I just got back from pickup. And that, for me, means beginners pickup. Beginners. In other words, I’m a 33 year old who just started skating a few years ago. That means I suck. That means, when I go to beginners pickup, I expect other people who are beginners also. And for the most part, they are.

But, for some reason, there always seams there’s the guy who loves to skate circles around everybody else. The guy who always has the breakaway. The guy who is outskating the rest of his team.

“Hey, you know this is beginners pickup, right?”

“Well, I’m not the
best. If nobody else has a problem with it…”

Hey, F*%khole, if I didn’t have a problem with it, I wouldn’t say anything. It’s beginners, and people are chopping at goalies, taking headhunting slapshots, and pumping fists after scoring on a goalie who is just as beginner as everyone else. Which, if you didn’t know, is just f*#king wrong.

It doesn’t help that I’m icing my knee, because of being knocked down by the F*#khole, so I am biased. Who cares? I’m sick of ringers coming in and ruining things for the rest of us. And by the rest of us, I mean those of us learning to play the game. And it isn’t just playing hockey…

You see the same thing as a fan, people who “know more”, we’re there “back in the day,”scoff at you, make you feel like you are unworthy of being a fan., because, like royalty in England, you weren’t born in to it. It isn’t like it used to be, it never will be, old time hockey, you should have seen, you missed out.

I feel like one of the rare breed of hockey fan, the one who put one skates, and tries every time. The one who learned the rules, learned how to skate, tried like you wouldn’t believe. I’m the one who read the books, talked the talk, then found out how hard it is to walk the walk. I’m the one who found out the hard way.

Those who had the opportunity to start early, and still have a love for the game, you are the lucky ones. I started skating at the ripe age of 30. I saw my first live game at the same age. I wasn’t blessed with the early appreciation that so many Canadians have, or so many from New England, or those with an Original Six team nearby.

But I still care, and I still love the sport, and on the ice, I take short shifts, work hard, and cheer on the other people (guys and “gals”).

I could just do without the ringers.