By Arena:

By Region:

By Organizer:

Contact Hockey Finder if you’d like to add one of these to your website.

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Hockey players should always be looking for more ice time. Practicing in the garage or driveway is fine, but nothing compares to lacing up your skates and playing real hockey on real ice. Stick-and-puck sessions at public rinks offer a great opportunity to get some ice time in. Players informally divide up the ice and work with coaches or in small groups. And inevitably a scrimmage breaks out — maybe evenly matched and maybe not. Five Mites against a Bantam. One Bantam and one Mite against two Squirts. You never know. The same goes for drop-in hockey. Here’s how you can be sure everyone gets the most for their time and money.

Unwritten Rules of Pickup/Open Hockey Scrimmages

* Have fun: Pickup/Open Hockey sessions are just for fun. Don’t worry if you’re not the best player out there or you don’t score a lot of goals. You are out there to learn and have fun.
* Bring a puck: The rink may not provide them, so be sure to keep a couple in your bag.
* Share the puck: In a scrimmage, you may be tempted to hog the puck, but remember that players of all ages and skill levels may be on the ice with you. Make sure everyone gets a chance to carry the puck. If you’re better than most of the players on the ice, feel free to show off your moves, but remember to also pass to your teammates. This is a great way to make sure everyone has fun, and you may just make a few friends while you are out there (everyone loves getting a pass).
* Share the ice: No one likes sitting on the bench! If everyone makes quick changes than every one will have lots of time to play. Get on the ice, skate hard for a minute, and then let another player skate. Remember, the longer you stay on the ice, the longer another player has to sit on the bench. Be fair and try to ensure each player gets equal ice time.
* Try your hardest: Some players are nervous for their first stick and puck, and think they will not be good enough. Let me tell you from experience. It does not matter how good you are, as long as you always try your hardest and never give up. If you skate hard, and try for the entire session, the other players will love you and want to have you come out and play again.
* No checking: It goes without saying that nobody wants to get hurt during a casual scrimmage with a mixed age group.

I hope these tips will help you enjoy your stick-and-puck sessions, remember to skate hard, have fun, and make friends!

Written by Kelly Anton

Hockey Finder is bringing more and more beginner adult pickup hockey opportunities to it’s registered users. “We’ve created partnerships with ice arenas and our registered users where everyone wins. More and more games are being offered through these partnerships and the greatest part is it’s truly a win-win-win. The arena sells tough to fill ice times, the organizers and players don’t have to worry about anything other than playing pickup hockey and Hockey Finder is growing. This is exactly what we were hoping we could do.” says Derrik Dyka co-founder of Hockeyfinder.com.

How it works is simple but will change pickup hockey forever. If you’re an arena manager or owner who’d like to partner with Hockey Finder contact Don Giroux at www.hockeyfinder.com/contact/

Players should register at www.hockeyfinder.com/register

If you currently organize a game or would like to contact Don Giroux at www.hockeyfinder.com/contact/ to find out how Hockey Finder can help you.

To find out more go to www.hockeyfinder.com and register. Once you become a member you can look for games in your area or if you want to get more involved become an approved organizer bycontacting Don Giroux.

More and more adult pickup hockey opportunities will be added to the site as Hockey Finder grows. Encourage your friends to sign up and help get a game going in your area.

Open Hockey

Hockeyfinder.com was created to help pickup hockey organizers better manage their game(s) but where the real value of this online tool lies is in it’s ability to help change open hockey. I’ve only been to open hockey a couple of times in my life and unless there’s a way of knowing what I’m getting into I’ll never go again. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the low cost, the opportunity to meet other players but I just can’t take the disorganization of it. How can you play a game if 7 skaters show up and one goalie? How can you play if 29 skaters show up and three goalies? If you’re a beginner how fun is it to watch some hot dog skate through everyone because he/she thinks the scouts are watching? For me it just doesn’t work.

We spent countless hours working at improving a tool we believe will change all of this. It’s not complicated, it’s not flashy, it’s simple and that’s why it’s so effective. Arena managers can post their open hockey with a number of options (number of players, skill level, age level, sex, etc…) so that players can sign up in advance and reserve their spot for the games that suit them.

5530 206th St. N Forest Lake, MN 55025 651-464-0176

Scheduled Date: Sun, May 10th 2009 9:00 PM Session Type: Regular Hockey Session Length: 60 minutes Total Skaters: 18 Session Cost: $10	Please login to sign-up for a scheduled skate.
Skill Level: Level 4 (D1 Players)
Skill Definitions
Notes: Contact Name: Candy Contact Phone: 612 670 6781 Contact Email: candace.j@live.com Arena Name: FLAAA SportsCenter Arena City: Forest Lake Game Date: 5/10/09 9-10pm Game Cost: $10 Game Type: Ice Hockey Game Length: 1 Hr Skill Level: C2-D1 Total Players: 18 + 2 goalies Notes: New game in the N Metro looking for players. New arena! 25 min from downtown just off the freeway.

“This new online service for our open hockey schedule will allow players to view the weeks upcoming open skate times and sign up for them in advance. Players and goalies will be able to sign up on the same team as their friends, see who else will be attending the skate and know that two goalies will be there. This new way of keeping open hockey organized will create better skates, eliminate wasted time and most importantly control the amount of players who can play so that everyone gets plenty of ice time.”

Jim Greeley, Ice Sports Programming

Sign up today at Hockeyfinder.com and see what the buzz is all about.

Here’s a sample of upcoming games.

St. Michael-Albertville Arena – Fri, May 1st 2009 6:15 PM

5898 Lachman Ave Albertville, MN 55301 763-497-6749

Scheduled Date: Fri, May 1st 2009 6:15 PM Session Type: Open Hockey Session Length: 60 minutes Total Skaters: 20 Session Cost: 0 credits	Please login to sign-up for a scheduled skate.
Skill Level: Open
Skill Definitions
Notes: New at STMA – Organized open hockey This skate is for WOMEN ONLY(All ages Welcome) For more information please contact Grant at 763-497-6749