Twin Cities Adult Hockey Blog

Men's League Fall Schedule

Received an email from Eric Knutsen, the local coordinator of the men's Metro Hockey League. They're getting ready for fall, so give him a call if you're interested -

I wanted to remind you that the Metro Adult Hockey League is starting the week of September 17, 2006, so it's time to line-up the boys and sharpen your skates.  I will be sending out registration forms very soon.  Here is a brief look at the levels and divisions we will be offering:

• Sunday - Central Bronze @ Augsburg (8-10 teams)
• Monday/Tuesday - West Silver II @ Minnetonka/Parade (8 teams)
• Wednesday - West Silver @ St. Louis Park/Minnetonka (10-12 teams)
• Wednesday - West Gold @ St. Louis Park (6-8 teams)
• Wednesday - Central Gold @ Augsburg (6-8 teams)

The Silver level hosts players with a wide variety of skill levels.  Most players have organized men's league experience or high school playing experience at most.  The silver level is considered recreational, yet still competitive.  The Bronze level will be offered for lower level silver teams and teams lacking youthful legs - you know who you are!

The Gold level hosts players with higher skill levels.  Most players have high school hockey experience at a minimum.  Many players have post high school playing experience or are accomplished adult teams.  The Gold level is the most competitive division, yet it is very laidback.  As in the past, we may offer a inter-divisional play for the Gold level.

We hope to see you on the ice for another great season of hockey, a wet t-shirt, and a cold beer.

Thank you,

Eric Knutsen
Minnesota Showcase Hockey
phone 952-920-8826
fax 952-546-2784
www.showcasehockey.com

Minnesota Wild Adult Hockey League

Fall League: September 10-December 20, 2006

Winter League: January 7-May 23, 2007

This adult hockey league offers multiple skill levels and divisions novice through elite players. This is a zero tolerance league with a full-time league supervisor. The Minnesota Wild Adult League runs a winter, summer and fall league.       

League Features    

• »  Team jerseys provided by league
• »  Fall and Summer teams guaranteed minimum eleven games; Winter teams guaranteed minimum fifteen games
• »  All games will consist of three 17-minute periods and a 4-minute warm-up
• »  All teams make single elimination, season-ending tournament
• »  No checking, no slap shots
• »  Online league standings
• »  Full-time league supervisor
• »  Professional, certified officials
• »  Hat Trick Café on-site for food and beverages

Divisions Offered       

• »  A - advanced/elite league
• »  B - competitive, tier I
• »  C - competitive, tier II
• »  D - intermediate/novice, recreational
• »  40+ Tier I (upper)
• »  40+ Tier II (lower)

Venues       

Games are played at the Schwan Super Rink and Columbia Ice Arena in Fridley.

Application Deadline

Fall  League application deadline is August 8 , 2006 or when league is full.

 

Buzz Hockey on Sunday Nights

As I've noted before, we both started adult hockey with John "Buzz" Bazzachini's classes out in Plymouth. Great guy, great training.

Buzz Hockey offers training for men, women and youths - and this summer he's starting a women's skating opportunity on Sunday nights, starting on June 18th. He's also continuing to offer Sunday skates for men, just at a different time. Go to the web site to check out specifics.

AHA Summer League and Beginner's School Registration Available

The Adult Hockey Association (AHA) here in the Twin Cities has announced a summer league of play starting in June.

They'll have 4 divisions, with 12 games and a single elimination playoff. If you participated in the fall/winter 2005/2006 league, you get a bit of a break on price: $235, and $285 if you're a new player.

The teams are co-ed (which around here means they are mostly male) and you can sign up as an individual or as part of a group. Teams can also register this year. Teams are limited to 17 players and the league reserves the right to move players around to maintain parity.

You can register online at their web site.

Also from the AHA - their co-ed Beginner School starts a spring 2006 class on April 19th. The Beginner School is a great opportunity to learn to play adult hockey, and gives you a chance to be on a team in the fall/winter league play.

There are 10 on-ice instructional sessions, 2 off-ice sessions, 9 games and a jersey included in the registration fees. The 19 week program costs $425 before April 1st and $445 after the 1st.

Again, you can register online at the web site.

They do a great job getting new and experienced players up and running with good opportunities to play as a part of a regular team.

Another nice aspect of AHA? You can pay for your fees via scorekeeping. Nice way to cut the cost of your league play. See their web site for details.

FYI: AHA FAll/winter playoffs will be at Bloomington Ice Gardens April 6th-9th. If you want to see how fast the different divisions are, this would be a great opportunity to see them in action.

Buzz Hockey Update

Some class updates from Buzz Hockey out in Plymouth -

Men's hockey is ongoing on Sunday nights throughout the year. A new 7 week session begins on April 9th and runs through June 4th. It's $150.00 per 7 week session. Drop-ins are always welcome. Check Buzz' web site for current ice times.

Women's hockey is ongoing on Friday mornings (child care is available with advance notice). Friday mornings stop at the end of April, but Buzz will have sessions for women on Monday nights during the summer.

Skaters at all different levels are welcome - beginner through advanced.

Not For Women Hockey Players Only

It's always interesting to see how people find our site through search engine terms. Someone earlier today typed in "beginner hockey for women" and a great link came up under that search term.

It's so good I'm going to create a new category on the right side of the page just for this link.

Not for women only - while the title of this site is "Hockey for Women", it's a very good general web site written with a coach's perspective of how to play the game...specifically for beginnning hockey players. Click the logo to get started.

There's information on offensive play, defensive play and special teams play. The author uses diagrams and animation to illustrate her points. Terrific site.

Post-Holiday Hockey Tidbits

Hope everyone had a nice holiday season with family and friends. We were both in town and out of town, so blogging was a little light. Unfortunately the promising weather we had in December has turned against those of us who like to skate outdoors.

Hope you had a chance to skate off some of the Christmas turkey and New Year's lasagne....

I like the current look of the blog, so...it's red and green for a little while longer :-)

A few adult hockey tidbits to share:

• Steve Brenner will be holding his women's spring/summer hockey clinics from April 2nd to Sept 24th (Sunday nights). All sessions will be at the Burnsville Ice Center in Burnsville MN. It's $275.00 for all sessions (23 hours of ice time) and the fee includes a jersey. Steve doesn't have a web site yet (c'mon Steve!) so call for further info: 952-292-8966
• Schwan's Super Rink is accepting applications for their annual "Stick It To Cancer" women's tournament on April 21-23, 2006. There a number of different divisions, so click the link to go to Schwan's site and check it out. It's a fun tournament and goes to support a very good cause.
• Another Schwan's tournament to consider: the Walleye Chop. Held at the Super Rink from May 12-14, 2006 there are several divisions for both men's and women's teams. It includes a Saturday night fish fry, so how can you lose!
• And yet another Schwan's note - they are offering spring skills classes (separate sessions for men and women) starting in March.
• The State Fairgrounds offers open skating from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Monday thru Friday. They also offer recreational hockey on Friday's from 1:15 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. It's a deal, as we say in Minnesota - admission is $2.00 and you can buy a season pass (Nov - April) for $60.00.

Those of you on teams are in the thick of your winter season right now. Good luck to everyone, and have fun.

Buzz Hockey Starting New Men's Classes

John Bazzachini's Hockey Clinics for Men are starting a new winter session, beginning November 20th.

Class nights: Sunday nights as follows - Nov 20, Dec 4, 11 and 18, Jan 8, 15 and 22.

Times: 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm.

Cost: 7 hours of ice and instruction for $150.00

Location: Plymouth Ice Center

Registration is via the web site: BuzzHockey.com

Both Marcus and Jane have skated with Buzz - good guy and good training. Lots of drills, some scrimmage, individual attention. We give John 2 thumbs up (or, is that 2 sticks up?)

Life Time Hockey Summer School Registrations Open

Life Time Hockey is now taking registrations for their summer school in August of 2006. Held August 9-13 here in Minnespolis, the summer school will feature a combination of on-ice instruction and scrimmages, off-ice and dry-land training, video tape analysis of your skating stride (hummm...I might not want to watch...too painful), and - Radar Gun evaluation of your shot's velocity. Sounds fun!

You can register on their web site - the tuition is $465.00 with a number of early bird discounts available.

Another Men's League

Added another link over on the right hand side of the page under Men's Hockey: Minnesota Metro Adult Hockey. Their league is sponsored by "Kip's Irish Pub", so post-game activities look covered.

They offer 2 divisions - Gold, for competative players with high school and post- high school experience, and Silver, which is more recreational with a wider range of skill levels. Their fall season has started, but the winter season starts after the New Year's.

Email league director, Eric Knutsen for more info: eric.knutsen@showcasehockey.com.