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Completely New to Hockey


Daerialadrian

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As the topic says i am completely new to Hockey. My new interest in Hockey came from this past Winter Olympics. I decided to watch the USA hockey team and i actually loved to watch. I am 19 years old and i am from USA Houston Texas, Hockey has not been discussed by my family or friends my whole life so it is completely new to me. I was hoping that on this forum i could get some basic information about Hockey as far as rules, NHL teams or any information that Hockey players/watchers deem important to know. 

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@Daerialadrian

 

Welcome Adrian

 

Welcome to Hockey Forums!  :)

 

You've probably joined us at one of the most exciting times in the sport of hockey.  Next week is the trade deadline as GM's focus on bettering their teams for the stretch into the playoffs and the playoffs themselves.  

 

Depending on what cable set up for tv you should be able to watch a few games a week at least as NBC will carry more and more games this time of year.  The Dallas Stars probably have decent coverage in your area.    The easiest way to learn is to watch games and read a site like http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/

 

and of course there is

 

Houston used to have an AHL team owned by the Minnesota Wild but they moved this summer to Iowa.  Maybe next year another team will play closer to your home.  As I would suggest seeing hockey in person.  

 

And of course join us here often as we have quite a few knowledgeable hockey fans discussing the nhl, our favorite teams and more.

 

So have you chosen a favorite team yet?

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@Daerialadrian

Welcome to the best game on earth. Glad the Olympics got you interested and hope you adopt a team that's fun for you to watch. The Stars are close as already said and gave some talented players on their roster. The great thing about modern media though is you can follow any team from anywhere at any time.

Welcome and dig in!

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Good morning starshine, the Earth says hello!

But seriously though, welcome to hockey! One thing I can recommend from my experience is to read up on all the financial mumbo jumbo that is associated with hockey (Salary cap stuff, CBA stuff, etc). That's what alot of what we talk about on here comes from. Secondly, try to watch something on the trade deadline this week because that's going to blow up on here for the rest of the regular season!

Have fun and DON'T GO ON HOCKEYBUZZ.COM!!!! lol jk

Good to have you

Ian

ihabs1993

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i actually loved to watch

 

Glad you caught the fever.   I suspect you play sports other than hockey.  If so, you'll pick up the rules pretty quickly. 

 

One place to watch is the boards from the blue line towards the goal line.  Lots of  games are won or lost by whichever team controls that space. 

 

And, if you get a chance, go watch youth hockey.  Not as quick as the pros, but still the same game.   You see things more clearly from the stands.  Easier to pick up line matchups, and you get to see which players know what to do without the puck.

 

Hockey people are a community, more so than any other sport.

 

Enjoy it.

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Good decision! Hockey is the best game on the planet, get to know a few players and start watching their teams. Hockey is complicated at first but it's the little things you'll notice that the average sports fan, who's never watched hockey and thinks it's boring unless there's fighting, won't see. If ya need anything holla at me haha. Welcome aboard!

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@Daerialadrian - I notice that everyone is being very welcoming to you and telling you what a great sport hockey is, but nobody is really giving you much real information. So here is some stuff to get you going:

 

1) Sidney Crosby is the best hockey player in the world and possibly the best hockey player that ever lived
2) The draft lottery was rigged so that the Pittsburgh Penguins could draft Sidney Crosby (see #1, above)
3) The NHL loves the Pittsburgh Penguins and wants them to win every game.
4) The Toronto Maple Leafs are the greatest franchise in the history of hockey, and of professional sports altogether
5) The Toronto Maple Leafs are the prohibitive favorite to win the Stanley Cup every summer before the season starts
6) Every English-speaking Canadian boy wants to grow up to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs
7) The last time the Toronto Maple Leafs actually won the Stanley Cup was before color television
8) The Philadelphia Flyers are the dirtiest team in the history of hockey
9) The refs all hate the Philadelphia Flyers and call extra penalties on them just because they are the dirtiest team in the history of hockey
10) Hockey players are much nicer people than other professional athletes. Except for Sean Avery. And the Philadelphia Flyers.
11) The main purpose of the New York Rangers is to have a team that everyone else can make fun of. Except you can't make fun of Henrik Lundquist. That's not allowed.
 
Hang around here long enough and you'll learn much, much more.
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@Daerialadrian - I notice that everyone is being very welcoming to you and telling you what a great sport hockey is, but nobody is really giving you much real information. So here is some stuff to get you going:

 

1) Sidney Crosby is the best hockey player in the world and possibly the best hockey player that ever lived
2) The draft lottery was rigged so that the Pittsburgh Penguins could draft Sidney Crosby (see #1, above)
3) The NHL loves the Pittsburgh Penguins and wants them to win every game.
4) The Toronto Maple Leafs are the greatest franchise in the history of hockey, and of professional sports altogether
5) The Toronto Maple Leafs are the prohibitive favorite to win the Stanley Cup every summer before the season starts
6) Every English-speaking Canadian boy wants to grow up to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs
7) The last time the Toronto Maple Leafs actually won the Stanley Cup was before color television
8) The Philadelphia Flyers are the dirtiest team in the history of hockey
9) The refs all hate the Philadelphia Flyers and call extra penalties on them just because they are the dirtiest team in the history of hockey
10) Hockey players are much nicer people than other professional athletes. Except for Sean Avery. And the Philadelphia Flyers.
11) The main purpose of the New York Rangers is to have a team that everyone else can make fun of. Except you can't make fun of Henrik Lundquist. That's not allowed.
 
Hang around here long enough and you'll learn much, much more.

 

 

 

 You forgot to tell him about Jesus Miller.

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@Daerialadrian

What do you need to know? Jack Straw did have an amusing list, I admit.

I will add the following:

1) The NHL actually hates the Blues. Last season during the Stanley Cup round against the LA Kings, all games started for a West Coast Tele schedule (two hours later). There were also some dubious penalties assessed against the Blues when pursuing players (giving the Devils Scott Stevens, for example when it came to a so-called tampering that netted the signing of Brendan Shannahan).

2) The Blues have always been good enough to get in the playoffs but never good enough to win the Cup. The Blues finally got the message to suck badly after the lock out previous to this one and get some draft picks.

3) The Blues have had so much financial insecurity over their 45 year run that it's a miracle that they have not folded over the years. They almost moved to Saskatoon in the '80s, and had very odd sweaters for a long time period through the mid '80s-the mid to late '90s. The bad unis should have caused them to fold...

4) The Blues have not been in a Stanley Cup final since 1970.

5) Maybe the Blues will win the Cup this year, but don't hold your breath.

6) Trixie the bunny (the rabbit in my avatar) gives great reports on the Blues, but she has been slacking lately.

7) But the Blues are loveable.

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Hey, you are not alone in that. My love of hockey is pretty new, too. I got really into it not even a year ago. I started playing sled hockey two or three months ago.

 

First of all, you'll want to know the basic positions and terms. The center is the guy who's usually taking face-offs. He does a lot of puck handling. Then there are the left and right wingers, who take care of the puck on their respective sides of the ice. They set up a lot of plays. You've got two defensemen, who keep the opposition from scoring and try to keep the puck in their offensive zone. And of course, the goalie. Nobody is allowed to check the goalie, and the goalie will sometimes be taken off the ice and a sixth skater will join. Teams must always have six players on the ice at a time, including the goalie, unless someone makes a team penalty and must go to the penalty box. When this happens, they will have four skaters, and the opposition will have five. The team that has more players on the ice is on a power play. The team that has less players is on a penalty kill. Teams usually have special lines for these situations.

 

There are some basic rules to know as well. Nobody is allowed to enter their offensive, or attacking zone before the puck. This means that if the puck leaves the offensive zone, and the players do not, someone from the team must skate out of the zone, get the puck, and stay in the neutral zone, until all the other players are back behind the blue line of the offensive zone in order to stay on sides. The act of getting behind the blue line before the puck is called clearing the zone.

 

Icing is when the puck goes from one corner of the rink to the other. When the puck is iced, it is carried back to the center for a face off.

 

These links can help you learn more

 

http://www.divinecaroline.com/entertainment/hockey-general-rules-positions-and-lingo

 

http://www.firstbasesports.com/hockey_glossary.html

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Adrian, hopefully you're still following the thread!

 

As a fellow Texan and somebody that didn't grow up with the sport, let me reiterate - Welcome to the greatest sport on earth!  

 

I didn't know the first thing about hockey when the Stars moved down here in '93, but pooled my $ with a dozen other friends (i was young and w/o a mortgage back then!) and got season tickets that first year, and incredible as it might seem... hockey (and the Stars) have displaced... gulp... football (and the Cowboys?) as my #1 sport!  Stick with it, you'll love it!

 

A couple quick newbie pointers:

 

#1  Understand and appreciate the importance of the blue lines - getting into "the zone", or more importantly on defense getting it "out of the zone", through center ice, and into their zone is paramount to then creating (or alleviating) pressure which leads to scoring chances.  Most of the game is all about getting the puck on one side or the other, and the battles that happen there, at the blue lines.  (Icing is big too, but I'll leave that one up to you.)

 

#2  Go see a game in person!!  The game is fun to watch on TV, but the speed doesn't translate as well on TV.  To really experience the game you've got to be there in person when you can.  Houston lost the Aeros recently, but the Texas Stars play in Cedar Park (Austin suburb), that's not too far... 19 yrs old?  Road trip!  (And a minor league game is perfect!  More intimate, and not as expensive!)

 

The rest is up to you, it'll grow on you quickly, especially as you become familiar with various players.  Enjoy!

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@DBizzle99

 

Welcome Bizzle,

Thank you also for choosing to support the forum by becoming a supporting member.

 

I grew up a North Stars fan living in Minnesota, have to say it took quite a few years for the bitterness to go away.  About 8-9 years ago I got to visit the Plano - Dallas area with my daughter as she considered figure skating there.  We were impressed with the programs for both figure skating and hockey and the convenience of skating at multiple rinks for one set price.  Since then I've had a total different perspective on how important it was for USA hockey growth by bringing the NHL, AHL and ECHL to southern cities.   :D   

 

Flyer fans here generally meet up in game chat during Flyer games.  Join in with us anytime.

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Adrian, hopefully you're still following the thread!

As a fellow Texan and somebody that didn't grow up with the sport, let me reiterate - Welcome to the greatest sport on earth!

I didn't know the first thing about hockey when the Stars moved down here in '93, but pooled my $ with a dozen other friends (i was young and w/o a mortgage back then!) and got season tickets that first year, and incredible as it might seem... hockey (and the Stars) have displaced... gulp... football (and the Cowboys?) as my #1 sport! Stick with it, you'll love it!

A couple quick newbie pointers:

#1 Understand and appreciate the importance of the blue lines - getting into "the zone", or more importantly on defense getting it "out of the zone", through center ice, and into their zone is paramount to then creating (or alleviating) pressure which leads to scoring chances. Most of the game is all about getting the puck on one side or the other, and the battles that happen there, at the blue lines. (Icing is big too, but I'll leave that one up to you.)

#2 Go see a game in person!! The game is fun to watch on TV, but the speed doesn't translate as well on TV. To really experience the game you've got to be there in person when you can. Houston lost the Aeros recently, but the Texas Stars play in Cedar Park (Austin suburb), that's not too far... 19 yrs old? Road trip! (And a minor league game is perfect! More intimate, and not as expensive!)

The rest is up to you, it'll grow on you quickly, especially as you become familiar with various players. Enjoy!

Welcome to the forums! Always good to get a new face following a different team. This place could use more Stars fans!

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