CS & Friends Hockey

III. Gear

In most sports it is possible to get injured. Hockey involves moving fast on a hard slippery surface, so that makes it all the more possible to get injured. You play at your own risk.

That said, we play very friendly hockey, and very rarely have serious injuries. We recommend wearing full hockey padding, and require at least a helmet. We have gear for loan, details are below.

Required Gear

Obviously you need ice skates to play ice hockey. Ice skates are rented at Lynah rink, for $2, and you need an ID to give them in exchange for the skates.

We don't let anyone on the ice without a helmet with a full face mask. Actually, Lynah has made that a rule too, so even if we were willing to let you they won't. We have a number of helmets for loan, although this should probably be one of the first things you buy for yourself if you play regularly so that you can have a helmet that fits you perfectly.

You'll also need a stick. They generally cost $15-$25, and we have some sticks that we lend on a first-come-first-served basis. We mostly have right-handed sticks, but have a few left-handed ones as well. You'll want your own after a few scrimmages.

Recommended Gear

Shin Pads / Knee Pads	The shinpads are probably about the most important pads to buy. You can also get away with a towel wrapped around your knees and taped with hockey tape for a while. The reason you want the real thing is that several people who play with us can lift the puck, so you'll occasionally take it in the legs. The pads aren't just to protect your knees when you fall, they also cover your shins with hard plastic to protect them from pucks and flailing sticks.
Padded Shorts	This is the piece of gear that really makes hockey more comfortable if you fall. These are basically long shorts that make it feel like you're landing on a pillow when you fall over. Highly recommended, for beginners as well as experiences players.
Shoulder Pads	Shoulder pads protect the upper half of your body, mostly from the occasional crash into other players. Since we play non-contact, they aren't as essential, but almost all of the regular players still wear them.
Elbow Pads	Elbow pads are nice to have when you fall. You may not need anything on your elbows for now, but you could do the same trick as for your knees if you like.
Gloves	You should have some kind of protection for your hands. If you don't want to spend $40 for a pair of hockey or lacrosse gloves, you can use regular winter gloves as long as they have some padding.
Socks	Hockey socks basically go over the shin pads, from the skate to the bottom of the padded shorts. They cover your leg all around and make it easier to secure your shin pads well.
Cup / Jill	A cup is higly recommended for men, and a jill is highly recommended for women. Just spend a little time letting your imagination fill in the details of getting hit in the crotch with a smallish, dense object which is moving at about 50 mph. Several of our players can hit it that hard quite easily, and you probably don't even want to imagine the results. You don't get hit often, but it can happen.
Neck Guard	A number of our players wear a neck guard for a similar reason that you wear a cup or jill. If you're serious about your safety, consider getting one.

Jerseys

We wear either light or dark jerseys, although many of us have both. If you don't have one, we'll usually find one to lend you. We have "official" team jerseys, although only put orders in for the sporadically (every few years). In the mean time, you can purchase a practice jersey from any reputable sports store.

Goalie Gear

If you'd like to give playing goalie a go for the whole hour, We have a spare complete set of goalie gear that you can use. Let us know when signing up for ice times if you'd like to try it out. We don't charge goalies for our ice times.

Gear for Loan

If you need hockey gear, we have a limited amount that we are happy to lend to people, at least for the first year you play (preference is given to newer players). We are able to provide most items (gloves, shin guards, pants, helmets, etc.) and currently have enough gear to more or less equip 8-9 players.

Suggestions for Purchasing Gear

There are a few places around Ithaca that sell hockey gear.

New gear only

Dick's Sporting Goods
40 Catherwood Road, Ithaca, NY 14850
(607) 257-5077
www.dickssportinggoods.com

New and used gear

Instant Replay Sports 1
315 Third St., Ithaca, NY 14850
(607) 277-7366
http://www.ithacainstantreplay.com/

Instant Replay Sports 2
Inside The Rink, 1767 Eastshore Dr, Ithaca, NY 14850
(607) 216-0056
http://www.therink.org/NewSite/ProShops.html

Further away, with a larger selections

The Hockey Shop
1146 Front Street, Binghamton
(607) 724-8075
http://www.thehockeyshopny.com/

McKies Sports
829 State Fair Bvd, Syracuse, NY 13209
(315) 487-2010
http://www.mckiesports.com/

Suggestions from other hockey players are to check out hockeygiant.com and hockeymonkey.com, though if you are buying skates you really need to get a pair that fit properly, so buying them online is probably not a good idea unless you have already tried on an identical pair.

Sharpening Skates

If you have your own skates, you probably want to have them sharpened a few times per year (depending on how often you play). Lynah will do it overnight for $5. Dick's can also sharpen skates for about the same price. Another place a number of players get skates sharpened (and fixed if necessary) is Ambis, near the Haunt:

Ambis Industries Ltd
714 Willow Ave, Ithaca, NY 14850
(607) 273-2326

Brought to you by the hockey czars: Jeff Chadwick, Cristian Danescu-Niculescu-Mizil, Jean-Baptiste Jeannin and Baldur Magnusson. You can reach us at hockey@cs.cornell.edu. Website design by Filip Radlinski.