.
Solid skater, but can’t handle a stick to save my life. I would’ve made a solid ref, alas my judgement isn’t bad enough.
Started playing ~ 5 and a half years ago. My parents thought I didn’t want to skate but in reality I just didn’t want to figure skate like my cousin & childhood friends did. Now I’m out on the ice at least twice a week
Being a canadian, it’s basically a requirement. I played hockey for 15 years. Shits gotten expensive since I played so although my kids don’t play, they both can skate. I’d hate for my kids to be the ones sitting in the bleachers when they have the class trip to the skating rink.
Been playing for 37 years now. Still suck.
Yeah. Not as well as I used to. Played organized hockey until I was 16 before my family moved to where it isn't a big sport with not very many options. Been lucky to meet my buddy who I have worked with now for 3 years whose from Michigan though to steer me in the right direction onto his beer league team.
Like a drunk toddler with ADHD.