u/Stevosaurus22

My entire hockey life I've always got my skates sharpened to 1/2 hollow, I've never asked for anything different and the local spot i go to, the man who's been doing my skates for 35+ years always says "i give the standard 1/2 hollow unless someone requests something different"

So when i played growing up i hated freshly sharpened skates and i can vividly remember dulling them on the bench gate step and my parents would be furious with me but i never knew why i preferred "blunt skates" then i stopped playing hockey for almost 15 years and since coming back and being up 50lbs i've still been getting the same old 1/2 standard cut at the shop and i've recently been reading more about different hollows - glide vs grip; so i figured 'why not try out something different' given it seems like i'm skating harder but i'm moving in mud since returning a few months back.

I went to the same shop for my monthly skate sharpen and i asked for an 11/16 cut but they didn't have the wheel atm so i asked for an 3/4 hollow and went on my merry way. Later when i was packing my hockey bag before my weekly Friday skate i was running my fingers on the blades and was shocked as to how blunt they felt compared to after the standard 1/2 cut that i've been getting my entire life, i mean i knew they would be more blunt but started to think i maybe i made a mistake and was a little worried i'd be falling down all over the ice at the skate, so i was kinda skeptical to say the least but when i first stepped on the ice - wow! what a difference! I did a hard lap and immediately noticed WAY more glide, turns still felt good and stopping was no issue but the speed and effort to get around the rink was VERY noticeable, the only thing i'd say felt a little off were my crossovers and my shifting balance for shooting so that may take more of an adjustment period but still i was quiet impressed and happy i tried it, it's summer now as well so i'm going stick with the 3/4 cut for a few more weeks and see how the adjustment goes.

10/10 highly recommend and worth a shot for someone who wants to experiment and try out something new.

Played a pick up Rec hockey game last night and i've played with this group before and had zero issues but our line changing really pissed me off!

Our team had 4 defensemen (2 pairs) I would change first and my D partner (who i've never seen before he wasn't at this skate the other times when i was there) but he would stay on for at least a minute sometimes 2+ mins longer then me, when one of the other D came back for a change my D partner jumped on the ice before me. OK! NP there's two ways we can do this:

Option 1: First off, first to change!

Option 2: Man for Man! i have 1 of the d men let's just say Left D and my partner has the other D man - Right D and whenever my guy (left D) comes off for a change then i go and when the other D man (right D) comes off my D partner changes or whatever order they change you just change with the same D man the whole game.

Anyways we never discussed it but next shift he was on first because he jumped ahead of me so when i finally came on we did our full shift and then i was off first and he stayed out for another minute or two longer than me again and then he finally comes off.

So this point i'm kinda pissed with how the last change went and i'm thinking 'OK all good, we're playing option 2' SO yeah i finally see my left D is coming for a change first and my D partner opened the gate and tried to go! even though i was first off again and he changed last time with the other Right D, so i jumped the boards and just said "fuck no, that's my change"

I was still steamed after the game and i would've called him out back in the dressing room but he was in the other dressing room and i never saw him. The guys said after that he plays in the local Lug League in the city which is a rec hockey league so he must know about some line changing rules/situations but still it put a sour taste in my mouth. i wrote the guy after who runs the skate don't put me on his team if he plays next week.

what's your thoughts?

38 year old getting back to hockey after a 19 year hiatus, i last played 1 year of Jr. B at 19 before hanging them up to go back to school. I've always kept in decent shape but i will say i have done more strength training and gained mostly muscle currently sitting at 200lbs 5'9

Anyways i've been playing mostly twice a week for the past month and a half in pick up games and i'm starting to get some rhythm and feel back, skating progress is pretty good, conditioning is getting better slowly but i'm just wondering what do you guys do to improve your in game skill with just playing in little pick up games vs beer leaguers?

i'm trying to get back into playing some competitive senior hockey next year and wonder how to get back to a decent level without practicing ice time being an option. i'm already doing some off ice training in the gym to work on that side of it but i'm mainly talking about working on th one ice hockey skills