Hockey, Finally!

Yesterday, I played in my first hockey game since moving to Madison. The games were started by a bunch of UW computer science people, but are open to the public provided that the limit of skaters hasn't been met. I found out about it from a non-CS guy in the homebrewers club. Basically, it's pickup-style hockey (the game is at a set time, and whoever shows up divides into two teams that play against each other) with a regular set of players.

Back in Michigan, I was playing in a similar league two mornings a week. The regular participants were a memorable bunch of characters whose skill levels ranged from "I'll catch the puck if it slowly hits where my stick is" to "I played college varsity, but still show up to these games for some reason." I was smack in the middle of the talent pool, probably classified as "it's not pretty to watch, but it sometimes gets the job done." After a couple of years, the overall pace of the game had gotten pretty quick and the diversity of skill, style and personality made the skates fun and interesting.

The group in Madison seems to be at about the same overall skill level, but the range of individual ability is much narrower. I'm still smack in the middle, judging by the first skate with whoever happened to show up yesterday. I scored my team's first goal and assisted on the next, but I ran out of gas five minutes later :). The last time I had a good anaerobic workout was three months ago, and it caught up to me too quickly for my liking. I managed to stay alive and not suck too much for the rest of the skate, but I definitely need to play a few more times before I can claim that I'm back in the swing of things.

In related news, the NHL resumes regular-season play this Wednesday! I still have some pent-up beef with the league, but it's overshadowed by my excitement of having the game back (as long as the games get some TV airtime in Madison). Mmm... beef.