Hey everyone - new to the boards, and just getting back into skating/playing. I made a separate n00b thread, but clearly all my ramblings belong in here, so might as well bump this up
A little back story. Born in Russia, was on skates a lot and played a ton of pick up from 6-12yo, nothing focused or organized as my main sport was tennis. Came to the states when I was 12, and had to drop hockey/skating to focus on tennis.
Fast forward 21 years to December and my 4 year old is all of a sudden really fascinated with hockey/skating. So we take him to the local rink - and he loves it, which gives me an opportunity to take him rather frequently and also work on my skating. There are a couple of adult leagues starting up in the fall - hoping to join the lowest one which has a wide range of abilities and see how it goes
I am kinda in the border area as far as hockey popularity is concerned - Lexington, KY. We had an AHL team here from mid 90s til about '03, and hockey was booming... Ever since they left town, it has been kinda meh. No adult clinics, skate and shoots are sparse, rink is closing in about a month for the summer - so will have to drive to Louisville or Cincinnati for some ice time... decent junior programs though for my kid.
As far as my skating is concerned, I feel like my weaknesses and strengths are pretty standard for this forum - and of course there is a ton i need to work on. I am decent at going left (both crossovers and hockey turns), hockey stop is fine going right, going backwards and stopping backwards are fine as well. Uncomfortable crossing over to the right, hockey turning to the right, hockey stopping to the left (obv should work on these areas).... and haven't held a stick in a couple decades - but that's a whole different issue.
Looking forward to do some stick work and continually improve my skating. Great atmosphere and inspiration in this thread - glad to be a part of it!