Beer League 101

Beer League 101.  

  

I chose that name for this space not because I plan on lecturing anyone about beer league hockey, although I could tell stories for hours.  

I chose “Beer League 101” because, at age 49, after a full hip replacement two years ago, I just played my 101^st beer-league hockey game this season.   

On Jan. 23. 

I'm up to 107 games now. Probably get a few more in this year.  

I know quite a few recreational hockey die-hards, but I don’t know many still playing 175 games a season, so it’s a unique enough experience to share. I think.

My beer league calendar this season -- six different leagues, plus a tournament team -- is like Mike Sillinger’s hockeydb. So I decided to start writing about it. I used to be a writer.  (Mike Sillinger holds the record for playing for 12 different NHL teams)

 

The start of this epic beer-league season was Sept. 10, the first game of the Hamilton Oldtymers Hockey League. It was a Sunday afternoon. I was in a reunion golf tournament outside Buffalo with the “Buffalo Knights” Cooperstown-tournament baseball team, run by Ken Adams. His son, Kevyn, the GM of the Sabres and a line-drive hitting Buffalo Knights second baseman in Cooperstown in 2015, showed up to share a few stories.   

I figured I’d have enough time that day to zip back over the border for the 5:30 p.m. beer-league opener in Stoney Creek, probably show up with the Zamboner finishing the last few laps. But I got delayed by picking the wrong lane at the border and missed most of the first period. Didn’t matter, we pulled off a storybook come-from-behind win. We relished it over a beer in the room after. Some luke-warm Coors Light and leftover Heineken from the beer-guy’s garage.

As September rolled on, I had no grand plan to dry myself off with a ratty hockey-bag towel 175 times this season. But the stars soon aligned:  

1. My awesome wife, Carlee, was away for 10 weeks in the fall taking a course. Without beer-league hockey, weeknight evenings at home for a 49-year-old are lonely – a can of chunky beef soup for supper and then fall asleep on the couch. So, might as well play as much as I can.
2. I’m not coaching this season, after helping with a U15 team and a junior team in recent years.  
3. We have no kids and I had to put my dog down, so it’s an empty house. 
4. I had my hip replaced in 2021 and I no longer live in pain. Zero. None. I can skate like a 35-year-old again. Maybe even a 30-year-old. Don’t jinx it. 

And, probably, most importantly:  

  5. I like playing hockey. It’s good for the body and soul. Admit it – you can’t wait for your next game, either.

  

So with my evenings free, there is nothing in the way of getting active. 

After moving to Hamilton from the True Hockey-Playing North in 2012, I’ve sniffed out and settled into two different Sunday leagues, and recently added a Thursday night skate in Etobicoke with the legendary North York Hedonists.  

But having started a new job in Burlington in September, and knowing the best way to really get to know a city is to play beer league, I registered online as a “pool player” with the Burlington Oldtimers Hockey Club.   

What a great move. What a great club. I wish I would have discovered it sooner. But better late than never – even though I (*probably) still have about 15-20 years of prime left before I start slowing down and getting old!!

There are eight divisions and 48 teams in the BOHC, the largest oldtimers hockey club in Canada, now in its 48^th season, with 1,100 members over age 35. They put you in a division with players the same calibre. And fortunately, in the six-team Red division, they schedule games only on days that end in ‘Y.’  

So I’ve been filling my regular Sunday-Thursday routine with games on Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays!! (Friday remains pizza and live music night.)  

 

Pool players get the call when teams are short. The BOHC features a 50-game season, so as bumps and bruises add up, combined with those 10:30 p.m. start times, you can’t blame guys for not making every game. That opens the door for eager poolies excited to play in a fast-paced division with plenty of hockey sense and no tough-guy bullshit. Awesome club. Hoping to break in as a full-time rookie next year at age 50.

 

After a couple games as a Burlington poolie, while having a post-game pop one night, one of the guys got his beer league scouting Spider senses tingling.

“Hey, we could use a guy for our Tuesday Over-40 team at the Wave, it’s not a bad league, you’re allowed slapshots,” he said. Or something like that. 

So, I found another good skate on Tuesday nights. At the Wave. It’s not a bad league. You're allowed slapshots. (Fake slappers actually work better in oldtimers, though. The D-man usually peels and lets you through.)

Oh yeah, Tuesday nights -- I also spare with the Hound Dogs in the NRHL at the Mohawk 4Pad. But only when they're really short. There’s nothing better than an 11 p.m. game.

With seven skaters.

Against 20-year-olds.

Not joking. Nothing better. A beer tastes better after a great skate.  

 

So as February approaches, I’m skating regularly in five (or six?) leagues, one of which has a 50-game season.

Sunday morning – West Hamilton Men’s League in Ancaster. 

Sunday afternoon – Hamilton Oldtymers League in Stoney Creek. 

Tuesday – Wave 40-plus in Burlington. 

Thursday – ASHL Etobicoke Over-40 with the legendary North York Hedonists. 

Days that end in Y – Burlington Oldtimers red division poolie. 

 

But one of the reasons beer leagues were invented is so guys can get together for weekend tournaments. I’ve also been lucky to be welcomed into the fold as a "spare" with the Hamilton Old Wings for a few tourney weekends (Georgetown, Guelph, Niagara Falls).

They’re a social/hockey club that gets together every week to host oldtimer clubs from around the area and also play exchange road games, which has meant some nice one-off road trips to explore the barns in places like Port Dover, Paris and Hagersville.

The Old Wings are an awesome group, very social. I was so excited to get to Guelph one Saturday morning, I forgot to put in my flipper. It was too late to turn around, so I showed up and played, and then went for post-game Hamilton Old Wings team lunch at a downtown Guelph pub without my front teeth.  

 

I know this dream season is (*probably) a one-off. I (*probably) can’t keep up this pace forever and I (*might) have to give up a league or two next season. Maybe get a real life. Or get back into coaching.

 

But I also know there are guys who wish they could play five times a week, guys who had to stop playing because they blew a knee or tore a groin, got busy with their kids, or got cancer.

While I can still skate, I’m going to play as much as I can.

Because beer league hockey is awesome.

 

Anyway, time to go; I’m heading to game 106 of the season at 10:30 p.m. on a Monday night in Burlington. Leafs vs. Rangers. It’s gonna be a good one.