beer league puck hog complaint

[Spidey]

WWHD?

(what would Hextall do)

[Slapshot011]

Originally Posted by ScJeff

Hes like 55, im 18. Im not dropping the gloves on an old guy. It missed my head by just a bit.

Being 55 has nothing to do with it. An A$$ Hole is an A$$ Hole. He should have at the very least been yelled at and made aware how uncalled for his shot at you was. I personally would have at least dropped him. He would deserve it. Maybe he would have broken a hip

On another note, I agree with others that say to leave it if they call it. If he blows it a few times you can remind him that he asked for the puck, fire it at his head and tell him that if he's gonna call for it, he should be able to play it.

[Just.Ice]

that's flippin brutal. my blood is boiling just reading/thinking about it. at the very minimum, i wouldn't be skating with these guys again. and it wouldn't be too much to have given this guy a blocker to the head...

[kohomcm]

Reading your post once more, you mentioned he was frustrated. It sounds like his actions were a build up from previous happenings. Its still was no excuse, but you have to look at it from their point of view.

Forwards are glory hogs anyways, if you are giving them breakaway passes of course they are going to side with you! lol

but ussually when you need to be helped out, who is ussually there for you?

The defense! Just remember you might need to change your play just a hair for these guys. As they say focus on stopping pucks lol

[PSULion22]

Twice I have had a goalie hit me in the face with a puck he played after I had called him off. Both times, the goalie was looking for a breakaway pass and lifted the puck too high. I've also had my goalie hit me in the face with his stick a few times whie trying to play a puck when I was nearby. (no, not the same goalie every time).

Is shooting a puck at your head right? Absolutely not. But neither is playing a puck like that in open hockey. Everyone is there to play. It's bad enough that no one plays defense and the forwards just cherry pick looking for breakaways. If someone calls you off the puck, let them have it. If they are pressured, play it to a position where it will help them, like behind the net. It does look like you are showing off by playing a lot of pucks in an old guy open skate.

[Back In Net 35]

Wow.... Are you serious man? When I was 18 I was 5'7 (still am lol) if some guy shot a puck at my head I would have fought him right there. This is a teammate and he shouldn't be taking shots at his own goaltender (head hunting no less).

Play the puck whenever you want. Beer leagues are to be fun and to practice your game and part of your game is playing the puck. Unless you play it all the time when you have a defensemen near the puck without any players from the other team around he has no right to say anything to you.

If I were you I would never talk to this guy again and to ignore him on the ice. If the same situation happens don't think twice to play the puck. Play your game and if he doesn't like it shoot the puck at his head next time

[PSULion22]

Originally Posted by Back In Net 35

Wow.... Are you serious man? When I was 18 I was 5'7 (still am lol) if some guy shot a puck at my head I would have fought him right there. This is a teammate and he shouldn't be taking shots at his own goaltender (head hunting no less).

Play the puck whenever you want. Beer leagues are to be fun and to practice your game and part of your game is playing the puck. Unless you play it all the time when you have a defensemen near the puck without any players from the other team around he has no right to say anything to you.
If I were you I would never talk to this guy again and to ignore him on the ice. If the same situation happens don't think twice to play the puck. Play your game and if he doesn't like it shoot the puck at his head next time

Though he didn't say it in his post, I suspect this is the case and the cause for the frustration. Given, that's purely speculation. It's just in his first post, he said he likes to play the puck a lot, was always looking to play the puck forward, and set up breakaways. So it seems like he is prone to playing a puck like this. Plus, he said the players were split on who they sided with. If this was really just a one time play that caused the shot, no one would side with the jackass because his actions would have been greatly uncalled for (they are still uncalled for though). Clearly some other people felt the headhunting was warranted, and may have been frustrated too.

[kohomcm]

I would love to hear the story from the side of the D-man.

There has to me more to it than just a one time thing.

[diesel]

Just leave it next time, its pick up, so who cares...

But from now on, I wouldn't be helping this guy at all. No more "man on, man on" calls, no more stopping the puck for him when its fired in, no more passing to him, etc. He's on his own... just tell him "you want the puck, go get it." He'll touch the puck a lot less if you're not there to help him. And when they score, just say "nice work!". He'll know what you mean.

Now, as for firing it at you, that's uncalled for and his ankles would have been eating my two-hander next time he was near me. He's attemping to hurt you because he didn't touch the puck!! Not called for...

[Psychopomp]

Just my 2 cents... At 18 yrs old and him at 55, I would have walked if someone had pulled crap like that. No fights, no arguing, just skated off.

Now that I'm 31, if the same thing happened, I would have gotten really ticked in the heat of the moment and probably would have tried to deck the guy

As I've gotten older, I've settled into a personal hockey philosophy that keeps me from taking it too seriously. This may be rediculous, but it keeps the game fun for me and I know that when I can't make this work, it's probably time for me to hang the skates up.
- Hockey is a game, something I do for fun and stress relief
- Competition is good, it keeps you sharp, it drives you to do better, helps you feel good about yourself.
- I have to come home to my wife at the end of the night and wake up for work the next day. This means I don't want to wind up in a hospital, or be mentally distracted by some crazy thing that happened on the ice. Health and well-being are priority.
- Respect your teammates and friends.
- I play for myself and noone else.

All of the other points fall off the last one. We don't owe anything to anybody else when we step on the ice. All of us play because it's something we like to do, not because of an obligation or because someone is making us play. We don't play so that everyone else can have a good time. A goalie is not a tool.

I personally do my best to play well every time I take the ice because I take pride in what I do. I play my game the best way I know how. I don't tell the defense or fowards how to play and they shouldn't tell me. We can offer suggestions, but that's about it.

I don't think you should sacrifice your fun for someone else's. If this guy wants to take pot-shots at you because he's frustrated, he needs an attitude adjustment. If he can't get the puck before you, then he needs to skate faster. If you see an opportunity to help create an odd-man rush, you should do it. That's just hockey.

In the end it becomes a situation where you have to decide if these are the kind of guys you want to play with.

[Bryan]

If the d-man says he wants it, you leave it for him, period.

It's tough enough to get most beer league/pickup level d-men to tell you what they want when you go to play the puck, don't ever freaking ignore them when they actually tell you!

The reason a goalie plays the puck is to save his guys from having to come all the way back, not so you can show off your puck handling skills.

[wjmurray]

Play your game. If some a-hole shoots at you like that, skate off the ice. No doubt someone will come and ask why you're leaving and you can tell them either he leaves the ice or you are out of there. There is absolutely NO excuse for that type of garbage from anyone, no matter how old they are. Anyone who would get PO'ed and shoot at their own goalie's head should not be on the ice in the first place. The excuses others are making for this guy are just that - excuses. But the fact remains that there is no excuse for trying to hurt someone in a pickup game.

[NickT55]

He is probably just mad because you better breakout passes than he does

[influenza]

Originally Posted by Slapshot011

Being 55 has nothing to do with it. An A$$ Hole is an A$$ Hole. He should have at the very least been yelled at and made aware how uncalled for his shot at you was. I personally would have at least dropped him. He would deserve it. Maybe he would have broken a hip

there is no way an 18 year old is gonna drop a 55 year old. unless that 18 year old spends a lot of time in the gym.

[influenza]

let the guy know it's not the NHL, let the guy know he's acting younger than you are. let the guy know if he does it again you'll cross check his neck and run like hell.