Getting Old / "Retiring"

[insertnamehere]

12 hours ago, SaveByRichter35 said:

You watch your damn mouth jabroni.  Don't ever talk about the Great One like that.

Crazy that he was only active in the WWE for a mere 7 years and left basically on top. 

[Scythe]

I kind of hate being the goalie in the dressing room with the gray hair. And it bugs me if I feel guys go light on me. I don't know maybe it shouldn't ☹. 

Played last night and I sucked so bad. Nothing felt right, timing was all fked up. Felt like smashing my stick through the ice. 

 

[Wonder35]

Are there no leagues in your area which cater to us Golden Oldies? 

I recall when 35+ Oldtimers hockey began in the late 1970's. We would chuckle in the dressing room that hockey was then available to people our age. Most of us had families, jobs, but still displayed the will to play.

Skip ahead to the mid 90's and I played goal for a well run league with age divisions that had 5 year increments, from 35+ to 60+.

Here I am, rapidly approaching 73 and play 2-3 times a week, late mornings, in a 70+ program. Of course my (our) skills have deteriorated along with our bodies, some more so than others, but we are on the ice and still enjoying the game of our youths. The competitive spirit burns brightly.

I did a "head" count at Friday's game. The results were 55% of my team was bald, the remainder were white haired.

 

[bildeer]

6 hours ago, Wonder35 said:

Are there no leagues in your area which cater to us Golden Oldies? 

I recall when 35+ Oldtimers hockey began in the late 1970's. We would chuckle in the dressing room that hockey was then available to people our age. Most of us had families, jobs, but still displayed the will to play.

Skip ahead to the mid 90's and I played goal for a well run league with age divisions that had 5 year increments, from 35+ to 60+.

Here I am, rapidly approaching 73 and play 2-3 times a week, late mornings, in a 70+ program. Of course my (our) skills have deteriorated along with our bodies, some more so than others, but we are on the ice and still enjoying the game of our youths. The competitive spirit burns brightly.

I did a "head" count at Friday's game. The results were 55% of my team was bald, the remainder were white haired.

 

I hope I'll be able to play at that age. Got 52 more to go! 

I'm not sure if this is just limited to the younger crowd like myself and others on here who grew up when the "butterfly style" had been well established and taught to play that way, but over the past few years, I've noticed a lot  of goalies close to my age having hip issues and other nasty cartilage related stuff. I know of one goaltender who needed a hip replacement at age 25, and much to my horror, it seems that it is not all that uncommon amongst those who have been playing that style their entire lives, and the fact that until recently, we didn't know the kind of damage we were doing. Hopefully I'll be able to do 3 or so more years of college hockey and then it's off to a full time career in the men's league . I'm pretty certain that I will have to change the way I play a considerable amount if I want to be able to stay in for as long as I can so I don't inadvertently injure myself.  

The gentleman who runs my men's league team is around 64, and still manages to get out there with us younger folk. I singlehandedly accredit him for my improved performance on breakaways and two on ones!

[Scythe]

9 hours ago, Wonder35 said:

Are there no leagues in your area which cater to us Golden Oldies? 

I recall when 35+ Oldtimers hockey began in the late 1970's. We would chuckle in the dressing room that hockey was then available to people our age. Most of us had families, jobs, but still displayed the will to play.

Skip ahead to the mid 90's and I played goal for a well run league with age divisions that had 5 year increments, from 35+ to 60+.

Here I am, rapidly approaching 73 and play 2-3 times a week, late mornings, in a 70+ program. Of course my (our) skills have deteriorated along with our bodies, some more so than others, but we are on the ice and still enjoying the game of our youths. The competitive spirit burns brightly.

I did a "head" count at Friday's game. The results were 55% of my team was bald, the remainder were white haired.

 

There are teams and leagues around. I'm on a sub list which is ok. I can't dedicate the time needed for a team right now. I play when I can to keep my chops up. That a great team photo. You look like Bernie Parent

[Wonder35]

That photo was shot 10 years ago when we were still in the 60+ division.  Less hair now, chests are becoming bellies and I still wear the same leather gear.

The majority of my guys are retired from full time jobs so we have the ability to play day time hockey. Plus, our ice time is subsidized by the City of West Kelowna under the Seniors Recreation Program. We enjoy 6 ice times per week,  equally shared by the 55+ and 70+ Divisions.  All are 75 minutes each with a cost of $5.25 per player, goalies play for free.

Interesting insight from bildeer regarding the wear and tear from playing on our knees. What is the solution?

[bildeer]

@Wonder35 I think a lot of it can be mitigated by the fairly recent push towards more proactive injury mitigation. I haven't been at this for that long in the grand scheme of things (~9 years) but for a long time, I recall the only guidance that was given was to stretch before playing, and that was it. Now there are dynamic warmups and cooldowns for many applications. I was getting some annoying hip pain under heavy use starting at age 18, and I was playing 4~6 times a week on average, and found foam rolling and the dynamic warmups that I referenced earlier to be of merit. I think the wide butterfly craze didn't do us any favors in the wellness department. I spent several years chasing the wide flair because I thought it was the only way to play effectively, and then I saw how guys like J.S. Gigeure were playing (butterfly so narrow your ankles were touching and would make saves with the knees, big thigh rises to trap loose pucks). Making the switch to that was probably the best compromise I could make given how effective the butterfly is at making saves on or near the ice. 

Modern leg pads with rock hard foam in the knee landing area aren't doing our hips and knees much of a favor either, and the only real way to mitigate it other than committing to stand up is by wearing knee pads with additional padding for the knees, and controlling how you drop to the ice. 

I also recall reading somewhere that hard, abrupt stops (t-pushes) place a lot of strain on the hips during practice when you are doing more than you likely would in a game, which was something that I had never considered until then. 

(sorry for thread derail)

[Scythe]

15 hours ago, bildeer said:

@Wonder35 I think a lot of it can be mitigated by the fairly recent push towards more proactive injury mitigation. I haven't been at this for that long in the grand scheme of things (~9 years) but for a long time, I recall the only guidance that was given was to stretch before playing, and that was it. Now there are dynamic warmups and cooldowns for many applications. I was getting some annoying hip pain under heavy use starting at age 18, and I was playing 4~6 times a week on average, and found foam rolling and the dynamic warmups that I referenced earlier to be of merit. I think the wide butterfly craze didn't do us any favors in the wellness department. I spent several years chasing the wide flair because I thought it was the only way to play effectively, and then I saw how guys like J.S. Gigeure were playing (butterfly so narrow your ankles were touching and would make saves with the knees, big thigh rises to trap loose pucks). Making the switch to that was probably the best compromise I could make given how effective the butterfly is at making saves on or near the ice. 

Modern leg pads with rock hard foam in the knee landing area aren't doing our hips and knees much of a favor either, and the only real way to mitigate it other than committing to stand up is by wearing knee pads with additional padding for the knees, and controlling how you drop to the ice. 

I also recall reading somewhere that hard, abrupt stops (t-pushes) place a lot of strain on the hips during practice when you are doing more than you likely would in a game, which was something that I had never considered until then. 

(sorry for thread derail)

Good Info. I made a big knee save the other night because I don't have much if any bf lol. The other goalie had these crazy tall Brian's pads, looked kind of weird and the bf he had was post to post. Nothings going to get through when he's sealed on ice.