hockey stuff

[james]

on a recent trip to canada, my kids came back with with a set of two child-sized adjustable plastic hockey sticks and hollow plastic hockey pucks (cheapass walmart crap made in fucking china). the pucks lasted about a week. the sticks are holding up.. for now.

have looked on yahoo auctions but couldn't find what i was looking for. anyone know where i can get a couple of rubber hockey pucks and maybe a couple of wooden sticks? i'm not looking for high-end stuff, just something a 6 y.o, 4 y.o. and dad can use to play outside since we have the space.

[canman]

James, try Great skate Japan, or the store 13 sports. It is in the Kansai region and they may be able to help you out. If not I have a bunch of wooden sticks I can send to you if you need them.
http://www.greatskate.co.jp/
http://www.13sports.jp/

[Behan]

James, do you have any rinks around where you live? If so, there should be a hockey shop around somewhere.

I have some sticks my son grew out of but Shimane is pretty far from Chiba.

[james]

James, do you have any rinks around where you live? If so, there should be a hockey shop around somewhere.

I have some sticks my son grew out of but Shimane is pretty far from Chiba.

there is a rink not too far from here and i know they do skating lessons, but i haven't heard of them doing ice hockey. everyone here is into field hockey but i may look into it some more.

does your son play?

[james]

James, try Great skate Japan, or the store 13 sports. It is in the Kansai region and they may be able to help you out. If not I have a bunch of wooden sticks I can send to you if you need them.
http://www.greatskate.co.jp/
http://www.13sports.jp/

thanks, those shops are a good find! i go to osaka every once in awhile so maybe i'll check 'em out in person if i don't order online. hell, maybe i'll just buy some goalie pads, a jersey and a mask and wear them on the train for my return trip back home in ottawa, guys would get on the bus in full gear and no one would bat an eye. i think the reaction here may be less muted.

best deal on a stick for our use was the RBK 1K Stick at 3,360 yen and they have pucks too. maybe those will end up under the tree this year.

if you have used sticks that you no longer need, i may be willing to buy 'em off you. you're way up in aomori, right?

p.s. i like the avatar but i think odds of scoring are minimal

[james]

since we're on the subject of hockey, does anyone know where i could get a feed - satellite / net or whatever - for the games? we used to have sky perfect but i don't recall the sports channels offering much in the way of nhl broadcasts and cancelled our subscription quite some time ago.

[Behan]

does your son play?

He used to but now he's playing baseball.

[james]

He used to but now he's playing baseball.

fallen to the dark side he has. mourn we must.

[canman]

My son played for three years and then switched to soccer. He knew he wasn't going to be good enough to play for one of the better schools here in town, which then feeds all the big schools in Tokyo. So he enjoyed his junior days(as that is what they call minor hockey here) and when he started junior high he switched. I am having a blast this year, as we were fortunate to have another team join our shakaijin league and are up to seven teams. Thus allowing us to have a full month tournament with at least one game a week. It is so nice to be able to play that way. In the past we would play one game a day almost for a bout a week and a half, and then have a two month break. Also this coming year 2009 Hachinohe will host the international peewee championships with teams from Canada, the US, Australia, New Zealand, China, Korea and Russia coming. I've already offered my house as a homestay place.

[Behan]

My son played for three years and then switched to soccer. He knew he wasn't going to be good enough to play for one of the better schools here in town, which then feeds all the big schools in Tokyo. So he enjoyed his junior days(as that is what they call minor hockey here) and when he started junior high he switched. I am having a blast this year, as we were fortunate to have another team join our shakaijin league and are up to seven teams. Thus allowing us to have a full month tournament with at least one game a week. It is so nice to be able to play that way. In the past we would play one game a day almost for a bout a week and a half, and then have a two month break. Also this coming year 2009 Hachinohe will host the international peewee championships with teams from Canada, the US, Australia, New Zealand, China, Korea and Russia coming. I've already offered my house as a homestay place.

My son also played for about three years before he was switched to the dark side, baseball.

His skating skills were far behind the other kids. He and I just couldn't dedicate our lives to getting to the rink. The team almost always got thrashed anyway. It's too bad they don't have the equivalent of house leagues here. Everything is done at the equivalent of travel level back home. That seems to be true for baseball, too. There's nowhere you can just have fun without worrying about being good. I wonder if people are afraid to be told they are 'hetakuso'.

I play shakaijin hockey but it's not too organized in Chiba. They have tournaments but no leagues. A lot of people play for several different teams, too. The league I used to play in in Tokyo had only five games a year.

I have been seeing more Yokohama teams recently and they seem to be more organized over there.

Lucky you to have the peewee tournament coming. If it were closer I would love to go see some of the games.

My general impression about hockey here is that the skating skills are good (really good compared to me) but position play and team work are lacking with many, but not all, teams. Of course, where you live the level is undoubtedly higher than the Kanto area.

Maybe we can turn this into a hockey thread.

[canman]

Behan up here I agree that skating skills are very good, and the teamwork passing thing is very good. But what kills me is the way up here at least, the players keep passing waiting for that perfect play where the keeper is out of the net for an easy shot on goal. Just shoot the damn puck sometimes. Also the players are trained to break out and they have set plays, but where things break down is when the opposing team does something a little different and disrupts their plan, then all hell breaks loose and they skate around not knowing what to do. I watched a game a few days ago, and I swear on a powerplay the defenceman held the puck behind his net for a good 30 seconds because of the others teams tactics.
I too wish that there was something equal to a house league here, there would be a lot more players if there was. As it is most of the kids quit after their 6th grade because the junior high teams become ultra competitive. Just to give you an example, 8 of the kids my son played with in junior are now all on scholarship in the Tokyo region playing hockey. Two at Waseda, one at Toyo, one at Rikyo University two at Meiji and so on. IT is one way to escape Aomori-ken, play hockey.

[Behan]

Seibu to abandon Asian ice
The Yomiuri Shimbun

The Japan ice hockey scene received a shock on Friday as the Seibu group, one of the pillars of the old Japan League and the current Asian League, announced it would disband its team after this season.

Prince Hotels, a member of the Seibu group, will fold the Seibu Prince Rabbits as a result of the current financial crisis. The club, along with predecessors Kokudo Keikaku and Kokudo, have accounted for 13 Japan championships and two Asian League titles. ....

Seibu will look for a buyer for the team, although at this time there are no prospects.

(Dec. 20, 2008 )

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/sports/20081220TDY20302.htm