Neil, pass the puck.

“Pass the puck Neil, we’re on the same team”.

This one kid kept saying it over and over again.

But he didn’t pass the puck, and I’m not really sure if that is how he spells his name, but remember it everyone, because in ten years or so, this kid is really going to be something.  He’s going to be the next Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky, and Sidney Crosby combined.  Children will grow up wanting to be him, and by the time he turns 21, he’ll have made more money than most of us will ever see in a lifetime.

“Neil’s kind of a puck hog,” I told my friend, and we both had a good laugh.

I love going to the outdoor hockey rink.  It’s one of my favourite things to do.  Maybe it’s because I’m so immature and I feel like a big kid most of the time anyway, that I feel so comfortable out on the ice, with all of the other children. 

There is usually a good cross section of ages at the outdoor rink, but usually there aren’t many people who are older, and those people are only there because they have kids on a team or they are the coach.

I think I’m the only person in the world who still uses an aluminum hockey stick.  My dad bought it for me about 20 years ago or so.  I was in grade 9 at the time.  After Wayne Gretzky was traded to the Los Angeles Kings and he started using one, everyone wanted to use an Easton aluminum hockey stick.

I got a gold one from the Hockey Hutch on Pembina HWY for around 60 dollars.  All of my other hockey sticks had cost around 10.  A new replacement blade ran about 15.

The blade on my stick is about 12 years old.  It was a Christmas present in December of 2000, the year I got back into hockey and the NHL.

After the original Jets left I stopped watching hockey for a while because of how upset I was.  What got me back was Mario Lemieux and his amazing comeback to the NHL at the age of 35, after being out of hockey for three and a half years.

I like a heel curve and I’ve been using one ever since I saw a friend use one and he let me try it out.  The name on my blade is Leetch, for Brian Leetch, a player that retired from the NHL almost 10 years ago.  The blade is made out of Kevlar, and I don’t think they make them out of that material anymore.  I guess it’s just too strong and it lasts too long.  I can still stickhandle with it, but I can’t take any slap shots.  The wrist shot also works.

I hope that other Neil will one day learn to be a better team player and pass the puck.  Until then I hope he keeps at it and develops his skills.

There’s no better place to do that, than the outdoor rink.

cheers,

rymr