Funny Rec League Hockey Player Labels
Robin Chantaj sent this to me, very funny as I think we have all of these guys in our league but will only call out a few of them including myself. Open for discussion in each of your rooms. Enjoy!
The Ringer
Some teams wait until the playoffs to unveil this option. Others go with
it right from the opening faceoff. Either way, without a ringer, your
team is done. The challenge for managers is convincing a good player to
suit up for a bad side. This can be accomplished a number of ways,
including promises of goal-scoring glory and awe-inspired teammates.
Most effective, however, is free hockey. It’s simple math, really.
Everyone else pays an extra $50 and everyone else gets a shot at the
Division-7 title.
The Young Guy Tim Randa
At first glance, he can easily be mistaken for a ringer, since the young
guy still wears the shorts and socks of his junior or college team. But
it’s time for the next phase of life now, and that means an office job.
The young guy stays in shape for the first half of the year. Sadly, an
increasingly sedentary existence catches up by Christmas. Ten to 20
pounds later, he’s just another player, huffing and puffing with the
rest. Welcome aboard, kid.
The Old Guy Gary Julius, Tim Rundle and Bruce Freeman
Forget the 50-and-over league; that’s not for him, even though his
gloves reach up to his armpits and he still uses a wood stick. To be
fair, the old guy can be an effective player, especially if he’s a wily
old guy — a hook here and a chop there, because that’s how they did it
when professional athletes were real men. ‘ Eddie Shore — now there was
a hockey player! Lost an ear against the Maroons. Sewed it back on himself. Never missed a
shift.’
The Beginner
Required only for cheap laughs. On the one hand, you have to admire the
beginner. It takes a lot of courage to take up hockey in adulthood. On
the other, learn to take a pass, man. It’s right on your stick. How does
that knock you over? And now you’re offside.
The Complete Psycho
Also good for a few giggles . . . from afar. The complete psycho is
capable of anything: running the goalie, challenging an entire bench, a
tomahawk chop — all in the repertoire. Do not feed the complete psycho.
He doesn’t want to be fed. He wants to hunt.
The Naked Guy Ronnie Chantaj
Bane of the dressing room. Most players have the courtesy to stretch
their hamstrings while sporting, at the very least, a bit of underwear.
Not the naked guy. He’ll carry on full conversations, too, and you’ll
maintain eye contact like your life depended on it.
The Guy with the New Girlfriend Used to be Chalovich
A good way to lower everyone else’s fees is to load up on a few of
these.
The guy with the new girlfriend will show up to five games, tops, so
it’s not like you’ll lose ice time by putting him on the roster. That
said, beware that the guy with the new girlfriend might very well turn
into the guy with the wife, at which point he’ll never miss another
game.
The Fat Guy
The guy that has no lace in the front of his pants but miraculously his
pants stay up because it took 2 guys to get them over his ass, he offers
$20 to anyone that will tie or untie his skates, he gets winded when
forced to tie his own skates, his helmet sits on the very top of his
head (watch Gene Makowsky if you don’t know what I mean) and his
equipment smells like a small animal crawled in his bag took a sh!t and
then died.
The Organizer Mike Rukavina
This guy is absolutely brutal but since nobody else could be bothered to
do all the paperwork and collect the money he gets to play. Is
frustrating to play with because they can barely skate let alone take a
pass but nobody gets mad at him cuz he’s a really nice guy. Is often
heard in the dressing room saying ‘Sorry guys, that one was my fault’
and if he’s lucky somebody will chip in something like ‘No worries
Donny, it’s a team effort.’ What everybody is really thinking is ‘Hey
Donny, my grandmother is a better player than you and yes you are right,
that was your fault.’ If you are lucky the Organizer is usually smart
enough to take himself off the ice in critical situations.
The Minor Hockey Allstar
Looks promising at a glance as they fool you with reasonably good skills
but after you get zero passes you’ll get the picture. This guy topped
out at ‘AA’ Midget and can be spotted by the huge blinders attached to his helmet.
Play is characterized by energetic rushes down the wing, (no passing), then into
the corner (still no pass), behind the net (hey dickhead I’ve been open
for the past 5 minutes),then into the next corner (everybody has gone back to the
bench to watch) followed by a blind give away pass to the high slot / break out
pass for the other team. Cut this guy.
The Johnny Try Hard
Great to have on your team but they suck to play against because they
have somehow managed to keep themselves in ridiculously good shape. They
were probably the star on their high school hockey team and won athlete
of the year because they played hockey, volleyball and track all in the
same year.
Guaranteed they have a membership at the ‘Running Room’. Play is
characterized by constant hustle which if caught off guard can embarrass
the more talented yet fatter player.
The Stanley Cup Champion
This player will raise their hands and cheer when they score. If this
is an opposing player you must nip this behaviour in the bud by catching
him off guard with a sickening open ice hit that causes him to blow snot
bubbles. If this player is on your team quickly chastise him in front of
the other team to let them know that this is not how the rest of your
team rolls. Remind him how much of a loser he is by retrieving the puck
from the net the next time he scores and presenting it to him in front
of the other team.
The Tough Guy
This guy maxed out at the house-league level, has never been in a fight
and is characterized by antagonizing behaviour on the ice. In extreme
cases he will ‘cheap shot’ another player. The fact that your beer
league does not allow fighting has given this guy a false sense of
courage. What this guy does not realize is that this will not prevent
someone from knocking his teeth out if he cheap shots the wrong guy.
There is a number of fun ways to handle this player which all end with
him lying on the ice bleeding, looking for his teeth and crying.
The Wrong Guy
Not to be confused with ‘The Complete Psycho’. This guy shows up,
doesn’t say much and pretty much flies under the radar screen. The kid
that gave him the cheap shot him will eventually look his name up on
Hockey DB after his facial surgery and realize he had 355 PIMS in the
East Coast 3 years ago.
The Gary Roberts
Can be described as being way too intense. This guy is one of your
better players but is unable to adjust to the lower level of play. At
the best of times he will try to coach players on the fly and at the
worst of times he will snap and call his entire team a bunch of
house-leaguers. He believes the game should be played a certain way and
despises ‘pond hockey’ style play with no
back checking or positional assignments. Most likely is suffering from
a complex of ‘unfinished business’ from his previous hockey career and is
looking to capture some shred of glory via the rec-league championship.
This guy is probably better off playing with his own kind in a senior-A
league.
CORPORATE GUY
At first glance just a regular family guy, married with 3 kids, a cush
corporate job and fancy car. Once he enters the locker room its Party
time & latest tales of bangin’ broads and the good times. PreGame beer
and smoke, outrageous stories of hookers from last weekend in Vegas, to
the point everyone is crying with laughter. This guy is Reg Dunlop
(Slapshot) meets Chris Farley, raw-raw, kick their ass, run-up the
score, the ref-beats-his-wife, non stop chatter on the bench. Has above
average talent and knows it, but is more focused on making sure his
teammates show up and enjoy themselves at the post game festivities at
the Brass Pole Ballet, always carries an extra set of clothes in his trunk!