The NHL Sled Classic is my favorite tournament of the year. This is one of two national tournaments held in the US, but this one also includes Canadian teams. As the name implies, this tournament is only open to all teams that are branded by NHL teams, and teams wear their official NHL jerseys. In the past I’ve played against the LA Kings, Edmonton Oilers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Minnesota Wild, Arizona Coyotes, and many others.
Welcome to New Jersey
The location of this tournament changes every year. This year it was hosted by the New Jersey Devils in Wayne, NJ. There were 27 teams playing across five tiers. Our A team played in the top tier (Tier I), and B team played in the bottom tier (Tier V). We have a 17 year old rookie that plays both A and B, and for this tournament it was his turn to play up. I played for our B team, which is normal for me in these tournaments.
I didn’t expect too much from our B team this time. This year we’ve lost a number of our regulars, and another wasn’t able to make the trip. This left me and our center as the “fast guys”, with everyone else significantly slower. We had two players who are new this season, and we even had a coach play because we were short players.
You can see stats and photos on the official site. Here’s a little video sample.
On the Road Again
Thursday, 3:15am. Time to get up and drive to the airport. I’ve enlisted a friend to give me a ride this time, which will make life easier and save me from parking fees. We load up my 50 pound bag and head to O’Hare Airport.
Thursday, 5:15am. I meet up with my team. We have about 16 players plus coaches and our equipment guy traveling with us. This is a lot of equipment and luggage that someone at United Airlines has to check in.
Thursday, 10:10am. We land at scenic Newark Airport. I’ve been asked to drive one of the rental cars, so I head to the rental car area with my coach and a few other people, and leave the rest of the team to retrieve our bags.
Thursday, 11:20am. There is a decided lack of signs pointing to the rental car area. Finally we decipher the code and determine that we have to take a monorail to the car lot. We’ve rented three mini vans, but they were unable to get one with hand controls for me, so I’ve been upgraded to a Suburban, which is incredibly large. I find out very quickly that driving in New Jersey is going to be a challenge. The highways are twisty and make no sense. When I circle back to pick up the rest of the team, I can’t get close to the terminal because people are parked three deep. There are people standing outside their cars smoking. In Chicago, this behavior would get you a severe tongue lashing from a traffic cop within seconds. I end up triple parking and pick up a load of teammates.
Thursday, 12:45pm. We head to the rink and drop off our vans. We find an Italian restaurant near the rink for lunch. On trips like this, sometimes we are too busy to sight see and take in the local experience. But while driving, I’ve been honked at a few times, and in this restaurant everyone speaks New Jerseyish so I feel like I’ve had an authentic experience already.
Thursday, 4:00pm. Our first game, which happens to be the first game of the whole tournament, is against the Buffalo Sabres veterans team. This isn’t a fast team, but they are faster than most of our players. We are outshot 15-8 and end up losing 3-0. Toward the end, I start to take more chances, and decide I need to do more of that this tournament. I’ve skated hard and I’m tired after this one.
Thursday, 7:30pm. After a shower a the hotel, we head to dinner at a local pub. The food is great, but we’re outside in a tent as a cold front moves in. It becomes very cold and very rainy in a hurry.
Thursday, 10:30pm. Back at the hotel and time for bed.
Friday, 9:00am. Back at the rink, we watch our A team lose their first game vs. Boston Bruins 5-1.
Friday, 10:30am. Our second game is against the Columbus Blue Jackets. I’m skating more into the offensive zone this time. We play to a 0-0 tie, and it goes to a shootout. We let one of our new players shoot first to see what their goalie does. I’m up next. I beat the goalie on the glove side, hit the corner of the net, and… the puck pops out. No goal. Our center shoots for us next, beats the goalie, hits the crossbar, and…. the puck drops straight to the ice. No goal. The other team makes one shot and wins the game. With this loss, we’re eliminated from the playoff round.
Friday, 5:00pm. After lunch at Panera and a shower, we’re back at the rink to watch the A team play the Colorado Avalanche. The NHL has a bunch of trophies, including the Stanley Cup, available for photos. You can get close enough to touch them. There’s also a trophy for this tournament that resides at the Hockey Hall of Fame, on which are engraved the players’ names of the Tier I championship team. The whole exhibit it overseen by the legendary Phil Pritchard. Our A team is down 3-0 in the first period, but stages a stunning comeback late in the third to win 4-3.
Friday, 7:00pm. Though it’s pretty cold, there is an official reception in a big warm tent outside with BBQ, beer, and a band. Unfortunately I’m driving The Beast so no beers for me. After a few hours we head back to the hotel for bed.
Saturday, 10:30am. We’re back for one last game. We can’t make the playoff round, so this one is for pride. Our opponent is the Edmonton Oilers, a new team of very slow skaters. I take this opportunity to practice skating around our opponents. I get the first goal early in the game, and score two more. Then I let up and practice passing, especially to our newer teammates. One of the new guys gets his first two goals, and I get the assists on both. For the first time in the tournament, I sit for a while and let everyone else get some extra game experience. We end up winning 7-1, and I finish with 3 goals and two assists. After the game, I meet up with two of our friends who live in New Jersey, and I also meet the handsome Ghostpatzer, who has so kindly come out to see me play.
Saturday, 11:30am. The A team plays again, against the New Jersey Devils. They easily win 8-2, and our rookie gets his first A team goal. He and his dad are ecstatic.
Saturday, 2:00pm. With our games over, and the championship for A team tomorrow, we get lunch at a local pub, then spend the rest of the night hanging out at the hotel in someone’s room. We have a fancy hookup for the TV so we can watch the Blackhawks lose miserably to Edmonton.
Sunday, 9:00am. The championship game will run late, so we pack everything up, check out, and head to the rink one last time.
Sunday, 11:30am. A team plays their one-game playoff with a rematch vs. Boston. One of my favorite teammates, Travis Dodson plays a superb two-way game. One of my best friends on the team scores by bouncing a high shot off a defender’s shoulder, our rookie follows with a goal and an assist, and A team wins the championship 3-0. Our rookie will get his name on that trophy in his first year with our team.
And Now…
It’s been a mixed weekend for me. It was nice to see our A team win again, but I’m still kicking myself for not somehow getting a goal in that second game. However, we were much closer to moving on than I thought we would be. With just one additional player I think we’d have moved on to our playoff. But in sled hockey, who’s on the ice is just as important as how you play. We still have nationals coming up in April, and I think we’ve got a good chance of winning that one.
In just a few days I turn 50, so it’s time to head to the airport, finally rid myself of the Beast at the rental car return, and split off from the team. They’ll take my hockey gear back to Chicago, and I’ll head to Orlando to meet up with my family for my birthday extravaganza. Which is a story for another day.
For some reason I thought it was a Wednesday so this article surprised me
your team needs more gender diversity but besides that sounds like a good tournament
“All players must play with a sled team that represents the NHL team that is closest to their
primary current residence. When determining which NHL team is closest, the address of the
actual NHL team’s game day stadium will be used (driving distance).” – so no sorting hat it seems
We have one woman on our A team, and there is usually one or more on B as well. This is definitely a coed sport. We do not have anyone from the other genders though.
Not all 57 are represented?? Bigot.
They’ll take my hockey gear back to Chicago, and I’ll head to Orlando to meet up with my family for my birthday extravaganza – extravaganzas are for people who score goals 🙂
I scored 3, just not in the right games.
Were they at least for the right team?
are there own goals in hockey? how frequent are they compared to say real football
They happen a lot, usually the puck bounces off the defenseman in front of the net or they try to block a pass and it changes the angle enough to beat the goalie
I have done this once, a few years ago, and still get grief for it. I was racing for a puck just outside the net, tried to push it to the wall, and it bounced off the front of my sled and went in.
Ouch.
As a defenseman, that stings a little.
Well Happy Birthday TOK, next time your in town try looking me up, we’ll do lunch at North Channel
For sure! I would imagine I’d be back at our friend’s cabin in the spring or summer.
I also meet the handsome Ghostpatzer
*blushes*
’twas a great game, Kevin! Props for not wrecking that rental, pretty good for a first time NJ driver.
Well, there was one incident the first night. I was pulling out of a parking spot, moved forward, and didn’t see someone had one of those racks that go into a trailer hitch. So I scraped the bottom of the Suburban. But no major damage so we just ignored it.
But no major damage so we just ignored it
Just a fender bender?
Multiple teams representing an NHL team is permitted.
I look forward to a match between the
RoughridersBlackhawks andRough RidersBlack Hawks.Joe McGrath: “We’re losin’! They’re burying us alive!”
Jeff Hanson: “Eddie Shore?”
Joe McGrath: “Piss on Eddie Shore!”
Steve Hanson: “Old time hockey?”
Joe McGrath: “Piss on old time hockey!”
Scouts?
It ranks as one of the greatest movies of all time. In my Top 10 for certain. Not just hockey movies – any kind of movie.
That and “Breaking Away”.
100%.
I can’t believe how well it holds up.
You’ll like this holiday-themed homage.
“Puttin’ on da foil, Coach!”
Three (3) able-bodied players will be allowed per team.
No limit on trans-abled? And how disabled do you have to be to not be abled?
I’m not sure about trans-abled, but at our level they’re pretty lenient on what is considered disabled. We have one guy with a back injury, he walks around just fine but is considered disabled. When I started years ago. I just had to have a doctor do a few functional tests and fill out a form.
However… for the Paralympics it’s different. Travis, who I mention above, has no legs, but had to fly to Sweden to see their doctor to verify he’s disabled.
Its not like he could walk there, anyhow.
This is such pure hockey, I love it.
And no shit, Kevin, watching that game in Blaine (and bullshitting with the guys after) was one of my favorite hockey experiences. You dudes are amazing.
Keep ’em coming!
Thank you, that means a lot. I’ve got some interesting games coming up after the new year.
Triple-parked to pick up the team…
I hate that airport so much. I try all the smaller airports first when booking flights.
Stewart Airport FTW. With typical traffic, takes me less time to get there than Newark. But you won’t be dealing with Newark much now, will you?
Gotta fly down to arrange a rental next month. Probably a Frontier flight out of Trenton. I’ll have to come back occasionally for work – may use use that Stewart Airport.
Happy Holidays New Yorkers – put your fucking face diapers on.
https://nypost.com/2021/12/10/gov-hochul-orders-ny-mask-or-vaccine-mandate-as-covid-surges/
No.
Great article, TOK! We can never have enough articles about hockey!!
Gotta say, I like seeing the spoked B, too.
And you had a hatty plus two helpers? Holy shit, that’s like a Gretzky night against the Whalers circ. ’83.
Sorry for an OT, but I wanted to bring forward an answer I left for R C Dean’s question on the deadthread re: the Wuhan narrative.
R C – I think you’re conflating our politicos’ Narrative with the Chinese. They’re not one and the same.
Also, facts are stubborn things and if you’re Chin – and you know that people are going to eventually be able to trace the origin back to Wuhan – you can’t say, “Oh, this started in Japan!!” That Narrative simply won’t hold up. It’s like most good lies, you try to couch it as close to the Truth as you can, but deviate in one respect that only you know (what TES calls “Nelsonian knowledge.”)
China can’t get away from the viruses origins, or the likelihood that eventually scientists are going to pinpoint it, so they admit to Wuhan…but point to the “wet market” nearby.
BTW, I’ve been to Wuhan – stayed and ate there in 2018, in fact. No one who has been there would be fooled by the “wet market” claim, but western intellectuals? Oh yeah. There’s no amount of CCP Narrative they won’t cock-gobble.
The West is governed by commies who used the virus as an excuse to seize power and pussies who let them. They’ll never truly try to punish China for what they unleashed. China will just continue to deny and nothing else will happen.
My dedthred response:
Maybe so, Ozy. I am less confident than you (and, apparently, the Chinese) that the Alpha variant would be traced back to proto-COVID originally released in Wuhan (the city) by the Wuhan labs. But I can see them saying “The best lie is one that has some truth in it, somewhere.”
If the Chinese had said something like “we can’t really say exactly where this virus popped up first” (as you would expect of a spontaneous variant that is widely distributed when discovered, see, e.g., Omicron) “but we’ve got it here in China. Looks like it could be a SARS-1 variant (they are related), etc.” I think their odds of getting away with it cold would be good.
Regardless, I think there’s a plausible explanation for the Chinese taking the misinformation course they did.
Yeah, the “wet market” claim is just a polite fiction designed to avoid unwanted international conflict.
Happy birthday to TOK and Festus!!!
BOTH of them?
And Tres V. 2.0 is on the 20th.
Plus I just spent $110 at UPS overnighting Jugsy’s scripts since she wont be home.
I cant keep up with you people.
Mine was on the 23rd, but I’m 50, so I’ll take it.
We’re close enough in age, HMU for “blue pills”.
Happy Birthday!
Thanks for this article, TOK. I’ve been looking forward to some sled hockey coverage from you. Thanks. Moar of this, please.
Would love to see you play if you ever have a game near RVA.
I’ve submitted the same USA hockey registration for five years. I know the league doesn’t actually check it. Screw sending those turds $40/year.
I never gave them much thought. Why the hate?
It’s ‘insurance’ they require for any leagues under their umbrella (all of them). Said insurance doesn’t kick in unless you get some type of catastrophic injury and after all other insurance is exhausted.
All things considered, $40 for catastrophic insurance is cheap. We just had a guy in our OLD, old guy league (I believe he’s 71) slip and hit his back. Did some vertebrae damage and now he’s partially paralyzed.
According to what we were told, total medicals will cost ~$1MM. His insurance should cover about 80% of that. USA Hockey should cover the rest, but it doesn’t pay until after $50K out of pocket. We’ve been taking up collections from all the teams in the KC Metro area to try to help him and his wife out with some $$ because it’s not going to be easy.
That’s what sport insurance is for, TC – catastrophic injury. If it covered busted fingers or chiclets, it would cost $350 (or more) every year.
And their official beer is Labatt Blue…
Meh. I go to events sponsored by Pabst Blue Ribbon.
So screw them only in the sense that they do nothing for beer league pond rockets, but they force you to pay in.
Fortunately my team pays for mine, but at least some of the money is going toward organizing things like this, and in general keeping sled hockey going. There are committees that approve of the waivers for tournaments, that sort of thing.
Yeah. I replied again to clarify. They do nothing for local beer leagues other than require payment.
It’s strange they would make you join for a beer league. I wasn’t aware they do that.
I guess this is a good place to post this, but tomorrow we have a one day B Team tournament at Morgan Park in Chicago. Games at 8:30am, 10:00am, and 2:30pm.
If you ever come our way (KC Metro), TOK, you gotta let us know!
Unlike that slacker ‘sPatzer, I’ll throw a chapeau if I see a hatty!!
The closest I’ll get this season is St. Louis in January.
Denver?
My team will be there in February, but I won’t be. It was tentatively on our schedule, then they announced the actual date right after the wife and I scheduled a Caribbean vacation overlapping that weekend. 🙁
Cool! Where are you going?
We’re heading down right after Christmas.
Dominican Republic. This is our first all inclusive resort type trip, and the first time we’ve gotten passports.
It’s such a nice place. You’ll have a blast.
The water is perfect and the beaches are spectacular. A fantastic recharge.
Hmmmm…. okay. That might be doable.
It’s not a fun drive, all flatlands and tree stands and billboards, but it’s tolerable.
It’s four hours of nothing, but it is a straight shot.
Yep. See I-70 Series.
Ozy, don’t you know anything about jinxes? If I had worn a hat TOK would not have scored at all.
Jinxes are real.
By the way, The Beer League is the TV show that should have been made.
Here’s the pilot.
Lol. Stampede to the penalty box with Vanessa.
Watch the episodes. Especially the stripper toe.
OMG. That’s fucking great.
The Demon gov. of NY strikes again: NY state’s indoor mask mandate is back
She also mandated anal drugs extraction.
OT (too local edition):
Four-time Indy 500 winner Al Unser has died.
damn! it has to happen sometime,
RIP
Godspeed racer.
I’m surprised AJ outlived him. AJ has been struggling with his health for a decade.
So Unser finished first?
Yup, and Andretti is slowing on the backstretch.
Sounds like an awesome time.
It hurts when you are so close, but better than being blown out.
Thanks for posting.
That’s a bit more than a double-tap. . .
WARNING! — GRAPHIC! At least 5 killed in targeted hit outside restaurant in Cidra, Puerto Rico.
Why the fuck did I watch that?
The white shirt with the pistol wasn’t smart
I watched it because there’s a lot to be learned from it. Not exactly fun, but it is useful.
Damn! The guy shooting back with pistol, not sure what he was thinking.
I’m pretty sure that wasn’t a thinking kind of deal…
Sweet article, ToK!! Thanks for the insider perspective on how the tourneys work.
And happy birthday:) ?
If you guys ever head over to Vegas to play the Golden Knights, please do let us know! I drive past that arena every time I go to the Vegas campus for work.
Thanks! Vegas has a pretty robust program. I’ll let you know if I’m ever that way.
This robust example of mule deer buckitude showed up in our front yard recently. He’s about 10 feet from our front porch. Zero fear of people – Mrs. Dean was standing on the porch when she took these pictures. He hung out for about 45 minutes, and left shortly before I got home.
Xbow time!
That’s a pretty nice buck. Rack is a little narrow and beams are small – guessing he’s 3-5 years old? Give him a couple more years and he’ll really be something.
I’m still kind of hoping for one of my Colorado trips to hunt with Loyal Sidekick Rat will yield me a nice wallhanger mulie and a presentable 6×6 elk. We’ll see, I guess. Settled for a hell of a lot of fat does and meat bucks over the years, but few nice sets of antlers on the wall.
/Fudd
I do have one decent whitetail rack, taken in Allamakee County back in the day. This was an old, gray-muzzled guy whose antlers had been bigger, but started to reduce as he aged. The Old Man was on a first-name basis with every deer on his place, and made me leave this guy alone while he was in his prime – wanted his influence in the gene pool, I guess.
He’s ear-wide, which is decent for mule deer (they have big ears) – I’m guessing he’s 20 inches wide; I’ve got pix from a different angle that show his ears just inside the main beams. The bucks around here tend to have pretty light antlers – maybe genetics, maybe nutrition. He’s the second biggest one I’ve seen in our neighborhood.
I know with whitetails, antler size is pretty tightly linked to the amount of calcium in their diet, which seems pretty obvious. I’m not as sure about mulies, although I suspect that this is the case. They are pretty closely related, both being genus Odocoileus, and have a common ancestor (I think) since the last major glaciation. They can interbreed and produce fertile offspring, too.
They have interbred in North Texas. Talk about hybrid vigor – people have taken some monsters. I’ve lost it, but I used to have a pic of a road kill deer by Pater Dean’s house. 32 (yes, that’s thirty-two) measurable points. Unless you had big hands, you couldn’t circle the bases of the antlers with your thumb and index finger.
We frequently get deer walking through our yard, shitting on our walks, eating our plants, fighting other bucks in our yard, all with no fear of people.
Knife them and claim they attacked you first.
If I knew how to clean and prep a deer, that may be an option.
The deer come up from the river valley (just a few blocks from my house) during the winter months to graze on the lawns of the HOAs around here. One evening last winter I let our pup out to do her business, and come back a minute later to see all 15 pounds of her standing on the deck, gazing at a bloody big buck who’s staring back at her from about 20′ away. I step out on the deck, the buck looks at me and the pup again, and you can almost see him mentally “shrug,” then he turns around and heads slowly down the line of duplexes. Pup looks at me, does her “shrug” moment, and trots back inside, leaving me standing on the deck thinking “what the Hell just happened?”
I quite like living in this area.
We have events like that around here, only with 1500-pound moose.
The last train to Clarksville has left the station. RIP Michael Nesmith.
No fucking Way! that hurts,
RIP
RIP. Most interesting of the Monkees, imo. Heir to the Liquid Paper fortune, aircraft mechanic, lifelong Christian Scientist, and made Repo Man happen.
Wasn’t he also involved in the ’80s music video “revolution”? I seem to recall he had a hand in producing Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer” video…?
Holy crap! MTV is (partially) his fault:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PopClips
And of course, he fought PBS and won. And drove PJ O’Rourke around Baja back when PJ was funny.
? Favorite Monkees Nesmith lead (written by Michael Martin Murphy of “Wildfire” fame): https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LJxY-gTPXCk
Young kinnath loved the Monkees.
*looks at kinnath’s avatar*
Looks like you still do.
OK that was funny UCS
^^
Self-love and all that . . . .
The greatest love of all!
(No, I will NOT link that!)
Ralph Tavares, member of the sibling group that performed disco classics like “Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel”, also died this week. Shockingly, he was 79 years old. I would have guessed they were all around college age when they had their hits in the 70s, not mid-30s.
Goodbye to another memory from my HS daze. Rest in Peace.
Come on Ozy, take another hit.
That guy will cut it nicely in that job.
Below that: Wheee!
Definitely a sharp dressed man
and he walked away, no thump sound,
YeeHaa!
I’m laughing hysterically at that.
I know exactly how he feels.
Or felt, I guess 😉
Jussie Smollett Will Be Forced To Share A Jail Cell With His Attacker
Score another direct hit for the Bee.
Also OT, sorry — but doing a bit of a Snoopy Dance O Joy in my head… work HR finally updated their COVID FAQ… per the injunction, the contractor mandate is on hold until further notice.
So I’m not looking at losing my job in January at least. Yay!
??
Good news!
Yay!
Huzzah! Drinks on SDF-7!
Huzzah!
Thanks everyone for the kind words. All of a sudden I’m writing semi-regularly, and the more I do the more I want to do. I have a few more ideas in the queue.
Dooo eeeet.
We need 28 people doing weekly articles to keep things moving.
/looks at Steam backlog of shame.
Well, I suppose I could probably mine something from that.
Trufax: My first article was going to be a review of Torment 2.
I was thinking about a hiking primer. Kind of like a GlibFit crossover.
I would read this.
Ded thred question, Evil:
I’m lining up a 5.56 rifle, and the one I have my eye on comes with an 18 inch or a 20 inch barrel. Any reason to prefer one over the other?
Longer barrel, more velocity and longer reach. Make sure the twist can handle heavier bullets.
Ian got an Alien. It’s nice to see someone take one apart and explain it. I really like the inherently safe out-of-battery disconnect.
Your comment is syntactically correct and yet I understand nothing about it.
*ATF hands slumbrew’s file to a different agency*
Too pricey for me.
Well, the FK BRNO went from something stupid (like $8G)for their field pistol to just pricey ($2k) for their PSD.
Besides you own TWO P7s, you don’t get to complain about price.
Technically, my gf is the HK collector.
She collects Hunter-Killers?
Heh.
From Bob Dole’s farewell letter: “I’m a bit curious to learn if I am correct in thinking that Heaven will look a lot like Kansas.
…And to see, like others who have gone before me, if I will still be able to vote in Chicago.”
I heard they had a hard time closing the lid of the casket.
They can try again in 4 hours.
Taking shots from beyond the grave. Well done, Bob.
Silly boy, Heaven looks a lot like Iowa (or vice versa).
Around the end of January, it’s going to look a lot more like the 9th circle of hell.
I know, I’ll be out there shoveling.
The Facts by Jim Breuer
LOL, except that play won’t be able to run on Broadway, even two years hence.