Scenes from a hockey changing room

Men and women in together. Talk of the air show. One guy, ex military, telling stories.

Locker room banter, one-liners, as per any sport.

Giant hockey bags fill the floor.

Icehouse Changing Room 1.

Will and I try to find enough bench space for our gear as we slowly dismantle our armour (see previous post). Stuff our sweaty gear into our bags. Others are getting changed for an Adult Drop-In session. Which means they can skate, are probably part of teams.

Our Stick and Puck session was fun but kind of intimidating as we worked on our basic moves (yes, still wrestling with the bastard that is the pivot), while all around us. accomplished hockey players zoomed, shot, passed, flew.

Before hitting the ice though, there was one very disconcerting sight in the dressing room.

as per below:

Icehouse Changing Room 1: on the floor

And yes, the guy, a bit older than me, was out on the ice and yes, he was tearing it up, on a specially designed prosthetic with a hockey skate attached. As far as I could tell, it didn’t inconvenience him at all.

Meanwhile, in the NHL, my Red Wings managed to let go of a 4-1 lead in the third and final period against Phoenix (Detroit Free Press), eventually losing a shoot-out to be beaten 5-4. Sigh. Still in decent shape for the looming play-offs but need to finish games off, and learn how to win, not drift. Coach Mike Babcock wasn’t happy at all.

Elsewhere in the American media, debate rages over concussions within hockey. They’re up this year but the evidence suggests it’s not just fighting that causes them (New York Times); in fact, more come from in-play collisions (even ex-hockey fighters agree: New York Times again). The long-term effects aren’t good. What am I getting myself in for here?