This thread got the fires buring in me I guess. I took my oldest son (9 years old) and four of his friends up to Madison to one of the outdoor rinks up there on Sunday after their morning game. They were out on the ice (temp was 9 degrees) for 2 straight hours going hard. All five of them were drippin sweat at the end and they all had a blast, none got cold, including me. First a kid their age hooked up with them and they played 3 on 3 for a while. Then a couple of other kids came so it was 4 on 4. Then 3 high school kids came and I also joined in and we played full ice 6 on 6 (two big guys on each team ) and I was sweating by the end of that, sufficed to say my 36 year old legs can't keep up with the kids like they used to, my old man reflexes really showed against the high schoolers... LOL. Then two kids left but two more high school kdis showed up. It was a freaking blast from the past for me and the kids had more fun out there tha I would have imagined. Playing with older kids was a big deal to them. I don't think any of them were used to it so I think tired legs got the best of them from going so hard for so long (they were tuckered after two hours) but they all had a ton of fun. I capped it off by bringing them all back to our house for hot chocolate and brownies (and they added some ministicks in the basement). I think we might go again next weekend
JSR, I really wish we could turn back the clock to the age of the 50's 60's and 70's when times were far more simple, people were far more relaxed and the kids could just be kids spending a great deal of time honing their skill at the local rink. Those days are gone for good but I am glad you got a slice of it in Madison.
It's got to be Arden. Great atmosphere right down on the creek. Great local talent. Sweet ice, and shooting boards. There is always a good game going on there.
Hermantown is nice and the fact that there is always a game going on Rink 3 is cool. Where else can you watch a Mite take on a Bantam for the puck? The game sort of ebs and flows depending on who is headed in to warm up a body part. For the whole out door experience though it has to be Duluth Heights. The parents stand on the snow banks by the rink, the brave souls park their new pickup trucks behind the chain link fence that is up behind the north goal (it is just about high enough to stop all of the pucks but not quite), the wind is always out of the west so the kids stay sheltered and the parents face into the wind, the coffee is always good there and the people who run the show are great. A close second is Twig. The same reasons about good coffee and great people running the show hold true with the addition of the wind coming out of the north west and dropping into the hollow is at just the right angle to flow down the back of your coveralls if you don't keep the collar up tight. Both of them (we are not affiliated with either one so I am NOT self advertising here) have outdoor tournies that should be a must do for a team that does not have access to outdoor ice who is looking for a whole different experience or for a team looking for a good time.
Anyone remember getting up extra early and going to the rink to skate before school? Hiding your skates under the end boards and slamming your sticks into a snow drift till after school? How many times playing after lights out dangling the puck in the dark and then popping a puck top shelf only to miss and walk fifty feet outside the rink digging in snow looking for your puck but finding a blue Saints puck and using that instead. How about this "No scrape, no skate!" and strictly enforced by the locals. After telling a story about the glory days of my outdoor youth hockey experience (stopping to explain Scraping , Boarding and Flooding) to my 13yr old , he promptly explained that that is what Zamboni's are for... Old School , thats what they need.. As long as we can remember it and help pass it on , it will live on.
Saw the sheet in Stillwater- NICE , glass enclosed dugout width of the rink with manual radiant heat timers. Night I was there they had about 6 big mini rinks going with games going on each one - different ages.
Nice to see.
) and I was sweating by the end of that, sufficed to say my 36 year old legs can't keep up with the kids like they used to, my old man reflexes really showed against the high schoolers... LOL. Then two kids left but two more high school kdis showed up. It was a freaking blast from the past for me and the kids had more fun out there tha I would have imagined. Playing with older kids was a big deal to them. I don't think any of them were used to it so I think tired legs got the best of them from going so hard for so long (they were tuckered after two hours) but they all had a ton of fun. I capped it off by bringing them all back to our house for hot chocolate and brownies (and they added some ministicks in the basement). I think we might go again next weekend 