Three Places To Play Ice Hockey

Contrary to what elderly people think, you don't have to be a professional hockey player to play the sport. You do need some skills and the whole armor of protective gear however to shield yourself from nasty injuries.

Whether you are going to play hockey for fun or as part of your athletic career, there are basically a number of places where you can enjoy the sport. Check them out in the following list.

• THE ICE HOCKEY RINK. Among the three likely places, the ice hockey rink comes as the safest venue to engage in the sport. Professionals see to it that the ice surface of the rink is solid, even, hard and free from obstructions and dangers which may hinder players from thoroughly engaging in the game. The rectangular ice hockey rink with rounded corners is also surrounded by nets and boards that help prevent the puck from hitting the spectators.

The size of the rink varies according to the standards being followed by professional leagues. For instance, in North American standards, the ice hockey rink sports a dimension of 85 feet by 200 feet. However, in international standards, the ice hockey rink is a tad larger and sports a dimension of 98.42 feet by 200.13 feet. The surface is painted with visible colored lines to designate zones (blue) and goals (red).

• THE SKATING RINK. The virtually line-less skating rink can also be a place to play your hockey game. You need to improvise though and designate the goals on the end of the rink. This will be a little difficult and confusing task if the skating rink is circular and not rectangular. Before you go shaking your head in disbelief, it pays to note that the first ice hockey match took place indoors in the Victoria Skating Rink. The design of the modern ice hockey rink is in fact inspired from this skating rink at Montreal.

• THE FROZEN LAKE. The frozen lake is a fun place to ice skate and to play a match or two of ice hockey. The game play will remain at a for-leisure-only and amateur level though because the place lacks the standard goals, lines, nets and boxes characteristic of professional matches. In reality, the lake could pose more disadvantages than advantages, and you need to be careful.

You won't be guaranteed that the ice is dry like the way it is kept in skating rinks and ice hockey rinks. The ice is in most cases wet and slippery. Since no professionals could see that the lake is hard, the thin ice could crack (upon contact with the stick or skating blades) and cause players who don't know how to swim to drown. In addition, you won't enjoy playing the game unobstructed as you will be competing for space from other skaters and people enjoying the ice.

If you or your nephews ever decide to play ice hockey on a frozen lake, take extra precautions in selecting the area to play on. Have a rope in handy as well to pull any unfortunate player out of the chilly waters.