AH 012 – Struggles Of The Older Hockey Player

podcast by Jim

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In this episode, I’ll talk about

– Feedback on Stress
– Personal Challenges
– Physical Issues
– Update on League Games
– Penalty or Penalty Shot?
– Little Caesars Arena

Feedback on Stress

My last episode was How To Deal with The Stress Of Playing Hockey: AgelessHockey.com/11

I received emails from two listeners.

Hiro: I don’t have too much stress because of my personality—I am too carefree—and I am not too competitive. You are much younger—about 11 years younger—and more competitive and more serious, and that’s why you are more conscious of getting out of your stress, which is not too bad.

David “The NY Hockey Guy”: My advice is hey its hockey, just have fun… and also remember, every one of us, from the most skilled to the least skilled, has at times, been the best on the ice or the worst… it’s the team around us that makes us better.

Great stuff Hiro and David. Thanks for your feedback!
I love hearing and learning from listeners.

I want to start by saying that there are struggles for every hockey player, no matter how old you are. However, when we get older, many of these struggles are different.

Personal Challenges

Money ($390 + $20 hockey liability insurance (protects the league and rink from lawsuits).
$410 for 28 games
Drop in Hockey: $11

Some guys play 3-4 times a week. 2 Leagues and 2 DIH

Some players have an hour drive each way, so gas is another expense.

Many of the players are retired and on a fixed income. Equipment is expensive Buying Hockey Equipment: AgelessHockey.com/3

Some retired players have a great monthly pension, so money may not be an issue. I had my opportunity many times to work at GM Cadillac. Friend retired after 30 yr when he was 48 yr old.

Time consuming: Some guys play 4x week (my body can’t take this).

If you’re married, is your spouse supportive? If not, why? Is it because they feel you are spending too much time playing? Maybe they think it’s too expensive (although most hobbies cost money). Are you getting injured a lot (like me) and they really are concerned about your well-being (can you convince them playing hockey is better than sitting on the couch watching TV or going to the bar too much with your friends?).

Don’t neglect your spouse. The two of you need to do things together, besides fight. Your hockey buddies are important, but your marriage is more important.

Are you still working?

What if you get an injury that prevents you from working?

Many of the players say that it’s easier to play once your retired, because they have more free time. Some say that playing hockey is their job now?

Does your body have time to recover, so it doesn’t affect your job?

Do you have other responsibilities?
Taking care of parents or grand kids?
Adult kid’s moving back home, because they can’t find a good enough job to live on their own?

What if your spouse says “Why don’t you play a safe sport like golf?”

Golf can be expensive and time consuming.

My set of clubs was $300 (25 yr ago). Some individual clubs cost more than that. I know friends that have spent more than $1K on a set of clubs. Some of them get a new set every few years – does this really improve their game?

4 hours to play a round of golf, plus the 19th hole

Although, with all my injuries, I’m wondering if I shouldn’t consider golf or bowling.

Physical Issues

http://www.thedoctorwillseeyounow.com/content/aging/art2075.html
Sports Injuries and the Aging Athlete by John E. Morley, M.D.

Old and new injuries.

Living with pain. Is the pain worth it?

Lower energy.

Trying moves from your youth can result in injuries.

Knee/hip replacements (listen to your doctor – guy started golfing in 2 weeks and messed up his hip. – If it isn’t an emergency, maybe schedule your surgery during the off season for the activity you love so you aren’t tempted to come back too early– winter if a golfer.

Injuries take a long time to recover from. Some never completely heal.

I am very qualified to talk about injuries. I always seem to be injuring myself – very frustrating!

Take Action: You must get on the ice to improve

Doctor procedures: David Kaufman – NY Hockey Guy gets OrthoVisc injections in both knees

Other players I know have had knee and hip replacements

Hockey Exercises and Stretches – stationary bike, treadmill, Pre-Game/Skate routine, Weight lifting, running, stretching, yoga, etc.

I’ve only been playing once a week, then resting until the next game. Maybe I should start doing stretches, weights, get a massage, yoga (one guy hip replacement is doing yoga and it’s helping).

How to track your progress: Keep a journal and update it every time you play. Goals/Assists (even in DIH0. How did you score: breakaway, upper glove side, deflected a shot, etc.). Are you skating faster with and without the puck? Are you protecting the puck better? How do you feel?
Recording this may seem ridiculous, but it can help show if you’re improving.

Stop comparing yourself to better hockey players. Run your own race. If you are one of the best players, then help a teammate get better (you may take things for granted, because it comes easy for you).

A player told me: The only time I get frustrated/stressed is when a teammate, at my same level tries to teach or advise me on how to play. I don’t mind being taught, scolded or advised by a coach, manager or mentor.
I know a couple players like this. If you make a mistake, they yell at you while you’re on the ice or when you get back to the bench. Both are better than me, but aren’t great. I just try to ignore them.

How to improve your hockey game.

A friend started skating at the age of 42. Skated twice a week in DIH. He said play as much as you can and you will get better.

The better shape you’re in, will make you a more valuable team player and reduce your chance of injuries.

How to develop a mental edge as you age.
https://www.peakendurancesport.com/endurance-training/masters/ageing-athletes-power-psychology/ (Ageing athletes and the power of psychology by Andrew Hamilton)

Update on League Games

I talked about my lack of production on the ice in the last podcast: How To Deal With The Stress Of Playing Hockey: AgelessHockey.com/11

Lost an edge (Magic Stick) = Profile was bad – What do you use? Honing stone?

I asked Gary: Top goal scorer in the league how he scores so many goals. He said to shoot where the goalie isn’t. Then said that’s why so many of his shots go wide.

In my last 4 games: 2 goals/1 assist, 1 goal/1 assist (won both games). I played forward in 3 of these games, so I got more scoring chances. I stopped trying to go top shelf and just shoot on the net.

The 2 other games: Tied 1-1, Lost 1-0 (first place team).

The last game I played, I got a goal on the first shift, playing on the first line (supposed to play defense, but a forward didn’t show up).
My next shift I in the opponent’s zone near the face-off circle. I was by myself with the puck. I went to turn toward the net and my right skate stopped. Hit a rut in the ice?
My ankle rolled and my knee twisted, then I hit the boards. Luckily, I wasn’t real close to the boards. My knee hit the boards and immediately was hurting. I continued to play the entire game because we were already missing one player (only 3 on defense).
Injury: I have a high ankle sprain. The orthopedic surgeon told me not to play hockey for 3 more months.
How can I stay in half way decent shape if I don’t play hockey for four months?
Should I use an exercise bike and treadmill (it’s the middle of winter in Michigan)?
What suggestions do you have?

After scoring some goals, I’m not claiming to be Wayne Gretsky, but it felt good getting some points and winning.

On a sad note: Dimitrie fundraiser. Pastor at a local church received a serious spinal injury (broken neck). BE CAREFUL – Dimitrie is an excellent skater. Got tangled up with another player and went into the boards.
He is in rehab and is walking a little. Got out of his wheel chair at the fundraiser.

I’ve had many injuries since returning to hockey. It sucks and I’ve had my share of pity parties.

After seeing what happened to Dimitrie, I feel guilty about complaining. My concussion scared me, but what he is going through is terrible. This could happen to any of us.

We are all praying that Dimitrie makes a full recovery. He is already talking about playing again someday.

NOTE: I didn’t play the entire decade I was 50
Knee surgeries when I was 48
Got married when I was 50.
Sold our 2 houses and moved to a condo.
My wife did not stop me from playing hockey.
Don’t skip playing hockey for a decade of your life.
I regret not playing in my 50’s, when I had young legs.

Penalty or Penalty Shot?

Fundraiser game: Penalty = penalty shot

No team has a good power play, so maybe a penalty shot would be better? Although it seems that many penalties are committed on the better players, so they would probably score a lot on a penalty shot?

Let me know what you think. Is a penalty shot is better than a 2-minute running time penalty?

Our league games are 50-minute running clock. Stop time with 2 minutes left in the game if the score is within 2 goals.

Other leagues have 37-minute stop clock games. The guys say it’s about the same as our 50-minute running time.

Little Caesars Arena

– Home of the Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Pistons
– In Nov my wife was going to get tickets to a Wings game for my birthday.
– Jan 16, 2018: Dallas Stars (L 4-2)
– East Club: includes parking, food, beer, wine, restrooms
– It took about 5 minutes to go to the restroom, get a drink and get back to our seat.
– $310/ticket, 4 seats = $42K per season
– It’s amazing how the pros can skate.

Miscellaneous

Adam, from GearGeek.com contacted me asking if I would include his site in my resources page. I really had to think about this, because Ageless Hockey is about us Over 50 Players, not the NHL. However, I decided to add this link because the site is interesting.

NHL players constantly test new brands/models and often make changes to their gear and sticks throughout the year. This site keeps track of the equipment being used by every active NHL player: sticks, gloves, pants, skates and helmets. It also shows the Stat Leaders and Salary Cap.

AgelessHockey.com/resources
CAUTION: I’ve mentioned in podcasts, DO NOT purchase any gear just because your favorite NHL player uses it. All equipment needs to fit you properly, so you have maximum protection and comfort. This is especially important with your helmet and skates.

Something about me

In July 1974 (21 yr), a friend and I went from Detroit, MI to Fort Lauderdale, FL on motorcycles

I had a 450 Honda.

My friend Dan had a 500 Triumph with dirt tires.

Stop when we needed gas –  got 1 hour from home and he signaled to pull over in a rest area.

Coming home Dan got a flat on 1-75 expressway in Georgia. I rode to the next exit and went to a gas station for help. A kid that looked like he was 12 yr old followed me in a tow truck and took Dan’s bike back to the station. This same kid patched Dan’s tire and charged us $12. This tire was still on Dan’s bike when he sold it 2 years later.

Don’t judge a book by its cover: This “kid” knew what he was doing.

I also sold my bike and didn’t ride again until 5 years ago at my cousin’s.

I hope you enjoyed this episode.

Remember what’s important: Have fun, try to avoid injuries and make new friends.

Please share my podcast with friends and other players.

Let me know if you have anything you struggle with as an older player.

Show Notes for this episode are located at AgelessHockey.com/12

You can also leave a comment at this location

My email is Jim@AgelessHockey.com

Please visit AgelessHockey.com for more information

I value your time and appreciate all of you that have subscribed to my podcast. Thanks for listening!

Have fun playing the greatest game on earth!
STAY ON THE ICE

 

AH 011 – How To Deal with The Stress Of Playing Hockey

podcast by Jim

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

In this episode, I’ll talk about

  • Why I get stressed thinking about playing hockey.
  • What causes stress for a hockey player?
  • What can be done to improve our game?
  • How to get out of a scoring slump.
  • Hockey stuff I got for Christmas.

It’s 2018 – Happy New Year! I hope you had a great holiday season.

Lately I’ve been experiencing some stress before playing hockey. More so for league games, but also for DIH.

Why I get stressed thinking about playing hockey

  1. I haven’t scored a goal or even had an assist in a long time.
  2. I feel that a lot of the players are faster and better than me. Many of them are older than me, so this is even more frustrating.
  3. I don’t feel I have been making good decisions on the ice.
  4. I’m falling occasionally on my own?
  5. If I don’t start playing better, I’m not going to get called to sub for any teams in the Over 60 League.

Next I tried to justify my thinking with the following:

  • For the past 3 months, I’ve only been playing defense, so the opportunities to score aren’t as frequent as playing forward. Should I tell the Over 60 League commissioner that I only want to play forward?
  • I haven’t taken many shots. But many of the ones I take have been wide of the goal (I can hear Dave Lewis yelling at me again). Other players seem to score almost every time they shoot.
  • I have some nagging injuries. Maybe this is the reason I’m not skating as well as I think I should be. Although, doesn’t every player over 50 have some injury that is bothering them?
  • I’ve made too many bad passes lately. Rushed the zone, then went back to the point, my teammate passed the puck to an empty wing thinking I was still going there.
  • As a sub, you can get called to play on any of the 6 teams. Playing with different players seems tougher than being on the same team and line all the time. Only playing occasionally also makes it harder to know the other teams and players.
  • I play on the same team every time in DIH and the opposing team usually has the same players, so why am I not doing better? But wait, in DIH the players can be as young as 50, so this can make it tougher than playing in the Over 60 league.
  • I’m not getting called much to sub in the league. 3x’s in 15 games – Are the team captains calling other subs first and if they can’t play, then they call me?

These are all poor excuses!

  • With all these negative thoughts going through my head, no wonder I’m getting stressed.
  • Isn’t this ridiculous, that I’m getting stressed about playing in FUN hockey games?
  • Shouldn’t I be happy that I’m still able to skate at my age (65)?
  • There are 25 players on the sub list. Many of them have been waiting for years to get on a team. I’m new to the Over 60 League, so I shouldn’t expect to get called to play before these players.
  • Do I need to accept that I’m not as good as these other players?
  • Should I change my attitude and stop caring how I play? I can’t do that, I want to keep improving. I don’t want to take it easy when I play.
  • If I can’t skate hard and play well because of injuries or my age, maybe I should consider hanging up my skates?
  • I don’t want to look for a league with less skilled players, because I do enjoy playing against better skaters. But it would be nice to occasionally feel like I’m making a positive contribution to my team.
  • OK, it’s time to call the Wambulance for me!

Next, I wondered if anyone else felt this way, so I Googled: stress of playing hockey and found some articles.

I’ll have links in the Show Notes to some good articles I found.

What causes stress for a hockey player?

The 10 “Deadly” Mistakes Hockey Players Make With Their Pregame Attitude – Dr. Patrick Cohn
http://www.hockeyeasternontario.ca/docs/HEO_10_Pregame_Mistakes.pdf

  1. Placing strict expectations on your performance.
    – Yes, I put a lot of pressure on myself, because I don’t want to let my teammates down. I did the same thing when I played completive slow-pitch softball for 15 years. Although I was a better softball player than I am a hockey player.
  2. Leaving self-confident to chance
    – I’ve mentioned that I think many players are better than me.
  3. Getting distracted by the hoopla of the game
    – There really aren’t any big games, so I’m not sure this is an issue for me.
  4. Carrying life’s worries into sports
    – I don’t think I do this.
  5. Over-training before the game
    – Not me. Maybe I need to work-out between games? Currently I’ve been resting my body.
  6. Worrying too much about results or outcomes
    – Every time I’ve subbed this year we lost. Teammates said I played well, but are they just saying that to be nice?
  7. Poor planning or lack of a game plan
    – I need to do this and keep it positive, instead of thinking the opposing player is so much better than me that I’m going to be lucky if he doesn’t score on each shift.
  8. Psyching yourself out before the game.
    – I do this by thinking I’m not very good.
  9. Worrying too much about what others think.
    Yes, I probably pass too much, because I don’t want players to think I’m a puck hog.
  10. Allowing fear of failure to be the top motivator.
    – I need to stop worrying about making a mistake. This limits me on taking a chance, like taking the puck in the opponent’s zone when I play defense.

NOTE: This article goes into more detail.
http://www.hockeyeasternontario.ca/docs/HEO_10_Pregame_Mistakes.pdf

Do any of you think about these things?

What can be done to improve our game?

  • Get back to Basics. We may be trying too hard.
  • Take a week or two off. This may help a nagging injury and clear your mind.
  • Start on something simple. Trying to shoot on goal with every shot (STOP trying to pick the top corner like an NHL player).
  • Work on one thing at a time.
    – Something you learned from a book, watching others, DVD or talking to someone.
    – After you learn something, try it at DIH, Sticks & Pucks or Open Skating.
  • If you are experiencing issues skating, talk to the person that sharpens your skates. Maybe try a different profile (blade radius) and/or a different sharpening hollow.
    My skates profile is 11 foot and my sharpening is ½” hollow.
    The guy that sharpens my skates suggested I try 9/16” hollow, so I don’t have to work so hard skating. I may try 9/16” hollow on my skates, but only when I know I’m not subbing in the league. That way I can try them in DIH (if I have an issue it’s not a big deal).
  • Green biscuit and a street hockey stick.
    – Shoot at a target (use the Snipe): boxes, tarp, etc.
  • Get plenty of rest. We aren’t kid’s anymore. If you have a morning game, don’t go to bed at 3 AM.
  • Try to learn from better players (talk to the guys you know will help you).
  • Watch NHL games (although they make things look so easy).
  • Set a goal (pun?). What do you want to accomplish? Skate faster (profile, 1/2″ hollow to 9/16″?), Score more or just get one goal? (first try to make sure every shot is on the net, maybe get a rebound goal)
  • Dr. Patrick Cohn: Develop your own Hockey Pre-Game routine. Letting go of life challenges, Fuel your confidence, Prepare yourself to play each shift.
    – Consistent mental preparation leads to consistent performance.
  • Pre-Game: Stretching (at home, then warm up on the ice).
  • Talk to teammates: How should we shoot on the opposing goalie? What players should we watch out for?
  • Skate, Skate, Skate. The more you skate and play hockey the better shape your legs and body will be in. Having the stamina to play for an entire game will make you a better player.
    • When I first returned to hockey, I was not in shape. Every time I was on the bench, I would look at the clock and quickly estimate how many shifts I had left. I would then pace myself to make sure I still had some energy at the end of the game. Not playing hard every shift, doesn’t help your teammates.
  • Be patient and don’t beat yourself up. We aren’t in the NHL.
  • Be realistic (we can’t do what we did in our 20’s).

How to get out of a scoring slump

Please let me know if any of you experience stress before or during a game and what you did that helped you.

What suggestions do you have for getting out of a scoring slump?

http://builtforhockey.com/hockey-mental-toughness/ – Blog


Hockey stuff I got for Christmas

– Skate Fenders (foot protection – goes over skates)
– Cut-Resistant Socks (feet)

Books:
– If These Walls Could Talk: Detroit Red Wings
– Books to help me come up with Podcast Topics and write Show Notes

Let me know what hockey gifts you got this holiday.

Last game: Slap shot: whistle, like icing

Something about me

1970 – My senior year of HS I had a 1969 Chevy Chevelle SS 396 (friend’s uncle’s wife got pregnant).

– 9 months old (10K miles) for $1,500 ($3,200 New)
– Blue with black vinyl top/roof, 325 HP, 373 rear end (faster top end speed) (425 rear end =  faster in the quarter mile), 4 speed, Muncie shifter (friend put in a Hurst Competition Plus Shifter with a T-Bar handle), bench seat (bucket seats were cooler).

– Game arena was on a dirt road – I wouldn’t take my car. Drove to the rink we practiced at.
– This was a fun car.

What was your favorite car?

I hope you enjoyed this episode.

Remember what’s important: Have fun, try to avoid injuries and make new friends.

Please share my podcast with friends and other players.

Let me know if you have…

Show Notes for this episode are located at AgelessHockey.com/11

You can also leave a comment at this location

My email is Jim@AgelessHockey.com

Please visit AgelessHockey.com for more information

I value your time and appreciate all of you that have subscribed to my podcast. Thanks for listening!

Have fun playing the greatest game on earth!
STAY ON THE ICE