The Game
I was serious. I was going to play in that game at all costs. I trained for days, for weeks, for months, well, maybe a month. It didn’t matter that I was 53 years old. Hadn’t I played ice hockey before in college? Granted, I wasn’t the best player on the team, back then, and I hadn’t played a game in over 30 years, but I could be ready for the alumni game when it came around in three weeks. So I practiced, though not on ice. I would have done much better, had I done so.
Other teachers and kids watched me every day at the school gym. I would stretch and run wind sprints. Unfortunately, I was still the same kind of athlete I was back in college. Workouts then entailed doing as much exercise as possible until I was winded. That usually lasted about 10 minutes. Now, after I was done with warmups, I played floor hockey. I wanted to practice the move the pros used that I’d seen on TV. Someone would pass me the puck and I would take a slapshot as the puck was still moving. I thought I got pretty good at it. And I was good at playmaking and scoring too. It probably helped that the people I played against were young 10 and 11-year-old school kids at the schoolI was a teacher at. I helped run the afterschool hockey program.
As it got closer to the date of the alumni game, I decided it was probably a good idea to put on my ice skates and do some skating at the local ice rink. I could have gone more often, and probably should have gone more often, but skating around and around just didn’t do anything for me. I liked playing the game, which unfortunately was not permitted at the figure skating rink. I also didn’t have anyone to skate with.
The only equipment that I had from my playing days, other than my skates and stick, were my hockey gloves. You can’t play ice hockey without protective equipment. I learned that the hard way when I was 15 and didn’t know you were supposed to wear elbow guards. Ice is hard when you land on it elbow first. Lucky for me, the school secretary’s son played hockey and was about my size. He let me borrow his equipment for the alumni weekend.
The day of the game finally arrived. I was one of two alumni that were from the original, Stony Brook Patriots 1970’s team that played in the alumni game. The other player, Al, was a doctor who said he had been active for a long time and was in good shape. He looked it. As we were warming up on the ice before the start of the game, I tried to show off my skills. It was clear to me that these other alumni knew a lot more about playing hockey and had more skills than I did. My practiced slap shot on a moving puck would have made the blooper reel, as I missed it completely and fell down trying to take the shot during warmups. It’s a lot harder than it looks when you’re on skates. I decided not to try it in the game.
I should have remembered that when I played for Stony Brook we were a club, meaning anyone that wanted to play could. In fact, I was named assistant captain the first year because I was one of the few players that could skate backward; clearly a skill needed to qualify for an assistant captainship. The other alumni players in this alumni game were members of Stony Brook ice hockey “teams”. They had to make the teams that they had been on. Hence, much more skilled both individually and as a team.
I did manage to survive the whole game, unlike Al who left partway through with a hamstring injury. I didn’t get any points, though I almost had an opportunity to score. I also didn’t get any penalties, which was good for me. I would have to say that I did okay. I did what I set out to do, play in the game.
I haven’t skated since that game. I’ve often wondered how good I could have become and would have been had I continued to play hockey all those post-college years. I guess I’ll never know.
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| Stony Brook Patriots 1970 | Stony Brook Alumni Game – 2004 |
