Commonly Asked Questions

Hey there, I am a hockey player looking for advice as to how to get to the next level, and play college hockey after high school. Currently, I play U17 AAA in Canada, and while I have struggled to get off to a good start (0 points in first 14 games this season), I have started to produce in tournaments we have attended in the past two weeks or so. I do have eliteprospects, but out of privacy, just DM me for it if you are really interested.

Anyways, my coach has told me that I have strength in terms of skating speed, acceleration, being aggressive, and always working hard. My biggest weaknesses include the fact that I am very small for my age; 5' 7" and 140lbs. I can deadlift 2.5x my bodyweight, squat twice my bodyweight, but my frame is still pretty small, so strength is alright, but sometimes I find it difficult during battles for the puck. My shooting and stickhandling are pretty average, and I'm working on both of them to get them above the standard.

I also put education first; that is, I'm not planning to take a gap year to pursue hockey, and I want to go to a prestigious university in terms of the education it offers, while also playing competitive hockey. Of course, the former is most important to me, and I'd like to maximize that. For the past year, I have been going to Junior A Prospect Camps, and was actually invited to the main camp of one of those teams. However, I failed to make the preseason roster, but caught the attention of the coach, who then listed me with their team. I believe I stand to have a good shot at making the preseason roster during my senior year, or a year after that.

When looking at the divisions for College Hockey, I have several questions regarding that:

How do I get schools to take notice of me?

How does the process of recruiting, and the path to playing on a team generally go?

Any other tips and advice regardless relating to college hockey recruiting would be very well apreciated.

Thanks for taking the time to read the above wall of text as well in any case.

For some quick details, I am 6'5, 165lb and play defense in AAA. I'm currently using the Nexus Bauer Sync Senior, p28 curve, 87 flex (not including flex removed from extension), and a 3-4" extension. My stick is currently pretty beat up with a loose extension (parents don't want to pay ~$20 to fix it) and is probably going to break soon. What I'm hoping to ask for is a custom Bauer Proto, which is custom fitting to my body and current stick so that I won't have to worry about an extension, and that I'm feeling like my current stick isn't doing what I want it to be doing. The problem with the Proto is that it is $100 more expensive than my current stick. I'm thinking of asking for it for Christmas but my parents won't get me a new stick until my current stick breaks and that it isn't $100 more expensive.

What I'm asking is if I should try to convince them to get me the stick and most importantly, if this would be a good stick to switch to. I have used the sync for 2 maybe 3 years and don't know how I would do changing sticks. I'm also worried that it is going to break just after the warranty wears off as most, if not all of my sticks break after the warranty. Thank you for the help and reading this far.

Sending my son on some flights for tournaments and it will be the first time flying with a hockey bag and sticks.

Anyone have any issues with any US based airlines? Many websites have some specifications but the hockey bag is mostly air so not sure how strict the specs are. Like southwest says it has to be a specific size or it is $200 to check but that specific size is about a youth hockey bag.

Have people had problems with flights or specific airlines and a standard adult size bag?

My daughter played in a tournament over the weekend and her team won their division.

The championship final was pretty 'odd' from an organizational perspective. First of all, no ref showed up, so the scorekeeper would walk onto the ice to fix things (face-offs to start the periods, two pucks in the game, etc.) The game on the other half the ice had a ref, and they even switched refs between periods.

At the end of the game, we assumed there would be something official from the tournament. Nope, no medals, no banner. Even the professional photographer associated with the tournament had disappeared. The team that won the other division at the other end of the ice was similarly confused.

The tournament website has a photo of an 8U team with their banner from 2019, and there's something from 2023 about "championship gifts" for 8U. So the parents/coaches are irate over this. I registered the team so I talked to the tournament organizer and he said that they didn't give anything out last year either. He said the 2023 note must have been a mistake. [Edit: there are medals and banners for 10U/12U/14U/16U, just not 8U.]

Has anyone ever encountered something like this?

I just assumed there would be something. (One of the kids said something to the effect of "you usually get a medal just for showing up at a tournament. We win and we get nothing?") The club is now planning to get a banner made and pass out medals.

To start, I'm a goalie - been playing for like 12 years. I played played high school and my last 2 years of varsity as the starter. I made my college's ACHA D2 team but didn't get playing time so I quit after a year. In my defense, the year after I quit they made the national championship so the level was a lot higher than just some random middle of the pack ACHA D2 team. I also have practice experience with an ECHL team and could hang with them, so I'm well aware of the skill gap.

Second, I'm 23. I don't have juniors experience which I'm sure is a tough look. But I'm going through somewhat of a quarterlife crisis after graduating college and I want to get back on the ice. I've been playing beer league the past 3 years so it's not like I haven't skated, but I know I'll need to put in another level of work beyond this.

Third, I'm not looking to make any big time league. I know it's too late to make any Canadian/American leagues. HOWEVER, I've been skimming the history of some of the guys who played in leagues like the NIHL 1 in Britain and the Spanish league and it makes me think I'd have a shot to get rostered somewhere over there.

Anyone taken a path like this? I really only want to play for like 1 or 2 years. Ideally I'd just go and play a year of juniors but I'm too old. But I don't even know how one goes about trying to be an import player.

I have some friends that want to play roller hockey and i am all for it. Only problem, we don't have any local roller rinks or outdoor courts that wont tear up sticks/wheels/pucks.

I know theres some harder grade rubber for wheels you can get, and wheels are cheap really. Pucks aren't that bad either. But completely shaving down a stick on a court sucks...

Anyone got any tips for helping stuff not wear down so fast? I have seen stick guards, i think Bauer makes one. But i can't see how that doesn't mess up your shot or puck handling.

thanks

I was scrolling through my hockey rankings and saw that some 12u AAA USA teams were playing 13u AAA Canada teams and I don’t get this because in the US u12 can’t play u13 because they can’t hit yet while u13 can but I was just wondering if the grouping is different or something else

I’ve definitely asked this question before, but I’m having a hard time understanding and I keep getting different answers from different people. PSH said whatever the flex is on the pro stock stick, that is its true flex. Meanwhile HockeyStickman said the the true flex is measured at the 60” mark

For pro stock stocks, the standard extended height is 64” (69” standing). For these sticks, is the flex measured at standard length, or extended length?

So a stick that is an 85 flex at 69” tall, would the ~true flex be somewhere in the 70s?

I suck at explaining this, hope this makes sense

I’m curious to know what the majority of people in this group prefer to wear when playing.

If you want to leave a comment below of your preference and level of hockey you currently play.

I posted on here the other day about how I was worried about tryouts. Nonetheless, I ate shit. However, I did make JV and that was pretty great. I’m planning on taking the advice of joining house league and I’m going to buy some synthetic ice to practice my stickhandling more and shots. Thank you to everyone that gave me advice and help.

First of all I want to acknowledge how ridiculous even typing this post is, but I’m interested in what people have to say. I’ll try and describe this incident to the best of my ability.

I play in a relatively non competitive beer leauge (90% of the leauge doesn’t wear shoulder pads for context), I don’t proclaim to be an amazing player. Played some AAA growing up but took a long hiatus and just play for exercise and the laughs anymore.

Last night I’m playing the wing and the puck gets rimmed in the DZ. I pick the puck up on my back hand and open up towards the middle of the ice. As I’m doing so the guy playing D (probably mid 30s/ early 40s) tackles me from behind and proceeds to stand over top of me. Linemate and buddy of mine comes in and put this guy to the ground. As he’s getting up I cross check him and put him back down again. The situation escalates into an altercation and the temperature of the game wasn’t even fun the rest of the night. We had guy throwing full on body checks, chirping,etc after that…

I don’t even forecheck in beer leauge, I will just loop if I don’t get the puck off the poke. Part of me thinks I escalated the situation cross checking this character, but also who the fuck tackles someone from behind and stands over a guy. I feel like at some point pride takes over, maybe I’m in the wrong but what do you all think? Why are there so many loser in beer leauge these days? 😂😂😂

The sudden passing of a 17 year old hockey player just this weekend appears to be an awful continuing trend in youth sports. Too many of these stories across all sports; athlete collapses at a game and passes away suddenly. As a parent of 2 youth players I am starting to wonder, is a regular pediatrician equiped to work with youth athletes?

I know that these stories are sometimes followed up by a revelation that there was some defect or undiagnosed condition. Is this simply a case of we didn't know about what we didn't know or do performance athletes (using this to separate your rec / typical part time athlete from an athlete that trains and completes at the highest level) need to be looked at differently?

And this may not always be for fatal concerns only, does your average town pediatrician treat a "performance athlete" different? Perhaps there should be a deeper focus on on muscle, joint and bone health or additional review of heart and lungs?

Does anyone use a sports Dr for their youth athletes/ self that specialize in this type of preventive and early diagnosis of conditions that could be magnified when the patient is a serious athlete? I am starting to question if Dr. Pepper in the ordinary towns across America are able to do this.

Spare me the let kids be kids comments, when professional leagues are drafting 15 year olds and colleges are handing out giant checks now days, and pro athletes are making a billion plus dollars in their career, kids have the right to pursue their dream and get the giant carrot that is dangled in front of them.

I ended up picking up a True Catalyst 9x3 fairly recently. Unfortunately it broke after ~10 skates a little above the blade. Given the reputation of this stick, I'd like to stay away from it, but I really really jived with the puck feel and shot it provided. It was an extended length, 95 flex, with a P28 (TC4) blade. Aside from the durability, it was a 'goldilocks' experience.

So my question is, for those of you the really got on with the performance of the True Catalyst 9x3 (especially if you prefer a higher flex) but ended up leaving them due to durability issues, what have you shifted to and what have been the differences you've encountered?

Yeah… So I decided to go back to beerleague after playing 5 seasons more serious, and first game and last minute I hit the puck past the D and as im going around him he steps in the way and somehow my wrist breaks, both bones. Not a big crash, just really shitty luck I guess.

Anyone else with some experience on how long to expect before the hand is OKish again? Im on my 8week after surgery, and probably will try to hit the ice again christmastime/early next year if possible…

I was given this puck by a distant American uncle when I was young (maybe 35 years ago!) and recently discovered it in my old stuff.

Any idea who might have signed it?

Thanks for your help!

Nick

Our goalies share a jersey. Our alternate colors goalie uni reads "Goalie Jersey."

I’m looking to get new gloves for my wife for Christmas. She’s fairly tall and lanky, with a narrow hand and long fingers.
By the time she has a size where the fingers aren’t bottomed out the rest of her hand is swimming in a loose glove.

I saw CCM has the new FTW line of women’s equipment, including gloves. Does anyone have experience with these gloves or any other models that have a narrower fit across the hand?

My 10u player has been playing hockey on various teams for 2 years without a break.

I’m thinking about giving him some time off organized hockey in favor of weekly clinics until the next season. (And to try other sports like soccer or lacrosse)

Other parents on the team think it’s a bad idea if we don’t play through the spring / summer saying that he will fall behind “serious” players if he takes a break.

What do you all think?

Has anyone else noticed prostockhockey.com not really being worth it anymore? I used to feel like I was getting a great deal there. Now all the prices seem pretty close to retail, and the shipping is insanely high. Just got quoted $25 for standard ground shipping on a $65 order. I’ll pass on that.

Is it a good idea to make a stickhandling board using laminated plywood board? Or are there any others legit methods to DIY?

There seems to be very little information out there for anyone completely inexperienced about buying a first stick.... (Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places if you know of a resource to point me to that would be great!)

I want to buy one for messing about on the ponds & don't know where to start.

There is no second hand market where I live & the only shop that sells sticks mainly specialises in ballet gear, so I don't expect to get much wisened knowledge from there....

I am right handed & my left skate is my most stable due to a dodgy right knee - left turns are far stronger than right turns - does that have any influence on handedness?

I have messed about with sticks once or twice & could never decide which way I preferred - with the stick to my right I feel a little better at finer control, with the stick to my left I feel better at more powerful shots, but there was little in it from my inexperienced playings. Which way should I go?

Length wise - is up to your chin in skates about right? So about up to your nose in normal shoes?

Is it best to go longer if in doubt & can you chop a bit off if needed?

Taping - I think they sell tape too - what am I looking for to get the right tape for the blade?

I guess I need to tape the handle - do you use the same tape as the blade or is it something else? What exactly am I aiming for when taping the handle?

Any other pearls of wisdom would be much appreciated thanks!

So I (14M) played in a Thanksgiving tournament which was hosted by a very prestigious travel organization as a “funsies”tourney where anyone from house league to AAA could join for around $160. The tournament consisted of 3-5 games depending on how well your team did, with 3 “regular season” games, and 2 playoff games, and 4 teams. I got the first goal of the tournament for my team, with that game ending as a 3-1 L. My division is 14U, with most players being 10-13 (despite their being younger age groups). We ended up finishing in 1st place at the end of the “regular season”, and face the same team we faced in the first game. During this game, the officiating was downright horrible, with the refs screaming at players while ignoring two handed baseball swings that tripped one of our players on a breakaway. This then came to a head when one of my teammates got boarded and taken out of the game, and the ref decided that the player had “played the body” when there was clearly head contact, and no penalty was awarded. After this, I had enough and dropped the gloves with the offending player, and then got ejected from the game. We then went on to lose the game 3-4 in OT. This tournament wasn’t USA Hockey sanctioned, so I’m probably not getting suspended from my house league unless they decide to punish me, but I’m 90% sure that I’m getting blacklisted or something with that organization.

Hello all, I just had a few questions about getting started playing ice hockey as I’ve never played ice but I have experience playing ball and roller. I usually play goalie for roller and a skater for ball. What are a few things I need to know before starting? And what position should I stick with cause I love playing both?! What are a few drills/ things to help me get better? And how do I get started in a league being I have little to no ice experience? Thank you in advance!!