roller to ice

My son is currently playing roller hockey and wishes to switch to ice next year. The closest ice is 60 miles away and he has never been on ice skates. One rink has pick up games with training. Should he start here or find someplace where he can just skate. Time will only allows about one session a month and we would like to start playing ice a year from now. Any commments on this subject are welcome.

[daemyn75]

I have never played ice hockey but I hear it is easier than roller. I would just go out and skate a few times so he can get the feel for it than if he likes it let him play a little pcik up. Bernie any additions?

[Bernie]

I did answer something about that a while ago- try a search on it. The main thing is the movement is much different, and the fact that, in general-

If you play ice, the transition to roller is pretty easy, you just have to learn how to stop on them things! But if you play roller and switch to ice, you'll almost have to start at square one again!

Bernie

[Bernie]

Sorry for the quippy post- my boss called me into his office, I thought to yell at me for hanging on this BB! But luckily it was for some other company infractions

After re-reading your post, Larry, it is the exact same thing I went through. I became proficient at roller hockey but when I switched to ice, it was a nightmare. I had to learn to skate all over again. And like you said, playing ice hockey maybe once or twice a week at best never let me improve to the level I play roller hockey at, much less once a month. So, basically, after about a year and a half, I gave up ice hockey.
I do miss it. It is a much prettier game but I agree, goaltending in roller hockey is actually harder, and not just because it's harder to move and you can't slide, but the aggressive, offensive nature of the game means a lot more quality shots.
My recommendations? Junior's gotta skate like a SOB! I skated just regular sessions at the ice rink about 6-8 times a week to teach myself to iceskate. I'd also go into a corner to practice goalie moves. I became friends with the Junior A guys who worked there over the summer and they'd work with me after the rink closed, but that meant staying up til 2-3 in the morning on weeknights.

That's the problem. You can inline anywhere, but to be a good ice hockey player- you gotta find ice. I believe you will find this a frustrating situation IMHO and you'll have to be pretty damn perserverant to follow through with this. I'm not trying to turn you away, Larry, but I'm being honest. You're in for a doozie.

Bernie

i also made the switch from roller to ice, but I still don't play in ice league games (times are inconvenient and it's SO EXPENSIVE). The big thing for "junior" is that he needs to get out on the ice in his equipment. Just plain skating isn't gonna help him too much. For one, ice goalie skates are VERY difficult to skate around the rink in without looking like a fool. The real challenge of changing to ice is learning to move in those damn things while you're in the crease trying to stop a puck. With the rink 60 miles away, GOOD LUCK. Once a month definitely isn't going to be enough. I played this entire summer, at least twice a week so I could get the hang of the ice...and that was after I had played out on ice for about a year (so ice wasn't unfamiliar). If he's never been on the ice, it may take a bit longer for him to adjust. Also, whatever you do, DO NOT make him try to play goalie in player's skates. IT DOESN'T WORK...don't ask how I know...

Anyhow, YOU HAVE TO GET HIM ON THE ICE A LOT. Maybe if you get a motel room for a night or two near the rink so you can get him on the ice two days in a row...

[bashby]

My son (8yrs) is currently in the process of learning to ice skate after playing goalie in a roller hockey league and I have a couple of thoughts. First the good news: kids pick up new skills and transfer skills a lot faster and easier than adults. I was surprised by how fast my son took to ice skating and tranferred the skills from blading. Now the bad news: I agree that once a month is not going to cut it as far as practice time goes.
In my situation, I promised my son some goalie instruction and the best instructor that I have found only teaches on ice. So my goal was to have my son learn to ice skate well enough so that the time with the instructor would be productive. He took a 10 week(1 lesson/week) course at the local rink for ice hockey skating(plus he went to some public skating sessions). At the end of the lessons I feel that he progressed enough for us to begin the lessons. Does he skate on ice as well as on roller blades? NO Would he be as good a goalie on ice as he currently is in roller?NO Is he good enough to play goalie in his age range at the ice rink? Yes, well maybe, the course instructors thinks he would do well, but you never know till he tries. So I think someone at his age can progress with as little as 1-2 sessions a week.But I think that is about the minimum frequency.

In your case, you need to maximise the value of what little time on the ice you can get. I would say that you should at least get a well qualified instructor that can work one on one with your son.

Another idea that I have thought about is to get some "plastic ice" so my son can at least practice his goalie moves in front of the net at home with his ice skate on. I have noticed that some of the instructional hockey schools use this for some goalie training. I believe that this "plastic ice" is .25 in uhmw polyethelene and a 4'x8' sheet would cost about 200-250$us from an industrial supply house like McMaster-Carr. Has anybody else out there ever tried skating on the stuff and what were your experiences? Or does anybody have any better info on it that they can share?

Anyway, it sound like your son is really motivated if he has a one year plan all lined up. With that kind of motivation, anything is possible. Hope this helps