Doing hockey for the first time. Advice?

Dress warmly!

 

Huntsie's right. Keep it simple. I'm sure your story will kick all kinds of ass!

 

Offer to take whoever scores the winning goal out for a soda after the game. (Just none of that stinkin' root beer.) And then ask him if he put on any foil beforehand.

 

It's basketball with a thousand turnovers.

 

You know, with that kind of concise analogy, you might do well in this business, newbie...

 

If he's doing this for the first time, the last thing he should be doing is trusting himself to detect trends.

Keep it simple, and if there's anything at all you don't understand, ask. The coach won't get pissed if you tell him you haven't covered much hockey and didn't quite understand something.

 

How did it go? Did you capture the spirit of the thing?

 

I still have a few days to write the thing, but I'll spend some ink on the kid who scored two goals and got an assist. However, the key was the freshman goalie who saved a penalty shot off the stick of the visiting team's best player. He'll be at least as much of a focus as the two-goal scorer.

I think I'll be able to handle the story fine. Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

You got it, my man. A kid with a three point game and a goalie stoning the opposing team's best player on a penalty shot is the way to go.

 

This is from someone who has watched a shitload of hockey but sorry, has never covered it. Take it for what it's worth

Every team has a couple of studs---if they're high school players, they've probably been drafted in the CHL or have scholarships.

For a couple of shifts, watch them instead of the play. Forget the puck, focus on them and see what they do with and without the puck.

Watch the battles for the puck down low and see if they come up with the puck. Watch what they do in the offensive zone without the puck--where are they positioned?

More importantly, watch what they do when there's a turnover in their zone and the play goes back the other way. Are they skating hard to get back into the play and help their defensemen or are they just figuring the other guys will take care of business.

Watch the goalies when the other team scores. Watch their body language.

If they hang their head or slam their stick, their confidence is a little shakey.

If they hang back in their net as opposed to coming out and challenging shooters, they're done.

And, if you're not sure who the best players are, look for the best skaters.

 

When the story is done, rent Slap Shot, crack open a cold one and watch it, then review your story and make sure no movie dialogue appears in your copy.
Renting Slap Shot is easier than finding Versus on cable.

 

Bullshit. I'll give you $50 if you use "tic-tac-toe pass" in your first gamer and then mail it to Mizzou.

OK, maybe I won't...