II. Organization

All players should be on the hockey announce mailing list.

Who can play with us?

Beginners are especially welcome to play with us, even if you have never played hockey before. We even have some players who had never skated before they started playing with us!

Emails

Games are organization by email. 4 to 7 days before the game, you will get an email asking you to RSVP if you'd like to play. If you are likely to come, please reply. We use these emails to gauge the level of interest in the game and preliminarily assign people to teams.

If you say you will come but don't, thats perfectly fine. If you don't reply, but do end up wanting to come, that is perfectly fine as well (unless we have too many players already). We don't consider an email a commitment, just an intent to come at whatever time you sent it. It is perfectly fine to change your mind! The only "but" is that if you show up and need gear but we didn't know ahead of time, we might not have brought it.

If we don't get enough replies to the announcement email, we send a second email, and if we still don't get enough interest to hold a game, we cancel the ice time.

The day of the game, we'll send out another email with the team assignments. We try to assign teams to be roughly balanced (in terms of how good the players are), and we always fine-tune them before the game. The only reason to do this beforehand, is to make it faster at the start of the ice time. This also lets people know what color of jersey they should bring (light or dark). If you don't have a jersey, see the info about the gear below.

Arriving at Lynah

If you want to play, you should show up at the ice rink at least 20 minutes before the ice time to change. We go in the downstairs door of Lynah. If its your first time playing, or you are borrowing gear, you should show up 30 minutes before the ice time.

Usually, we warm up and practice for the first 15 minutes, then play for the next 45 minutes. This warm-up time is particularly important for beginners to warm up. You may want to stretch before the game too (ask a hockey czar if you'd like suggestions for stretches).

Lifts

If you need a lift to and from the ice rink, there is almost always somebody who is happy to give you a lift. Just mention it in the email you send when you reply to the call for players, and we'll forward any requests to the general list. Remember to say the area where you live.