Chris Campoli done as a Hawk

[Diehardfan]

Hm, never noticed you are in Australia.

Neither did I, EIB. Now the location of US-Traya, Mate makes a little bit of sense. Aussies use the word Mate like Americans use the word buddy, friend or maybe pal. Like in "Thanks a lot, pal" would be "Thanks a lot, mate". What I cant figure out is what the hell US-Traya means. Am I even close here, Southern?

 

[southern_cross_116]

Neither did I, EIB. Now the location of US-Traya, Mate makes a little bit of sense. Aussies use the word Mate like Americans use the word buddy, friend or maybe pal. Like in "Thanks a lot, pal" would be "Thanks a lot, mate". What I cant figure out is what the hell US-Traya means. Am I even close here, Southern?

Well I was going for phonetic -- like bee-ya = beer (I will have to change it back to Down Under or something like that.).

Mate, or also like 'jack'. (While usually friendly, it can be used sarcastically).

Actually "Thanks alot, pal" -could also be (in Oz): "Good onya, Mate." In fact, Good onya, or just simply 'onya' is fairly common.

However, too - I was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs...

 

[southern_cross_116]

Hm, never noticed you are in Australia.

How did that come about? Any hockey fans/players over there?

My wife is Australian ... so one of us had to move, it was me.

Yeah, there are- they have some odd attraction to Cindy Crosby (and did so before Pittsburgh played for the Stanley Cup -let alone won it ... it was pretty bizarre, but since the Hawks weren't that good at the time -I was in no position to give them any stick.).

Players -yeah they have a few leagues; even an international team -although there are like international teams at all sorts of levels. They get all excited if they beat the Chinese hockey team (if you can find it reported -- usually, you can't). None of these ever make the Olympics -or maybe the winner of the class does -which I think is (seriously) usually Khazakstan (with apologies to Borat).

I played in what was then called Senior C -however since there wasn't any other classification then, it was just a rec league. An expensive one, mind you -it cost over A$1000 for a season of about 6 months ( and 21 games or so -plus practice). You were expected to kick in $15 or so per game for ice time as well, plus a couple of bucks per home game to give to someone that volunteered run the scoreboard.

On top of that, clubs run all sorts of levels of teams -so one practice I walked in and was told I had to sell boxes of candy - which I told them, no thanks ... I wasn't in Little League anymore (plus didn't know anyone who wanted to but A$50 for a box of that stuff)... figured if they wanted A$50 more they should have charged it.

I had a pretty forgetful season, my team had a lot of kids who were into chasing the puck, not playing a position, had no coaching really (our coach got on our case after we dropped our first game because aside from the 40 seconds at the end of the game which he got an assist -we blew ... because we did not go hard enough in the pregame warmups ?! Seriously- he said that... it was hilarious.

The other thing that was completely odd was that this rec league required that you get released by your club (ie same thing as waived) if you wanted to play on another club (or actually anywhere I think) even in the next season... I have never had a rec league actually take themselves that seriously.

Oh, and the rinks around Sydney knew that these leagues were where the money was, and they almost never (in most cases it was -never) had drop in ice times -which would have worked for me (even at their A$20 per shot).

To sum it up, yes, they do have it here, it is pretty expensive, and the experience (if you like playing positional hockey) probably is less than what you might expect for the money spent. Oh, and you can't just coach without paying their administration (Ice Hockey New South Wales) for coaching certification and they test you too I think... ( apparently they teach you that all players on the ice need to chase the puck all at the same time -- or at least that is what my certified coaching staff thought was hockey rofl ).

 

[Diehardfan]

My wife is Australian ... so one of us had to move, it was me.

Yeah, there are- they have some odd attraction to Cindy Crosby (and did so before Pittsburgh played for the Stanley Cup -let alone won it ... it was pretty bizarre, but since the Hawks weren't that good at the time -I was in no position to give them any stick.).

Players -yeah they have a few leagues; even an international team -although there are like international teams at all sorts of levels. They get all excited if they beat the Chinese hockey team (if you can find it reported -- usually, you can't). None of these ever make the Olympics -or maybe the winner of the class does -which I think is (seriously) usually Khazakstan (with apologies to Borat).

I played in what was then called Senior C -however since there wasn't any other classification then, it was just a rec league. An expensive one, mind you -it cost over A$1000 for a season of about 6 months ( and 21 games or so -plus practice). You were expected to kick in $15 or so per game for ice time as well, plus a couple of bucks per home game to give to someone that volunteered run the scoreboard.

On top of that, clubs run all sorts of levels of teams -so one practice I walked in and was told I had to sell boxes of candy - which I told them, no thanks ... I wasn't in Little League anymore (plus didn't know anyone who wanted to but A$50 for a box of that stuff)... figured if they wanted A$50 more they should have charged it.

I had a pretty forgetful season, my team had a lot of kids who were into chasing the puck, not playing a position, had no coaching really (our coach got on our case after we dropped our first game because aside from the 40 seconds at the end of the game which he got an assist -we blew ... because we did not go hard enough in the pregame warmups ?! Seriously- he said that... it was hilarious.

The other thing that was completely odd was that this rec league required that you get released by your club (ie same thing as waived) if you wanted to play on another club (or actually anywhere I think) even in the next season... I have never had a rec league actually take themselves that seriously.

Oh, and the rinks around Sydney knew that these leagues were where the money was, and they almost never (in most cases it was -never) had drop in ice times -which would have worked for me (even at their A$20 per shot).

To sum it up, yes, they do have it here, it is pretty expensive, and the experience (if you like playing positional hockey) probably is less than what you might expect for the money spent. Oh, and you can't just coach without paying their administration (Ice Hockey New South Wales) for coaching certification and they test you too I think... ( apparently they teach you that all players on the ice need to chase the puck all at the same time -- or at least that is what my certified coaching staff thought was hockey rofl ).

Wow, that sounds like back in the day(WAY back) playing my first organized hockey. I thought it was a huge jump from playing river hockey but it turned out to be kind of a step backwards. It was Des Plaines Park District Hockey and coaching was either brutal or non-existant...we played a more organized, disciplined game playing on the Des Plaines river. Fortunately, if you were a resident it was free so my parents didnt disown me. It sounds like you're kicking out a grand a year for pretty much the same thing. OUCH

Regardless, Im an old fart now. But if I was younger I'd pay it in a minute to play again. I miss it that much...stay with it as long as you can.

 

[southern_cross_116]

For the record: D League (basically semi-organised drop-in at Kansas City (Line Creek Ice Arena if it matters- which I don't assume matters -but just in case -that was pretty good, even had a coach available to give pointers.).

My first experience with organised hockey was pretty good, but I think my team got lucky and we found a guy who had had some experience playing. I think the guy who knew him from his work said he had been property of the Penguins in the 70's (dunno - never have found the guy's name listed -but he did know how to coach)... this was in what used to be called the NNHA which was then a part of Hockey North America -they used to advertise in the Trib (this was 1989 mind you- before the internet)... (forgot to mention we played all over the Chicago area - we had practice at Hickory Hills, but there was 8 weeks of hockey school up at a rink in Niles).

That was pretty good - the polyester jersey was a killer in the heat though :O .


But for here- oh no, I had to retire- I couldn't justify paying that much money for playing -but who knows, with any luck maybe I'll unretire soon. I should have mentioned the team name I played on - it was the Norwest Emperors. I wouldn't recommend it...however I think that other States might have a different set up where their rinks figure that having some drop in ice times is a good thing... NSW however, largely they didn't -and they flat out didn't at the rink nearest me then (Sydney Ice Arena).

I got no legs left -but I did still have my shot. Think I stil do.

 

[Diehardfan]

Sounds like you were playing some years after I did as the area rinks you mentioned weren't even built when I played in Des Plaines. I think there was one in Northbrook but that was about it. We played outdoors...they did have boards, nets and lights although all our games were played during daylight hours. I believe the lights were primarily for "free skating".

Some years later, I did get to play in probably the coolest indoor rink ever. I played one year of college hockey at UIC and while it was their first year of the program and we got our asses handed to us nightly....there was one thing that was really great. UIC was asked to play in the Notre Dame Invitational Tournament along with ND, Ohio State and Illinois Champaign. It was the first college hockey tournament ever played in the old Chicago Stadium. We REALLY got our asses kicked there but it was probably the coolest thing I've ever done in my life. It was round robin, so we played each team and were only marginally competitive against Illinois. The other two games were beatings of epic porportions. I know I just kept looking around and thinking how unbelievable it was that I was there. LOL

 

[LonghornBob]

Sounds like you were playing some years after I did as the area rinks you mentioned weren't even built when I played in Des Plaines. I think there was one in Northbrook but that was about it. We played outdoors...they did have boards, nets and lights although all our games were played during daylight hours. I believe the lights were primarily for "free skating".

Some years later, I did get to play in probably the coolest indoor rink ever. I played one year of college hockey at UIC and while it was their first year of the program and we got our asses handed to us nightly....there was one thing that was really great. UIC was asked to play in the Notre Dame Invitational Tournament along with ND, Ohio State and Illinois Champaign. It was the first college hockey tournament ever played in the old Chicago Stadium. We REALLY got our asses kicked there but it was probably the coolest thing I've ever done in my life. It was round robin, so we played each team and were only marginally competitive against Illinois. The other two games were beatings of epic porportions. I know I just kept looking around and thinking how unbelievable it was that I was there. LOL

That's badass. The closest I ever came to anything like that was trying to walk-on to the Texas baseball team in the 80s. I got cut in the second batch of cuts, but the VERY DAY before getting cut I went yard off Mark Petkovsek (scholarship player), who later pitched in the big leagues.

Playing hockey against Notre Dame in old Chicago Stadium. That must have been the tits.

 

[Diehardfan]

That's badass. The closest I ever came to anything like that was trying to walk-on to the Texas baseball team in the 80s. I got cut in the second batch of cuts, but the VERY DAY before getting cut I went yard off Mark Petkovsek (scholarship player), who later pitched in the big leagues.

Playing hockey against Notre Dame in old Chicago Stadium. That must have been the tits.

I was a pitcher, not because I was any good but because I could throw strikes and couldnt hit a lick. So coming from a guy who was absolutely brutal putting a round bat on a round ball...Im blown away by that. You can actually say you took a MLB pitcher deep.

:bow::bow::bow::bow: One for each base touched.

 

[southern_cross_116]

Sounds like you were playing some years after I did as the area rinks you mentioned weren't even built when I played in Des Plaines. I think there was one in Northbrook but that was about it. We played outdoors...they did have boards, nets and lights although all our games were played during daylight hours. I believe the lights were primarily for "free skating".

Some years later, I did get to play in probably the coolest indoor rink ever. I played one year of college hockey at UIC and while it was their first year of the program and we got our asses handed to us nightly....there was one thing that was really great. UIC was asked to play in the Notre Dame Invitational Tournament along with ND, Ohio State and Illinois Champaign. It was the first college hockey tournament ever played in the old Chicago Stadium. We REALLY got our asses kicked there but it was probably the coolest thing I've ever done in my life. It was round robin, so we played each team and were only marginally competitive against Illinois. The other two games were beatings of epic porportions. I know I just kept looking around and thinking how unbelievable it was that I was there. LOL

I remember rinks like that -the outdoors one. They had one of those at the Elmhurst Y -outdoors, lights, nets. (Speaking of nets- that is all they got in Oz - that and nice inconveniently rib high boards --- and checking leagues?!)

 

[Everyday I'm Byfuglien]

My wife is Australian

Everything you wrote was cool and interesting to read. Thanks a lot for that.

But you had me at Australian wife. I would totally trade my weekly $10 a man pick-up ice time with a group of Slovaks for an Australian chick in a second.