Hockey is truly an awesome game. Watching players skate through the crowd, carrying the puck en route to a top-shelf snipe for a goal is a sight to behold. It’s exciting, dramatic, and poetry wrapped into one game.
Beer league hockey is sometimes less so. While most beer league players lack the speed, finesse, or skill of the pros, the excitement of the game is still there. But what players lack in overall skill, they make up for with a love of the game.
Beer league hockey is unpredictable. One season, your team could win the league championship, and the next, you’re struggling to break five wins in a 20-game season, and one of your top players decided it was time to relocate back home to Minnesota. One game goes well because your whole team shows up, but the next is a blowout loss because six people are on vacation and your goalie is sick.
It may be slower and rougher around the edges, and yes, game times tend to suck (who doesn’t love a good 11:30 pm game on a weekday night before we all have to go back to work the next day). The rink is rough around the edges, and we don't draw much of a crowd. But beer league hockey is beautiful, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
I am fortunate enough to play for two different teams right now, one of which I will give Sammi the pleasure of writing about since she captains that particular squad.
My other team is a rebirth of an original group that was formed out of a cluster of people from where I work. At one point, a bunch of us came to the realization that we had nearly enough to start a hockey team, and we created the Moose at Fairfax Ice Arena’s C league. After the pandemic and several players left, our team was forced into a hiatus. After that team ended, we were able to find other places to play, met some great people to add to our core group, and eventually decided we wanted to make a return to Fairfax to reunite with some of our OG’s.
I suppose part of the beauty of beer league is that the turnover can lend itself to building and forging new friendships in the process. I met some great people over the years, people that I am fortunate enough to count as close friends, and have had the privilege of playing alongside them.
I met my good friend Kelly when she and I began working together, but a friendship formed over our shared obsession with hockey (along with stupid memes and random Billy Madison quotes). As we learned about more people from work who played (including a couple of old-timers who have played some fairly high-level hockey), we recruited and formed a team. Sure, our roster has changed over the years. Some have moved on. Some were only here temporarily and have since left the area. Even after our return to Fairfax, several members of the original group jumped back on the ice with us, and we’ve since added some good folks to our team.
When we were set to return to Fairfax, we found another Moose team in our league and decided it was the perfect opportunity to rebrand. Kelly came up with our current (insane) jersey idea and team name. She came up with this diabolical amalgamation of retro-inspired looks that appears as if the 80s/early-90s threw up all over a hockey sweater. In the end, the “Windbreakers” were born, and a jersey was created that would make Zach Morris and Kelly Kapowski proud.
Playing out of Fairfax Ice Arena’s D1 league, the Windbreakers just entered our third season of play. While we have not won any championship trophies (the Moose did come close a few years back), and have yet to even put together a winning season, we have managed to have a lot of fun (and some laughs, at our own expense). As of now, we sit at 0-2 in the recently-started summer season. We lost a couple of players from last season, but have added a few people for this season and hopefully we can put together some wins. Some turnover aside, many from our original core group keep returning, because we may just be gluttons for punishment.
Our team is a pretty healthy mix of skill. While some players are clearly more gifted skaters, others (like yours truly) are decidedly...less so. A couple of additions from recent seasons have gifted us some great players (and fun personalities, which is half the battle when trying to keep a team together that's fun to play with).
But wins and losses…mostly losses aside, showing up to skate with this group is a ton of fun. And in the end, that’s what hockey is all about. I imagine at the pro level, it becomes a job. But when you’re a bunch of scrappy beer leaguers, it’s all about playing for your team and for your love of the game.
Beer league hockey is the best form of hockey, even if the players aren’t all ringers. It allows a rural Pennsylvania kid who grew up too poor to play on ice, and devoid of any discernible athleticism or skill, the opportunity to learn how to play and join a group of people from different backgrounds and experience levels. People who share a common love of the game.
Stick together long enough and your team becomes more like a family.
A silly, dysfunctional family. That wears a jersey described by one of your players as a “pink monstrosity.” A jersey sure to make other teams have a good chuckle at, but you surely won’t color-clash with anyone.
It’s fun. And I wouldn’t trade any of it for anything. Even Juliana, who is very wrong about our jersey.
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