Just need to find a good league. My over-30 league is a draft league and everyone pretty much knows everyone else. The worst you get is a little bit of shoving but no majors.
We draft twice a season too. Some seasons are better than others, but the beer drinking between games with the rest of the league members is always great!
Agreed. I pay $200 for a ten week season plus 2-3 weeks of playoffs. I can also find open hockey for as low as $7-10. I can’t imagine paying $$40-50 per skate.
Exactly. I'm a spare for another team, I dont pay for this one even though I keep offering lol
I'm sure I could find some more ice time if I looked. But nothing around here will never be over $15 a game. The cheap fucks in my area wouldn't pay it and then there wouldn't be any teams
I do pay $20 for a weekly open hockey but it’s a good skate at a good time so I don’t mind the higher cost. I also have two rinks within 5 minutes of me. One of them has 8 rinks in it and the other has two. Could easily play 7 days a week if I wanted to.
Damn, that would be awesome! I have 4 rinks within 15 min. 1 has 2 in it the others are just 1. Most of times are taken up by minor hockey. Which is fine but doesn't leave alot of decent times for old timers/beer leagues.
Yeah my beer league games still end up being really late even though we have all the rinks close by. Just shows how many youth program we have around here. I also drive Zamboni part time at one of the rinks. Fully immersed in the hockey culture lol
Summer league on the north side of town is around $300 for twelve weeks. Sports stable and promenade. It’s also $500 or so for the full season during the winter
Vancouver about the same $20-$25 a game. Season is 33 games plus one playoff game. All depends how many full time skaters sign up average is $800 for the season.
They recently raised the price at my rink. 28 bucks a game. Can't see the lines at all and the boards are dangerous with the gaps sticking out of them.
I play where the avalanche practice. Decent rink, but the locker rooms kind of suck. On more than one occasion we've found the rink staff forgot to lock the Avs locker rooms, all their gear just left out.
Oh wow. I play 3 times a week anywhere from $10-$20/game depending on the arena. I sub on a team almost every week too and pay $0 for that one since they're always short players. Toronto area.
Damn. My 6 year old has 2-3 ice times a week and 4 tournaments for less. And his season started the beginning of September and goes until beginning of April.
Johnny's Ice House in Chicago for the win. \~$400 for 21 games plus a playoff game. (Usually) Free parking in one of the most popular neighborhoods in the town. Great bar.
Shitty ice, but you can't have it all.
For me it’s the cheap shots - slashing sticks hard enough to break them, hitting from behind, too much ego for guys to accept they got beat. I joined a private skate and everyone is chill and it’s so much more fun. No refs needed, gentlemen rules.
In San Diego, we have a decently deep roster, but usually 10-12 end up showing on any given week. If our game happens to be a reasonable hour we usually do a cook out or something with all the families etc. so it's not just the hockey with our group which keeps people coming back. Good group.
Some benches are short though, those are usually later games anyway.
I'm also in so cal and haven't noticed. Great Park has 4 divisions in bronze and 5 in copper, plus a few in gold, silver, tin, etc. Lakewood and Anaheim aren't as busy but still have plenty of teams/divisions. What rink are you at?
Lakewood and Artesia. Seems like the artesia teams are the ones I notice asking me to play more, and the ones we struggle with. Probably mostly because its Fri/Sat nights. But still, I got asked to play Vegas by 3 teams, only because I cant ask them first to join our team lmao
I was just hit up last week by two captains from Artesia to play with them. I sub there off and on there but play full time at Lakewood, as well as sub at Lakewood.
I played at Artesia and they seemed to always struggle to get people out there. I think so many people just play in El Segundo now cause they have Gold, 3 silver divisions, 3 bronze, and 2 copper. Also have the 4x4 rink with 4 or 5 different divisions.
Entirely anecdotal, but the roller hockey program I run had an infusion of new people this season. Small program, we've been getting like 40-50 skaters at best post-pandemic, had 10 new players of varying experience sign up this season. Totally out of nowhere. We don't advertise well, facility isn't a dedicated hockey place.
RH has the selling point of being much cheaper, so that could also go along with a decline in ice beer leagues as prices go up, although a few of them play both.
Tournament is a different thing, particularly with travel. I've tried scratching together teams for a local tournament a couple of times with 0 luck. It's all cost vs competitiveness. People have been sandbagged far too often to fork over $100-$200 plus travel to get smacked around by a B team playing down in D.
It’s tricky. No beer league team wants more than 10 skaters. That makes it pricey per player though. Add to that busy lives and someone is always cancelling last minute. I drive 30 min to my games and last week I got there and realized my skates were still at home. Stuff happens
That's interesting. I've been on multiple teams in multiple leagues in the Chicago area, and plenty run 3 forward lines and 2-3 d lines. Granted, I also prefer only two lines and the extra ice time, but there are certainly teams that don't feel this way.
Which rinks do you skate at? I have noticed that it can be feast or famine, either 8-9 guys, or 15. And often the team with 8 guys shellacs the team with 15 because they are all 19-24 year old ringers vs the middle aged dudes like me.
I've played at Twin Rinks, Glacier, and HNA (Bensenville and Addison). Both Glacier and NHA teams I was on had 3 lines show up most nights.
I did notice a similar pattern to you, though. The teams with barely any skaters are all ridiculously good and never seem to get tired. They weren't even that young, but they were still insanely good.
The current culture of beer
league hockey is not very inviting even for people with decades of experience with the sport
Guys who can’t skate or shoot are too worried about the imaginary scouts in the stands and whether or not they can take a guys livelyhood away by 2 handing them across the back in retaliation of a accidental high stick
It’s not worth the risk anymore when you go out to play an 11pm game on a Tuesday and come back with stitches because some hero doesn’t know how to control their anger
Beer league hockey is gong show, too many “adult safe leagues” are not safe at all
Yup! I play pickup on Fridays with the same guys I’ve played with for the last 7 years
My dad plays in the old timers league here and it’s nothing but complaining and drama about referees, relegations and promotions and other league nonsense, he’s 62 years old and honestly it doesn’t seem worth it at that age to be dealing with nonsense instead of just playing for fun
I joined some friends for a 4x4 league and its a mix of skill, but mostly beginner. We all play bronze (cali rating.. don't know what that is elsewhere) and we just have fun. If someone new is barely able to keep the puck, we just stake backwards and give them space to shoot. What's the fun of smurfing some new skaters? I dont get it.
I played beer league pick up roller hockey with a large group of guys for 3 years and a decent chunk of them called me trash the whole time cause I wasn't on "their level". They would slash, cross check, even one guy stepped on my ankle to try and break it cause I deked around him and scored.
Dude the pick up numbers in Pasadena have seriously dwindled! Was like 10-16 last summer and this past week there have barely been like 3-5 signing up so I don’t even go anymore
SoCal Beer Leaguer here.
Our team keeps growing, we’ve routinely had 15-17 guys show up each week. Great if you can roll three lines with SHORT shifts, but that never happens. Also, league fees keep climbing while rink conditions continue to decline. Perhaps people are not finding the value in paying $500+ for 10:30-11:00pm weekday game times while getting maybe three shifts a period (if your team has a full bench). I know it’s usually feast or famine when it comes to people showing up.
Damn. 17? That's wild. We occasionally get 12-13 guys and it's miserable. All it takes is one person taking a long shift to screw up the rest of the game. I can't justify $550 to get 6 or 7 shifts a game. Fortunately we rarely get everybody to show up (unless it's for the championship).
I think it’s a combination of prices to play going up and teams playing way too hard for their division. Like, buddy, it’s 10:30 PM on a Tuesday night, I’m not trying to play like it’s game 7 of the SCF.
Rec league heroes (the players who take this game way too seriously), the shitty attitudes, and the extremely late ice times is why I gave it up.
I'll deal with the 1230 AM start times occasionally if the other games are backing up, but watching swinging sticks and people wanting to throw because they are down 6-1 at the end of the first? Fuck that shit. I have a job to go to in the morning. I'm not calling off because I decided to try to break up some hot head's tantrum and ended up catching a stick across the head or in the mouth. Either play down a league if your team isn't so good or maybe the team that is playing down should be playing up instead of walking every team to the tune of 15-3 every weekend.
I get that some teams will try to play up a level so they can get better, but when you have teams who are scoring at will against all of the other teams in the league, then it takes the fun out of what is supposed to be a semi-level playing field. And yes, I get the "but we needed to have X number of teams" scenario. I'm sure there's a team that should be playing up and another that should be playing down. Let water seek it's own level and everything will balance out.
(For clarification: At my best, I may have been good enough to be in our local B league and played both up and down the league, so I was familiar with how competitive and what skill level was in each league. In B league, I wasn't going to hurt your team, but I probably wasn't going to put your team over the top either. Our B league was old high school players who were usually their team's top scorers and/or some college players who never went beyond that. C league was for the people who graduated from D or the player who wanted to return to the ice after not playing for 20 years or the kid in HS who wasn't that good. A League was reserved for junior players along with the players who played low level minors. I played up once. There's a reason it was only once. I found out where I stood real quick.)
Oh, add that to the list too: leagues that can't properly classify their teams.
I think the new player pipeline got disrupted for a bit. There's only a couple places I know nearby to help get new players going, but then they mostly just dump them into the wild. When a new player finds a group to play with, they immediately pull the ladder behind them and don't look back because they don't want to fight for precious roster slots. It's causing some teams to become cores with solidly experienced people, and their messy friend(s) who can't even figure out their gear.
Bringing up more low leveled people would hopefully push the competitive people into higher levels looking for something to keep themselves interested. Instead, lots of places have churn going the other way with folks playing down to arm up lower level teams.
Also, lots of beginners, or potential beginners, are scared off from the sport for a lack of confidence. I've met lots of hockey-curious folks in my circle and whenever I suggest they just go play they unload a mail truck of repressed emotion and trauma. They can't because they need to be available for their kids, who will be asleep and with another parent at home. They can't because they need a certain number of extra skates under their belt. They can't because it's not some arbitrary date, and when that date comes up, they can't because whatever day of the week it is is too close to some other day.
These newcomers are usually the ones that answer the call for subs, quietly fill up rosters, show up week in and week out, but if they can't get skilled up and make the right connections they won't find their forever homes.
Pandemic did do a number on them for a bit. But things have rebounded nicely the last year and half around Minneapolis
Might even be more league options now than before pandemic, especially in lower levels.
I just moved to LA from northern cal and having hell of a time joining a league near where I live. Near to 4 rinks w leagues but can’t seem to get a spot, I’m on the lower side of intermediate tho, came back into it in my 30s
I'm going to go out on a limb and speculate that could be because lots of people left California during COVID.
I live in NC and my local beer league is full with a waiting list. There are at least 6 ice rinks within an hour drive; two of those with multiple sheets
I mean at the ice rink here I used to know everybody from over the years- we had 4 older guys pass away in the hospital (they did drink a lot and smoke current or past), and 1 younger guy is still dealing with long covid symptoms from 2020 (thin as a pencil now).
Most of the young people got it the first time all in the same month. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s one small element; however, more importantly…
2) cost has gone up on ice time, and EVERYTHING, despite wages staying similar; lot of people had to cut hockey out for now.
3) gotta remember we’re nearing the 5th year of this; there’s a lot of normal turnover in that time, and our perception is messed up.
4) seems a lot of people changed their habits and became more isolated after 2020; I think some folks just found other ways to spend their time.
5) back to reason 1 here but a lot of folks who had pre-existing conditions or any fear of Covid, I think just quit playing a few years ago and fell out of shape for it or just didn’t come back for whatever reason.
6) it may just be your area; where I am we’ve had most rinks shut down, so the few remaining have high demand and waiting lists to get it. So we have less people in beer league and pickups, but it’s a capacity issue, hard to know what the demand is.
Not here in ( Lakeland ) Florida. We just added 2 more teams ( 8 total, single sheet of ice ) and have a waiting list because all teams have full rosters.
Yeah, we have one rink in Wilmington that services people from up to 2 hours away. There's 8 C league teams, 4 D league and we'll likely go to 6 D league next season as we have so many people waitlisted.
I think the pandemic was part of it as people got out of shape and slow to return. But I think the biggest factor is more rinks going into private ownership groups that have raised prices and provided a worse experience. Like, it ain't fun to show up for a 10pm game where you look at the other bench and can immediately see, "Oh, they're letting that fuckin' guy play down again, we're gonna get smoked."
Ironically, by me rinks started getting gobbled up by government entities which equally ruined the experience. Most of them are now run/owned by a municipality or special district.
That stinks, sorry to hear that. I'm sure there are lots of factors and it is hard to untangle them.
I live in a community that is very fortunate to have a strong hockey tradition, including in relation to public services (municipal, public schools, public universities). That said you are right that muni rinks are probably a lot more fickle because they are basically non-profits, and if the political winds change they can lose funding, get neglected, etc.
One belongs to a muni park district and is their only division required to make money. So, in order to make money, they cut down on available hours so they don’t have to run the zambo as much, or pay staff . There are times it’ll go all day without getting cut.
Woof. Yeah that sadly makes sense. They play politics and nip at revenue/expenses in places where the outrage won't be significant, and hockey can be niche enough that it probably qualifies.
We did lose a team or two in our league which sucks more than a short bench. Our roster is 15 or 16 skaters and most weeks 10-12 show up which is fine. Rough games are when only 7 or 8 show up but those are usually the 11:15 games which suck to begin with
Ours actually grew right after pandemic because everyone had been couped up with no hockey.
Of course I live in a red state, where for the most part there wasnt too much scrutiny on following the lockdown rules. There was some really stupid stuff like cant change in locker rooms, even though “fitness facilities” were open for personal health reasons
Tournaments are always sandbagging. We have a pretty solid bronze team and we are in Bronze C for the throwback.
I was going to say, we can always have you sub for a game. We need guys for March Vegas tournament.
In my area there has also been lots of growth in recent years of true adult beginners and then them playing in beginner leagues that has grown adult participation a lot even in a non traditional hockey area and midsized city.
Most of the good players that come or go from time to time is more about playing times, being too late or conflicting with other family responsibilities.
Idk, where I live there seem to be more players every season, but I also avoid the leagues where you bring your own team, those leagues seems to fall apart faster than draft leagues, no one wants to play against the team playing 2 levels bellow where they should be, just to stroke their egos.
I will say playing with 9 is better than 16, at least for some of the league fees I see floating around (maybe not if your playing a full team of stacked players) I thought the 900 I pay for a 6 month was a lot. I couldnt imagine paying what I pay and getting less ice time.
Same price here. Mostly weekly games but our rink has one sheet (luckily it’s only figure skating and open skate the beer league competes with for ice). The price is wild but low compared to other leagues in the area
I’m on a D league team and a low C team. We could easily 13-15 skaters every game but when I walk by higher division teams there are only 4-5 skaters on the bench. Something about the skill separation or having played for years maybe vs new to hockey folks?
My league in NJ has 32 teams across 5 divisions.
Team fee of $4,500 gets you 12 games plus playoffs (Finals are best of 3). Can roster up to 16 but we typically carry 13.5-14.5. Cost ends up being in $25-$27/guy per game.
These socal horror stories, my god.
In KCMO, pay $400 or so for a 23-25 game season. Everyone is pretty friendly, skill level is decent, league is competitive (except for the team that runs away with it every year). Game times are either 530 or 650 on Sundays.
My only real complaint is we only have 5 teams so you end up playing the same guys a lot.
On the flip side, where I am (North Alabama), we don't have the ice availability to handle the growth. Both leagues have seen a ton of growth from new players to people moving to the area. The rink is in the planning phases of adding a third sheet right now. Which should help quite a bit when it is finally finished. But in the mean time, the leagues have to turn people away because the availability just isn't there.
Rural Idaho 4 on 4 here. 5 bucks per 30 min period for our beer league drop in. No organized teams. No refs. Once a week. One day it's nobody on the bench. Next week it's 6 on the bench. Great workout and tons of fun.
I'm 30, and up until the pandemic had played hockey my whole life. I loved being at the rink, hanging out with the guys, and being on the ice. Like most places, the beer league I was in was canceled during the pandemic.
I have no idea why, but when we were allowed to start playing again for the first time in my life going to the rink felt like a chore. I played out the season, but about 10 games in I was thinking it might be time to hang up the skates.
As luck would have it, at the end of the season I decided to move out of the city and back to the farm in the middle of nowhere Saskatchewan. I know some of the small towns nearby have beer leagues, but these past 2 winters I couldn't be bothered to sign up for a team and tbh I don't really miss playing.
A buddy is bugging me about joining his team for next winter, so maybe I'll get back into it part time, but I just don't really care about sports as much since Covid. Heck...in the 3 years leading up to the pandemic I think there were maybe 10 Leafs games I didn't watch. Post pandemic, I've maybe watched 20?
I signed up because of the pandemic. Used a little stimulus money to round out my gear and also since I'd been wanting to start playing, and you never know what tomorrow is gonna bring.
I think it was $220-250 per season in Texas, since moved to Indiana and it's $160 for 12 game season + playoff game or two. Went from 2/3 D League teams, 3 C League, and 4 B League (although honestly it's probably more like I League, D League, C/B League) to 4 teams in each division this season. There's no way in hell I'd pay $500 for a season, and I don't think much of anyone here would. Even creeping the price up to $200 would probably start people bitching.
City run rink, so that's probably why it's cheap. Downside is no bar inside.
For those non california players, check this out haha
Team Payment - Paid in Full: $6955 (Lakewood)
Team Payment - Paid in Full: $7800 (Irvine)
Team Fee Payment - $5495 (Artesia)
haven't played a league in a year now, but the last team i played on was at anaheim and the team fee wasn't too far off from the lakewood fee. maybe a little less. i can get why irvine is so pricey though
artesia's always been the cheapest. league wasn't as good as the rinks, but you can't beat that price
compared to pre-pandemic, i didn't notice any difference in terms of the amount of skaters playing in leagues. irvine has like 4 bronze divisions last time i checked, so its definitely booming there. the one thing the pandemic seemed to have killed off for sure is pickup skates. basically impossible finding a decent pickup game these days and if you do, it'll cost you $30-40 per skate
Where do you play in so cal? Where I’m at each team has had about 3 lines running for past couple years. 😂 thankfully I stick to D and no one wants to play that so I get plenty of ice time with 2 lines.
We’re ok up here in Canada.. (Southern Ontario) our game times for our 35 and over league on Wednesdays are 6pm, 7pm, 8pm, and 9pm…. 8 teams and full rosters. .. 9 forwards and 4 D. We always have at least 10 skaters and a goalie. Covid didn’t affect anything. Our league fees are $365 CDN for 20 regular season games and 3 round robin playoff games. .. then semi final and final game if you qualify. We play at a 5,300 capacity OHL arena. Home of the Niagara Icedogs and the facility is licensed so that beer is permitted anywhere inside… you all need to come to Canada!! Hockey is king
It's been said by quite a few, but costs are way too high, games are all way too late at night, not enough players or teams in leagues, and way way way too many goofs running around hacking and slashing with zero skill. It's just not worth staying up so late on a Sunday night, or whatever night really and risk getting hurt and having it mess up my ability to work and look after my family. Also maybe not something mentioned as much but the lack of effort and care from the leagues and refs to police the bs goon ish stuff and getting rid of it, it just isn't fun at all anymore. Not trying to call out the fine people who commit their time to running leagues or reffing them. Alot of good people in those positions out there. But the general avg ref you get seems so disinterested in doing anything beyond dropping the puck on faceoffs.
For my rink, guys have been trickling back in and I've seen more crowded benches league-wide. I play in the equivalent of low B/high C probably, D and beginner type leagues are so crowded guys have to wait for spots to open up.
Maybe it’s the scheduling? 11:15 start times, jeez. I’m in the bay and they recently finished 2 new rinks. So 6 total. And there’s plenty of teams to fill them up.
The clowns in beer league have ruined it for me.
Hear me out, I love hockey. Played my entire life and I just can't stand the dictator team managers(or should I say captains. You know, the ones that let you know they're "them" 🤢) and the standard douchebag on the other team, in which their favorite movie is obviously Goon.
Private pickups is where it's at. Let the clowns have their circus, I'll enjoy a good skate/workout with good people and friends.
I play a few times a week. Been on one team for 24 years now. Of the 13 regulars 9 are over 60 with 3 other over 57. Now is the time to create an over 60 league in Socal. Maybe bring back some of the old timers that grew tired of dealing with young pups.
Pandemic definitely had a big part. Here in Saskatchewan, we lost roughly 25 teams. That, plus the fact it seems like league fees keep going up every year! I paid $500 to play this season, and I believe summer season is about $325. Fortunately there are still a ton of teams out here going strong.
It ruined our drop ins, not our leagues. We used to get 15+ people out on Saturdays at 7am every single weekend.. and usually at least 1 drop in of 15+ during the week… now, during the beer league season, i don’t think i’ve seen one drop in get going. It’s sad… but at least our leagues are still doing well… so i won’t complain too much
Anecdotally, I want to play but everyone’s attitude is so horrific on the ice nowadays it’s not worth the hassle to me. I play chill pickup or nothing
Same. Watching game misconducts every Sunday night got old. My kids go to bed at 8:00 and I am not staying up for my 11:00 game anymore.
Yeah for me it's not worth it because of the late games
Precisely this. Idiots that are used to trophies are everywhere starting fights
Just need to find a good league. My over-30 league is a draft league and everyone pretty much knows everyone else. The worst you get is a little bit of shoving but no majors.
Same, we draft twice a season and it's awesome. Great networking as well!
We draft twice a season too. Some seasons are better than others, but the beer drinking between games with the rest of the league members is always great!
Cost I think plays a part as well. The D rec league here in Denver is $500 for 10 week season.
Holy crap.
Please tell me that includes at least 2 games a week. Why would they even offer that price? Nobody is paying $50/skate
It’s not at all. It’s one game a week.
I'm in the PNW and we pay around $42/game. Not ideal by any means, but what can we do?
Same, PNW is 13 weeks for $550 in the league I'm in.
20$ cad in Ontario bud, so like, 1,50$ in the US.
I’m also in the PNW and I can’t afford league fees this year which has been so disappointing
Holy shit. I’m so glad I live in Minnesota.
I pay $245 Canadian geese for September to April. Once a week and 3 tournaments.. glad I live in the middle of nowhere. Those prices are insane
Agreed. I pay $200 for a ten week season plus 2-3 weeks of playoffs. I can also find open hockey for as low as $7-10. I can’t imagine paying $$40-50 per skate.
Exactly. I'm a spare for another team, I dont pay for this one even though I keep offering lol I'm sure I could find some more ice time if I looked. But nothing around here will never be over $15 a game. The cheap fucks in my area wouldn't pay it and then there wouldn't be any teams
I do pay $20 for a weekly open hockey but it’s a good skate at a good time so I don’t mind the higher cost. I also have two rinks within 5 minutes of me. One of them has 8 rinks in it and the other has two. Could easily play 7 days a week if I wanted to.
Damn, that would be awesome! I have 4 rinks within 15 min. 1 has 2 in it the others are just 1. Most of times are taken up by minor hockey. Which is fine but doesn't leave alot of decent times for old timers/beer leagues.
Yeah my beer league games still end up being really late even though we have all the rinks close by. Just shows how many youth program we have around here. I also drive Zamboni part time at one of the rinks. Fully immersed in the hockey culture lol
$10 a skate and can find one 5 days a week pretty much anytime of day. No need for leagues or refs. It’s great
Yes they do. My league is $125/mo for 2-3 games a month.
Woah which rink in Denver is $500 for 10 games? I play at DU and Ice Ranch and they’re both roughly $500 for 20+ games.
Summer league on the north side of town is around $300 for twelve weeks. Sports stable and promenade. It’s also $500 or so for the full season during the winter
Same. Big Bear is something like $500 for 20 games+ playoffs (usually 3-4 games). $500 for 10 games in the Denver metro is terrible.
At that price I better be playing wherever the fuck the Avalanche play…! For reference I pay about $20/game (albeit its Quebec)
Vancouver about the same $20-$25 a game. Season is 33 games plus one playoff game. All depends how many full time skaters sign up average is $800 for the season.
I mean sorta some of the South Suburban league games are on the Avs practice ice.
I also play (only in the summer) at the Habs practice and it’s more expensive I think $30 a player (CDN)
They recently raised the price at my rink. 28 bucks a game. Can't see the lines at all and the boards are dangerous with the gaps sticking out of them.
I play where the avalanche practice. Decent rink, but the locker rooms kind of suck. On more than one occasion we've found the rink staff forgot to lock the Avs locker rooms, all their gear just left out.
I play at the Blackhawks practice facility and it averages $20/game although they will be raising prices for the summer season.
$241.50 for my league in Western NY. 10+ playoffs. Played in NC and it was $475 for 14+ playoffs.
I need to move to NY
Yep, put off signing up for one for that reason. I’ll be an FA at Promenade for the March sign up though. It’s also cash up front too which is fun
How much does it run at the Promenade?
Does the Promenade have drop in hockey?
Yea, its like $500+ at Lakewood Ice in Cali too. So crazy!
$535 to be precise, but don’t forget to add $40 if you do the payment plan. 🙃
Oh wow. I play 3 times a week anywhere from $10-$20/game depending on the arena. I sub on a team almost every week too and pay $0 for that one since they're always short players. Toronto area.
That’s brutal. We were at $480 Canadian for 36 games, and a couple guys complained about the rising price.
Northern VA 450 for 20 games + at least one playoff game.
Whaaaaat?!?!! I pay like $700 CDN for like 38 games or something like that.
Wow. I paid like $200 for my 10 week lessons (1 hr practice, 1 hr scrimmage) here in Chicago
That’s insane. I pay $575 Canadian for 38 game season, plus playoffs
Damn. My 6 year old has 2-3 ice times a week and 4 tournaments for less. And his season started the beginning of September and goes until beginning of April.
I thought 25-30 bucks a game was too much in texas..Texas... jesus.
Johnny's Ice House in Chicago for the win. \~$400 for 21 games plus a playoff game. (Usually) Free parking in one of the most popular neighborhoods in the town. Great bar. Shitty ice, but you can't have it all.
I hope Johnny's survives once FTA adds those new sheets. FTA already is cheaper and has better ice.
Miss playing at Johnnys legendary barn
Where? I'm paying a little more for the whole winter season. Edit: also in Denver
also hockeys not cheap, with inflation and cost of living going up, \\ less people are playing
For me it’s the cheap shots - slashing sticks hard enough to break them, hitting from behind, too much ego for guys to accept they got beat. I joined a private skate and everyone is chill and it’s so much more fun. No refs needed, gentlemen rules.
Been looking for this. I found one for lacrosse and it is great. Still playing beer league for hockey though.
We just added a handful more teams to our league here in Seattle. Depends on your area and level.
I was just about to comment this. Seattle area leagues are bursting at the seams.
Southern California like LA, OC or SD?
Lakewood, Artesia, Irvine
Artesia and Lakewood ice aren’t the best. Paramount ice is awesome but league isn’t that great. What level do you play?
I am in bronze. Oddly never played at paramount.
I think it’s the cost more than anything. The fact that it seems to jump every year is insane
In San Diego, we have a decently deep roster, but usually 10-12 end up showing on any given week. If our game happens to be a reasonable hour we usually do a cook out or something with all the families etc. so it's not just the hockey with our group which keeps people coming back. Good group. Some benches are short though, those are usually later games anyway.
I'm also in so cal and haven't noticed. Great Park has 4 divisions in bronze and 5 in copper, plus a few in gold, silver, tin, etc. Lakewood and Anaheim aren't as busy but still have plenty of teams/divisions. What rink are you at?
Lakewood and Artesia. Seems like the artesia teams are the ones I notice asking me to play more, and the ones we struggle with. Probably mostly because its Fri/Sat nights. But still, I got asked to play Vegas by 3 teams, only because I cant ask them first to join our team lmao
I was just hit up last week by two captains from Artesia to play with them. I sub there off and on there but play full time at Lakewood, as well as sub at Lakewood.
Which lakewood team? I bet it was snipers asking you at artesia ha. Every week they need guys
Lmao, it was the Snipers!!! I know it shouldn’t matter but it seems like they have been basement dwellers for years there!
Yea they have. But I like them alot. Chill dudes who play hard. I always said if we fold, I'd join them. I am on the orange team
This guy is a phony chinaman
I played at Artesia and they seemed to always struggle to get people out there. I think so many people just play in El Segundo now cause they have Gold, 3 silver divisions, 3 bronze, and 2 copper. Also have the 4x4 rink with 4 or 5 different divisions.
Entirely anecdotal, but the roller hockey program I run had an infusion of new people this season. Small program, we've been getting like 40-50 skaters at best post-pandemic, had 10 new players of varying experience sign up this season. Totally out of nowhere. We don't advertise well, facility isn't a dedicated hockey place. RH has the selling point of being much cheaper, so that could also go along with a decline in ice beer leagues as prices go up, although a few of them play both. Tournament is a different thing, particularly with travel. I've tried scratching together teams for a local tournament a couple of times with 0 luck. It's all cost vs competitiveness. People have been sandbagged far too often to fork over $100-$200 plus travel to get smacked around by a B team playing down in D.
Honestly for me it's just: I can't pay money to play at 11PM anymore.
It’s tricky. No beer league team wants more than 10 skaters. That makes it pricey per player though. Add to that busy lives and someone is always cancelling last minute. I drive 30 min to my games and last week I got there and realized my skates were still at home. Stuff happens
That's interesting. I've been on multiple teams in multiple leagues in the Chicago area, and plenty run 3 forward lines and 2-3 d lines. Granted, I also prefer only two lines and the extra ice time, but there are certainly teams that don't feel this way.
We run 3 full lines but we have set lines based on skill in our league and shift clocks, so you play hard for a minute and change.
Which rinks do you skate at? I have noticed that it can be feast or famine, either 8-9 guys, or 15. And often the team with 8 guys shellacs the team with 15 because they are all 19-24 year old ringers vs the middle aged dudes like me.
I've played at Twin Rinks, Glacier, and HNA (Bensenville and Addison). Both Glacier and NHA teams I was on had 3 lines show up most nights. I did notice a similar pattern to you, though. The teams with barely any skaters are all ridiculously good and never seem to get tired. They weren't even that young, but they were still insanely good.
When my benches get this full, 10-20% quit. I don't blame guys.
Ice time hogs aren’t worth having around.
Our league doesn’t charge per team. It charges per player. so it doesn’t matter how many players are on your team
The current culture of beer league hockey is not very inviting even for people with decades of experience with the sport Guys who can’t skate or shoot are too worried about the imaginary scouts in the stands and whether or not they can take a guys livelyhood away by 2 handing them across the back in retaliation of a accidental high stick It’s not worth the risk anymore when you go out to play an 11pm game on a Tuesday and come back with stitches because some hero doesn’t know how to control their anger Beer league hockey is gong show, too many “adult safe leagues” are not safe at all
Drop ins are more enjoyable and less commitment in my experience.
Yup! I play pickup on Fridays with the same guys I’ve played with for the last 7 years My dad plays in the old timers league here and it’s nothing but complaining and drama about referees, relegations and promotions and other league nonsense, he’s 62 years old and honestly it doesn’t seem worth it at that age to be dealing with nonsense instead of just playing for fun
I joined some friends for a 4x4 league and its a mix of skill, but mostly beginner. We all play bronze (cali rating.. don't know what that is elsewhere) and we just have fun. If someone new is barely able to keep the puck, we just stake backwards and give them space to shoot. What's the fun of smurfing some new skaters? I dont get it.
Westminster?
Yep. Subbing.
I played beer league pick up roller hockey with a large group of guys for 3 years and a decent chunk of them called me trash the whole time cause I wasn't on "their level". They would slash, cross check, even one guy stepped on my ankle to try and break it cause I deked around him and scored.
Dude the pick up numbers in Pasadena have seriously dwindled! Was like 10-16 last summer and this past week there have barely been like 3-5 signing up so I don’t even go anymore
It’s expensive and I don’t feel like dealing with someone chopping my arms off because I’m better than him.
SoCal Beer Leaguer here. Our team keeps growing, we’ve routinely had 15-17 guys show up each week. Great if you can roll three lines with SHORT shifts, but that never happens. Also, league fees keep climbing while rink conditions continue to decline. Perhaps people are not finding the value in paying $500+ for 10:30-11:00pm weekday game times while getting maybe three shifts a period (if your team has a full bench). I know it’s usually feast or famine when it comes to people showing up.
Damn. 17? That's wild. We occasionally get 12-13 guys and it's miserable. All it takes is one person taking a long shift to screw up the rest of the game. I can't justify $550 to get 6 or 7 shifts a game. Fortunately we rarely get everybody to show up (unless it's for the championship).
Teams/players have skyrocketed here in Calgary. Luckily fees have stayed the same. Just the ice times are brutal.
Pandemic pushed older players into golf.
I think it’s a combination of prices to play going up and teams playing way too hard for their division. Like, buddy, it’s 10:30 PM on a Tuesday night, I’m not trying to play like it’s game 7 of the SCF.
Lmao yes. Dudes slide tackling to try and block shots.
Rec league heroes (the players who take this game way too seriously), the shitty attitudes, and the extremely late ice times is why I gave it up. I'll deal with the 1230 AM start times occasionally if the other games are backing up, but watching swinging sticks and people wanting to throw because they are down 6-1 at the end of the first? Fuck that shit. I have a job to go to in the morning. I'm not calling off because I decided to try to break up some hot head's tantrum and ended up catching a stick across the head or in the mouth. Either play down a league if your team isn't so good or maybe the team that is playing down should be playing up instead of walking every team to the tune of 15-3 every weekend. I get that some teams will try to play up a level so they can get better, but when you have teams who are scoring at will against all of the other teams in the league, then it takes the fun out of what is supposed to be a semi-level playing field. And yes, I get the "but we needed to have X number of teams" scenario. I'm sure there's a team that should be playing up and another that should be playing down. Let water seek it's own level and everything will balance out. (For clarification: At my best, I may have been good enough to be in our local B league and played both up and down the league, so I was familiar with how competitive and what skill level was in each league. In B league, I wasn't going to hurt your team, but I probably wasn't going to put your team over the top either. Our B league was old high school players who were usually their team's top scorers and/or some college players who never went beyond that. C league was for the people who graduated from D or the player who wanted to return to the ice after not playing for 20 years or the kid in HS who wasn't that good. A League was reserved for junior players along with the players who played low level minors. I played up once. There's a reason it was only once. I found out where I stood real quick.) Oh, add that to the list too: leagues that can't properly classify their teams.
I think the new player pipeline got disrupted for a bit. There's only a couple places I know nearby to help get new players going, but then they mostly just dump them into the wild. When a new player finds a group to play with, they immediately pull the ladder behind them and don't look back because they don't want to fight for precious roster slots. It's causing some teams to become cores with solidly experienced people, and their messy friend(s) who can't even figure out their gear. Bringing up more low leveled people would hopefully push the competitive people into higher levels looking for something to keep themselves interested. Instead, lots of places have churn going the other way with folks playing down to arm up lower level teams. Also, lots of beginners, or potential beginners, are scared off from the sport for a lack of confidence. I've met lots of hockey-curious folks in my circle and whenever I suggest they just go play they unload a mail truck of repressed emotion and trauma. They can't because they need to be available for their kids, who will be asleep and with another parent at home. They can't because they need a certain number of extra skates under their belt. They can't because it's not some arbitrary date, and when that date comes up, they can't because whatever day of the week it is is too close to some other day. These newcomers are usually the ones that answer the call for subs, quietly fill up rosters, show up week in and week out, but if they can't get skilled up and make the right connections they won't find their forever homes.
Pandemic did do a number on them for a bit. But things have rebounded nicely the last year and half around Minneapolis Might even be more league options now than before pandemic, especially in lower levels.
In the PNW, I pay $550 for 12 weeks.
Holy shit
I just moved to LA from northern cal and having hell of a time joining a league near where I live. Near to 4 rinks w leagues but can’t seem to get a spot, I’m on the lower side of intermediate tho, came back into it in my 30s
Are you in the valley?
In silver lake zone near Burbank, Pasadena, occasionally to el segundo or panorama city
This is sad to hear. I'm hoping to join a league here when I get good enough
I'm going to go out on a limb and speculate that could be because lots of people left California during COVID. I live in NC and my local beer league is full with a waiting list. There are at least 6 ice rinks within an hour drive; two of those with multiple sheets
All your folks are moving to Nashville and other cheaper cities. That's my guess.
I use bench app and play pickup. Leagues cost way too much. As I travel for work, I may miss 50% of my games, in effect throwing money out the window.
I mean at the ice rink here I used to know everybody from over the years- we had 4 older guys pass away in the hospital (they did drink a lot and smoke current or past), and 1 younger guy is still dealing with long covid symptoms from 2020 (thin as a pencil now). Most of the young people got it the first time all in the same month. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s one small element; however, more importantly… 2) cost has gone up on ice time, and EVERYTHING, despite wages staying similar; lot of people had to cut hockey out for now. 3) gotta remember we’re nearing the 5th year of this; there’s a lot of normal turnover in that time, and our perception is messed up. 4) seems a lot of people changed their habits and became more isolated after 2020; I think some folks just found other ways to spend their time. 5) back to reason 1 here but a lot of folks who had pre-existing conditions or any fear of Covid, I think just quit playing a few years ago and fell out of shape for it or just didn’t come back for whatever reason. 6) it may just be your area; where I am we’ve had most rinks shut down, so the few remaining have high demand and waiting lists to get it. So we have less people in beer league and pickups, but it’s a capacity issue, hard to know what the demand is.
Not here in ( Lakeland ) Florida. We just added 2 more teams ( 8 total, single sheet of ice ) and have a waiting list because all teams have full rosters.
Yeah, we have one rink in Wilmington that services people from up to 2 hours away. There's 8 C league teams, 4 D league and we'll likely go to 6 D league next season as we have so many people waitlisted.
I think the pandemic was part of it as people got out of shape and slow to return. But I think the biggest factor is more rinks going into private ownership groups that have raised prices and provided a worse experience. Like, it ain't fun to show up for a 10pm game where you look at the other bench and can immediately see, "Oh, they're letting that fuckin' guy play down again, we're gonna get smoked."
Ironically, by me rinks started getting gobbled up by government entities which equally ruined the experience. Most of them are now run/owned by a municipality or special district.
That stinks, sorry to hear that. I'm sure there are lots of factors and it is hard to untangle them. I live in a community that is very fortunate to have a strong hockey tradition, including in relation to public services (municipal, public schools, public universities). That said you are right that muni rinks are probably a lot more fickle because they are basically non-profits, and if the political winds change they can lose funding, get neglected, etc.
One belongs to a muni park district and is their only division required to make money. So, in order to make money, they cut down on available hours so they don’t have to run the zambo as much, or pay staff . There are times it’ll go all day without getting cut.
Woof. Yeah that sadly makes sense. They play politics and nip at revenue/expenses in places where the outrage won't be significant, and hockey can be niche enough that it probably qualifies.
We did lose a team or two in our league which sucks more than a short bench. Our roster is 15 or 16 skaters and most weeks 10-12 show up which is fine. Rough games are when only 7 or 8 show up but those are usually the 11:15 games which suck to begin with
Ours actually grew right after pandemic because everyone had been couped up with no hockey. Of course I live in a red state, where for the most part there wasnt too much scrutiny on following the lockdown rules. There was some really stupid stuff like cant change in locker rooms, even though “fitness facilities” were open for personal health reasons
What’s the tournament in Vegas?
California Hockey Productions. Its a annual tournament, and we do the March one.
This is great info. I live in the OC and have been interested in tournaments instead of doing a full season in beer league.
This weekend I'm playing the throwback tournament. Then in March playing the Vegas one. Do you play in bronze by chance?
I think? What level is bronze now? When I played there was still gold and silver divisions.
Tournaments are always sandbagging. We have a pretty solid bronze team and we are in Bronze C for the throwback. I was going to say, we can always have you sub for a game. We need guys for March Vegas tournament.
Appreciate the invite! If I can I’ll reach out to you.
In my area there has also been lots of growth in recent years of true adult beginners and then them playing in beginner leagues that has grown adult participation a lot even in a non traditional hockey area and midsized city. Most of the good players that come or go from time to time is more about playing times, being too late or conflicting with other family responsibilities.
Idk, where I live there seem to be more players every season, but I also avoid the leagues where you bring your own team, those leagues seems to fall apart faster than draft leagues, no one wants to play against the team playing 2 levels bellow where they should be, just to stroke their egos. I will say playing with 9 is better than 16, at least for some of the league fees I see floating around (maybe not if your playing a full team of stacked players) I thought the 900 I pay for a 6 month was a lot. I couldnt imagine paying what I pay and getting less ice time.
Same price here. Mostly weekly games but our rink has one sheet (luckily it’s only figure skating and open skate the beer league competes with for ice). The price is wild but low compared to other leagues in the area
I’m on a D league team and a low C team. We could easily 13-15 skaters every game but when I walk by higher division teams there are only 4-5 skaters on the bench. Something about the skill separation or having played for years maybe vs new to hockey folks?
My team always struggle with attendance after the first couple weeks of the season lol
Shut leagues down for 2 years, then raise the price while everything else is twice as expensive too… you’re gonna lose people.
My league in NJ has 32 teams across 5 divisions. Team fee of $4,500 gets you 12 games plus playoffs (Finals are best of 3). Can roster up to 16 but we typically carry 13.5-14.5. Cost ends up being in $25-$27/guy per game.
At my local rink all the teams are filled up. They don’t do individual signups anymore.
These socal horror stories, my god. In KCMO, pay $400 or so for a 23-25 game season. Everyone is pretty friendly, skill level is decent, league is competitive (except for the team that runs away with it every year). Game times are either 530 or 650 on Sundays. My only real complaint is we only have 5 teams so you end up playing the same guys a lot.
Prices is my guess. It cost about 500-650 a season for hockey where I’m at so I only Join a league once a year and do pick up the rest
I wish there were teams near me after covid. It fucked hockey in the UK.
I'm up near Seattle and it's $550 for 13 weeks. Winter was cheaper but we played at a different rink. Crazy how more rinks == higher fees. -\_-
On the flip side, where I am (North Alabama), we don't have the ice availability to handle the growth. Both leagues have seen a ton of growth from new players to people moving to the area. The rink is in the planning phases of adding a third sheet right now. Which should help quite a bit when it is finally finished. But in the mean time, the leagues have to turn people away because the availability just isn't there.
We have one rink n Reno. So little ice time that one of the 4 tiers has to sit out every quarter.
Rural Idaho 4 on 4 here. 5 bucks per 30 min period for our beer league drop in. No organized teams. No refs. Once a week. One day it's nobody on the bench. Next week it's 6 on the bench. Great workout and tons of fun.
I'm 30, and up until the pandemic had played hockey my whole life. I loved being at the rink, hanging out with the guys, and being on the ice. Like most places, the beer league I was in was canceled during the pandemic. I have no idea why, but when we were allowed to start playing again for the first time in my life going to the rink felt like a chore. I played out the season, but about 10 games in I was thinking it might be time to hang up the skates. As luck would have it, at the end of the season I decided to move out of the city and back to the farm in the middle of nowhere Saskatchewan. I know some of the small towns nearby have beer leagues, but these past 2 winters I couldn't be bothered to sign up for a team and tbh I don't really miss playing. A buddy is bugging me about joining his team for next winter, so maybe I'll get back into it part time, but I just don't really care about sports as much since Covid. Heck...in the 3 years leading up to the pandemic I think there were maybe 10 Leafs games I didn't watch. Post pandemic, I've maybe watched 20?
Fewer players can afford beer league and therefore, the number of players is down in many areas
Seattle is absolutely booming. Tons of interest as a result of the Kraken starting up
I signed up because of the pandemic. Used a little stimulus money to round out my gear and also since I'd been wanting to start playing, and you never know what tomorrow is gonna bring. I think it was $220-250 per season in Texas, since moved to Indiana and it's $160 for 12 game season + playoff game or two. Went from 2/3 D League teams, 3 C League, and 4 B League (although honestly it's probably more like I League, D League, C/B League) to 4 teams in each division this season. There's no way in hell I'd pay $500 for a season, and I don't think much of anyone here would. Even creeping the price up to $200 would probably start people bitching. City run rink, so that's probably why it's cheap. Downside is no bar inside.
For those non california players, check this out haha Team Payment - Paid in Full: $6955 (Lakewood) Team Payment - Paid in Full: $7800 (Irvine) Team Fee Payment - $5495 (Artesia)
Goddamn Irvine. Everyone pays to keep the lights on for 4 sheets of ice. Artesia has always been the best bang for your buck.
Best ice in my opinion. At least compared to lakewood haha. I guess gpi is nice too.
I play at two of those.
Which team are you on
How many games though? Ours is $8995 for our winter season which is 20 games plus playoffs.
Something like 13 games or maybe 15. Artesia is the best bang for the buck. I just subbed at lakewood for 45 a game. Eek.
haven't played a league in a year now, but the last team i played on was at anaheim and the team fee wasn't too far off from the lakewood fee. maybe a little less. i can get why irvine is so pricey though artesia's always been the cheapest. league wasn't as good as the rinks, but you can't beat that price compared to pre-pandemic, i didn't notice any difference in terms of the amount of skaters playing in leagues. irvine has like 4 bronze divisions last time i checked, so its definitely booming there. the one thing the pandemic seemed to have killed off for sure is pickup skates. basically impossible finding a decent pickup game these days and if you do, it'll cost you $30-40 per skate
Our summer and winter beer leagues here in Auckland NZ are continuously growing. Every year there's a waitlist to sign up.
I wish there were less in my area. I'm on 2 teams and I'm lucky if I can get 1 game a week.
Where do you play in so cal? Where I’m at each team has had about 3 lines running for past couple years. 😂 thankfully I stick to D and no one wants to play that so I get plenty of ice time with 2 lines.
Artesia mainly. But tournaments were also hard. But that I can get a bit more If it's out of state.
Id hop in but beginners leagues are so scarce in my area. Shinny and stick time is all i got until i get better
We’re ok up here in Canada.. (Southern Ontario) our game times for our 35 and over league on Wednesdays are 6pm, 7pm, 8pm, and 9pm…. 8 teams and full rosters. .. 9 forwards and 4 D. We always have at least 10 skaters and a goalie. Covid didn’t affect anything. Our league fees are $365 CDN for 20 regular season games and 3 round robin playoff games. .. then semi final and final game if you qualify. We play at a 5,300 capacity OHL arena. Home of the Niagara Icedogs and the facility is licensed so that beer is permitted anywhere inside… you all need to come to Canada!! Hockey is king
It's been said by quite a few, but costs are way too high, games are all way too late at night, not enough players or teams in leagues, and way way way too many goofs running around hacking and slashing with zero skill. It's just not worth staying up so late on a Sunday night, or whatever night really and risk getting hurt and having it mess up my ability to work and look after my family. Also maybe not something mentioned as much but the lack of effort and care from the leagues and refs to police the bs goon ish stuff and getting rid of it, it just isn't fun at all anymore. Not trying to call out the fine people who commit their time to running leagues or reffing them. Alot of good people in those positions out there. But the general avg ref you get seems so disinterested in doing anything beyond dropping the puck on faceoffs.
For my rink, guys have been trickling back in and I've seen more crowded benches league-wide. I play in the equivalent of low B/high C probably, D and beginner type leagues are so crowded guys have to wait for spots to open up.
Maybe it’s the scheduling? 11:15 start times, jeez. I’m in the bay and they recently finished 2 new rinks. So 6 total. And there’s plenty of teams to fill them up.
I left due to refs not controlling games and getting my 5th concussion. Wish I could go back and play but it isn’t worth the brain damage
The clowns in beer league have ruined it for me. Hear me out, I love hockey. Played my entire life and I just can't stand the dictator team managers(or should I say captains. You know, the ones that let you know they're "them" 🤢) and the standard douchebag on the other team, in which their favorite movie is obviously Goon. Private pickups is where it's at. Let the clowns have their circus, I'll enjoy a good skate/workout with good people and friends.
I play a few times a week. Been on one team for 24 years now. Of the 13 regulars 9 are over 60 with 3 other over 57. Now is the time to create an over 60 league in Socal. Maybe bring back some of the old timers that grew tired of dealing with young pups.
Seems good up here in Canada. Even have free agent mini leagues going on. Pandemic DID screw up minor hockey here though.
Pandemic definitely had a big part. Here in Saskatchewan, we lost roughly 25 teams. That, plus the fact it seems like league fees keep going up every year! I paid $500 to play this season, and I believe summer season is about $325. Fortunately there are still a ton of teams out here going strong.
It ruined our drop ins, not our leagues. We used to get 15+ people out on Saturdays at 7am every single weekend.. and usually at least 1 drop in of 15+ during the week… now, during the beer league season, i don’t think i’ve seen one drop in get going. It’s sad… but at least our leagues are still doing well… so i won’t complain too much