It's never too late...

23Winger

The year was 1999 and I was talking with some work associates about a hockey game that was on the night before. It was a game between the NY Rangers vs. the NY Islanders, one of the great rivalries in hockey, if not all sports. As we talked about the game, one of the guys said we should start our own hockey team, and another guy said that he knew of a new roller hockey league that was looking for players. You guessed it. We decided to join a team.



Now, most of us had to buy equipment, and in my case, I had to buy everything imaginable because I had not played hockey in 25 years. So off I went to a local sporting goods store. The clerk in the store laughed and asked “How old are you?” This was not a good omen for the revival of my hockey career. (At the time I was 46.)



So now the competitive juices start to bubble, and I told the clerk that even though I am old it doesn’t mean I am dead. I then directed him to start bringing out the equipment and proceeded to try on roller blades, pick out shin guards, shoulder pads, gloves, girdle, athletic supporter, helmet, sticks and anything else I could think of. I was like Rodney Dangerfield in Caddy Shack buying everything I saw. When it was over, have all the equipment I could possibly need and now it’s time to perform – get my old bones out on the rink.



I remember the first night I played. I was like a fish out of water - flopping around all over the place in my brand new equipment. The first time I tried to stop on roller blades I flew through air for about 6’. It was fun but I knew after two weeks this was not for me. I needed the real thing. I decided that I was going to see if I could get back on the ice and play the game as it was meant to be played.



I went to a local ice rink near my home and signed up for a men’s league ice hockey team and I was off again to the sporting goods store again this time to purchase ice skates. Ironically I got the same clerk who helped me with my roller hockey equipment… and he laughed again.



As I was getting dressed in the locker room that first night of ice hockey, I was quite nervous. When the Zamboni finished cutting the ice, the players left the locker room, jumped on the ice, and started warming up. I kept telling myself “you can do this; you’ve done this hundreds of times before”. I managed to step on the ice and not fall, which I interpreted as a very good sign.



We stretched for about 10 minutes and the team Captain made up some lines. So there I was, 46 years old and completely out of shape, and the Captain points at me and says “Right Wing.” Well I am not going to paint you a pretty picture. Throughout the entire session, the guys on the team kept asking me “Are you okay Dude?” I said, “Yeah. Why?” They said “because you don’t look so good, you look grey”. I had no idea what they were talking about but it went on for most of the night. When I got home that night, my wife looked at and said “Are you okay?” I said, “Yeah, Why?” She said, “You don’t look so good, you look grey”.



To this day I have no idea what that meant, but bottom line is I didn’t give up. I continued to play as much as I could. I got the fever back and wanted more. I started losing some weight and I got stronger, faster and a lot more flexible.



Before I knew it a few seasons passed by and eventually I bought the League so I could institute what I thought players wanted. I know as a player I wanted advance notice when games were being played, I wanted to see stats on myself because it was far and few when I got a goal or an assist and when I did get a point I wanted to be credited for my accomplishments. I thought it would be cool to see action photo’s of us at certain games, I thought it would be cool to have music in between puck drops like they do at NHL Games and more. I wanted the average player to experience as much as any professional receives at his games and I accomplished that. We now have a hockey league that is a cut above the normal hockey leagues that are out there because to me every athlete deserves the whole experience.



So now I am 58 years old still playing hockey – at times even against kids averaging 20 years old - and I’m still loving it.



Remember… it’s never too late…