Minnesota Ice Never Melts
by barbaragarn
What do you like best about summer hockey? For me, three things stand out.
I love the feel of walking from a sweltering 90 degrees into the cool bliss of 30s and 40s of the rink. Hot days can feel like someone wrapped a wet towel around my face–just getting into the drier air makes me feel almost buoyant.
I love that I can stand around talking in the parking lot after the game. In the dead of winter, people speed to the sanctuary of a warm car. Nobody wants to chat as the sweat in their hair turns to ice.
But in the summer… we linger in the twilight. The weather feels perfect, and then a breeze kicks up and it’s even better.
The last best thing about summer hockey isn’t even at the rink itself. Gear never seems to get REALLY dry any other time of year; spring and fall are too wet, and winter is too frozen. But on a sunny Saturday… just spread that funky mess across your driveway and let the sun bake it clean. It actually feels lighter after a day airing in the bright heat.
Summer is my favorite time to play hockey. Yeah, some rinks can get foggy, or if the ice sits to long it gets weirdly sticky. But I’ll take that over slogging through the snowbanks off-balance with an unwieldy giant bag. Summer hockey is awesome.
What do you like about summer hockey?
Well, now that I live in NC I’ll get to enjoy “summer hockey” just about year-round! Playing down here is fine but it’s not nearly as fun as JMS (even in the Winter!) Hi to all my JMS friends..life is great down here in Charlotte! Thanks, Barb…keep up the good work/long live JMS!
-Steve
I work in a warehouse were a bunch of southern guys from Georgia came up for support help and the concept of indoor ice is lost on them. They don’t realize that we also have indoor rinks and we can play hockey year round. So I guess I love telling them that I have a hockey game tonight in the middle of summer and watch the confused looks on their faces. I also love walking into an arena in shorts, sandals and a t-shirt, it is a beautiful feeling on a humid day.