Any Hockey Fans Here?

[Schmoe1]

Did you play ice hockey?  There was no better feeling than stepping across the blue line, skating in, and snapping one right under the crossbar.  Laying out an open ice hit came close, as well as that cross-ice saucer pass that gets one-timed for a goal.

Yes. I am Teemu Selänne.

No... We played it at school during winters. Then there was some "höntsä" which means relaxed playing with some friends, during our free time. That is also called "pipolätkä" = woolly hat hockey. I could not be competitive in any team. But regarding school standards, my skating was alright. I was really frustrated when i never learned to raise my slap shots. I tried and i tried and i tried, my good hockey playing friends tried to teach but nothing happened. I could raise wrist shots but they were weak "bats" You know the puck just flips and flaps like a bat, not staying steady and nice. I liked to play as a defender, but still, better players just went by me like i was a slalom stick or something... if i got the puck, i tried to look for one of the good players somewhere, attempted a pass, which usually got intercepted...

I really am not,and never was, a hockey player material. But i am REALLY good at shouting at the TV slow motion replays "WHY didn't you pass he was wide open in front of the goal! Are you blind or something?!?!? easy for me to shout, i see it from the comforts of my home or a friends place, i see 7 different camera angles in slow motion. Really, really different when it is the heat of the game, players have to make decisions in a fraction of a second.

Yup, I've always said you can't truly appreciate hockey until you've played it.  The "worst" player in the NHL is still an unbelievably gifted hockey player. 

I was also a defenseman.  I really sucked until I started playing with this Russian kid I grew up with.  He was one of those players who could go out and play at 50% and still make everyone look stupid. I went to many hockey camps to improve my game, but they didn't come close to what I learned defending against someone lightyears better than me.

The Russian kid, I thought for sure I'd watch him in the NHL one day, and he did get invited to an NHL training camp, but got cut.  Just goes to show how unbelievably good they are.