Hey everyone!

We’re having scrimmages instead of games this week due to Thanksgiving and a lot of our players being away.

We have four slots currently scheduled, but, should the need arise, we’ll add another. If that happens, it would be at 6:50 PM and will likely be an intermediate session. We’ll make that call later in the week after we see the time slot numbers.

Quick disclaimer for scrimmage nights… If a time slot fills up and HOps feels you could safely play elsewhere, we may contact you to discuss shifting to make room for a player better suited for your slot. We don’t expect this to happen, though. Please sign up for the slot that makes the most sense based on your skill level!

Thanks for your understanding!

SIGN UP HERE: https://www.madisongayhockey.org/scrimmages-november-28-2021/

Please let us know if you run into any issues during signup.

Thanks!
Tim
(on behalf of HOps)

Hi friends! All of the team names are in. May I present to you:

L1

• Caution!
• End of the Rainbow
• Green Eggs and WHAM!
• Necromancers
• Sauce
• Skyfall
• The Fanta-Sticks!
• The White Stuff

L2

• Black Holes
• Magic School Bus
• Slippery When Wet
• The Harvey Milks
• The Red Flags
• Violet Villains

The schedule has been uploaded to the Team & Schedule page.

Use this page to mark whether you’ll be absent from a game, and to sign up to sub in other games. Subbing is skill-based, so you will always be replacing a player of roughly the same skill as you. Captains will only look for subs if players are absent, so it’s not guaranteed.

I’ve added the games to the MGHA’s Google calendar. You can add the MGHA’s calendar to see all the games. If you want to import your games and scorebox shift(s) to your own calendar, click on your team name and scroll to the very bottom of the page – underneath “Upcoming Games” will be some links to do that.

We’ll need you (yes you!) to help run the scorebox periodically. We’ve given everybody scorebox shifts. Don’t worry! If you’re new to the MGHA, we’ll pair you with people who have been in the league for a while. You can read more about scorebox duties.

-Kriona

Concussions are serious, cumulative and a risk in hockey. Here’s what to watch out for in your teammates after any impact, particularly involving the head:

USA Hockey – Concussion Signs https://www.usahockey.com/safety-concussions:

• Appears dazed or stunned
• Is confused about assignment or position
• Forgets sports plays
• Is unsure of game, score, or opponent
• Moves clumsily
• Answers questions slowly
• Loses consciousness (even briefly)
• Shows behavior or personality changes
• Can’t recall events prior to hit or fall
• Can’t recall events after hit or fall

What happens when signs are noticed

Captains and HOps will bench skaters after a concerning impact out of an abundance of caution.

If you lose consciousness as a result of an impact, we will call your emergency contact and/or the ambulance.

Concussions alter a person’s perception temporarily and can compromise their judgment of the situation – thus the person involved is not a reliable witness. We encourage teammates to speak up on behalf of each other.

We will not require a doctor’s note to return, but we encourage you to get evaluated by a medical professional if possible and take all the time you need to return.

For more info, read the CDC website https://www.cdc.gov/headsup/index.html

These next two weeks are going to be focused on practices. It’s the perfect time to bond with your team and get to know the fine people you’ll be playing hockey with for the next several months! After these two weeks, we’ll have one week of challenge games on Thanksgiving weekend (more to come on that later) then we’ll start our season games on December 5th.

Here’s the practice schedule (pay attention to L1 and L2 and remember that L1 is the lower level and L2 is the upper level):

November 14:

Rink A:

• 5:00 PM: L1 Green and L1 Orange
• 6:10 PM: L1 White and L1 Purple
• 7:20 PM: L1 Light Blue and L1 Red
• 8:30 PM: L1 Black and L1 Yellow
  

Rink B:

• 4:30 PM: L2 Yellow and L2 Black
• 5:40 PM: L2 Light Blue and L2 Red
• 6:50 PM: L2 White and L2 Purple

November 21:

Rink A:

• 5:00 PM: L1 Black and L1 Purple
• 6:10 PM: L1 Green and L1 Red
• 7:20 PM: L1 White and L1 Yellow
• 8:30 PM: L1 Light Blue and L1 Orange
  

Rink B:

• 4:30 PM: L2 White and L2 Red
• 5:40 PM: L2 Yellow and L2 Purple
• 6:50 PM: L2 Light Blue and L2 Black

Hey everyone!

It’s wild to think that preseason will soon be coming to an end and that games are right around the corner.

Before we start playing games, however, we need some teams and we’re going to announce the 2021-2022 MGHA teams on Sunday!

Here’s the schedule for the night…

Rink A:

• 5:00 PM – Advanced Scrimmage
• 6:10 PM – Mid-High Intermediate Scrimmage
• 7:30 PM – TEAM REVEAL
• 8:30 PM – Low-Mid Intermediate Scrimmage

Rink B:

• 4:30 PM – Stick and Puck
• 5:40 PM – All Beginner Scrimmage

Sign up for your scrimmage slot here: https://www.madisongayhockey.org/team-reveal-scrimmages/

We’re aiming to have everyone in the stands in Rink A right around 7:30 PM for the big reveal.

Please try to be there Sunday to meet your team. If you can’t be there, that’s okay. We’ll post teams on the website on Monday or Tuesday (it takes a little time to get everything plugged in).

Once teams are plugged into the website, an email will come from your captains explaining everything from team name creation to jerseys to picking numbers and names. That turnaround will be quick, so please pay attention! It’s also worth noting that we will have two weeks of practice starting next week. Ice slots will be assigned after team reveal, so watch for that email early next week, as well.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me or anyone on the board.

Can’t wait for Sunday!
Tim
On behalf of HOps and the Board

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Halloween Scrimmages

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TL;DR: Evaluations are this week. You MUST sign up by FRIDAY! Link is below! Please read this entire announcement for important information.

Hey all!

The time has come for evaluations. Please read this entire announcement for information on how this will work this season.

First point of order: The MGHA does not cut players. You will all be put on a team.

Now that that’s out of the way, here we go.

ACTION ITEM: Sign up for a slot based on your skill level.

• Please do your best to sign up for the level that best matches your skills.
• Each slot is limited to 20 skaters (and 2 goalies, who will organize themselves)
• Only skaters who feel they can safely skate in L2 (higher level) should sign up for the 6:50, 7:20, or 8:30 slots
• Sign up by FRIDAY, October 22 because we need to print rosters!
• https://www.madisongayhockey.org/evaluations/

Off-Ice Gameplan:
We need to know who is on the ice to effectively evaluate skaters. An evaluation rep will gather information and provide it to the evaluators.

• Arrive early and be dressed by the start time listed
• Check in with the evaluation rep (will be near the rink doors somewhere and will likely have a clipboard) before stepping on the ice and provide them with the following
  • Your name
  • Jersey number (if your jersey doesn’t have a number, use hockey tape and create one on the back of the jersey)*

On-Ice Gameplan:
The on-ice portion will be split between drills and scrimmage. We need you to skate to the best of your ability while staying IN CONTROL. We need to know who is able to score at-will. We need to know how fast you are. Please play to the best of your ability while skating safely. We will have brief on-ice demonstrations, but below is the breakdown of the drills we will be doing.

• 5 minute warmup
  • Use this time to stretch and skate around
• 7 minute skating drills (subject to change)
  • Forward skating and stopping
  • Form 6 lines at the goal line
  • First group of 6 goes and they skate at their top speed (safely, in control) from goal line to center ice then fully stop (we need to see if you can stop)
  • That group then continues to other goal line, stopping again
  • The next group of 6 goes when the last person from the first group reaches center ice
  • Backwards skating
  • Repeat the forward skating drill but backwards (don’t worry too much if you can’t skate backwards)
  • Skating circles
  • All players line up in the corner to the goalie’s right
  • Skate around the circles, essentially creating figure 8s up the ice
  • Skaters will finish to the other goalie’s right
• 12 minute rainbow drill
  • Standard rainbow
  • Split into two groups with half on one side of ice and half on the other
  • On each side, half of the players are in the corner to the goalie’s left while half are on the goalie’s right
  • One person from the goalie’s right skates forward up around the cone and starts coming back into the zone toward the goalie
  • The person next in line on the goalie’s left passes a puck to the incoming skater who then catches the puck and shoots it on net
  • The shooter goes to the opposite line
  • The passer now goes up and around the cone and the process repeats with the person on the opposite side now passing the puck
  • 2-on-0 rainbow
  • Same setup as last time but all pucks go to the corner to the goalie’s right
  • One player from each line skates up and around the cone
  • As they come in, they receive a pass from the next person in line to the goalie’s right
  • The two coming into the zone may pass back and forth then one player takes a shot
  • After the shot, they switch sides and the next skater in each line goes
• Scrimmage
  • Scrimmage-style hockey is in effect
  • Half of the players on each bench
  • 5-on-5 hockey
  • Change when you’re ready (please keep shifts short)
  • When changing, LOUDLY call out the position you were playing
  • Next person in line takes your position on the ice
  • Reminder: Please play to the best of your ability (safely) to help us estimate skill levels

*Flair Points:
While you don’t get any official points, wearing distinctive jerseys (or other forms of flair) will help show your personality while helping us off-ice evaluators recognize you. Feel free to be creative and have fun with it as long as the flair is not too distracting or unsafe.

Recap:
Remember, we’re using these evaluations as a means to balance teams both for team creation and for subbing later in the season. We get that everyone has an off night and sometimes your best one day isn’t equal to your best another day. It’s all good! Don’t stress about it. Go out there and do what you can do! Oh, and as always, have fun!

In case you didn’t do it yet, go sign up now. Please do this by Friday!
https://www.madisongayhockey.org/evaluations/

Oh, and the deadline for play-with requests is this Sunday…
Play-With Requests (Optional – Due October 24)
https://www.madisongayhockey.org/play-with-requests/

I think that’s it for now.
I understand that this is a lot.
If you have questions, please reach out!

Thanks!
Tim
(on behalf of HOps)

TL;DR: Scrimmages this week. EVERYONE must sign up for a session. Read on for links and to sign up.

Hey everyone!

Thanks to everyone who has been showing up for the last few weeks. Also, thanks to all the helpers who have been dedicating their time to getting the season up and running.

This coming week is all about scrimmages. New-to-MGHA beginners will have a controlled scrimmage. We’re also aiming to have bench coaches for the returning beginner scrimmage as well.

Looking ahead, we’ll have evaluations the following week, October 24th. Everyone should make plans to be there so that we can see everyone’s skills. Remember, everybody makes a team in the MGHA and we do these evaluations to help with team balance.

Here’s the schedule for this week…

October 17 Schedule

Everyone must sign up for a slot this week. Please sign up ASAP because spots are limited. If we fill up sessions, we’ll overflow to an 8:30 PM session. If you’re having a hard time finding a slot, reach out and let me know.

• New-To-MGHA Beginners and Never Skated Before
  • 5:40 PM on Rink B
  • Sign up here… https://www.madisongayhockey.org/new-beginners-scrimmage/
• Returning Beginners
  • 4:30 PM on Rink B
  • Sign up here… https://www.madisongayhockey.org/returning-beginners-scrimmage/
• Intermediate Skaters
  • 5:00 PM or 6:10 PM on Rink A or 6:50 PM on Rink B
  • Sign up here… https://www.madisongayhockey.org/intermediate-scrimmage/
• Advanced Skaters
  • 7:20 PM on Rink A
  • Sign up here… https://www.madisongayhockey.org/advanced-scrimmage/
• Goalies
  • We’ll need goalies for each of the above sessions
  • Your signup will be posted on the MGHA Goalie Facebook page

Please sign up as soon as possible so that we know if we need an overflow slot.

Reminder… everyone should be able to have ice in every preseason week. If you’re having trouble finding a slot, please reach out to us.

Other Things You May Have Forgotten
If you haven’t already, please make sure you’ve completed the following. More details are available in the season kickoff email.

USA Hockey Registration
https://www.madisongayhockey.org/usa-hockey-registration-2021/

League Fees
Deadline was Friday, October 1.
https://www.madisongayhockey.org/product/2021-2022-league-fees/

Play-With Requests (Optional – Due October 24)
https://www.madisongayhockey.org/play-with-requests/

That’s it!
See you on Sunday!
Tim
(on behalf of HOps and the Board)

TL;DR: Schedule is below. Please find your group and arrive accordingly (ideally 30+ minutes before for new skaters). Intermediate players need to sign up for a session.

Hey everyone!

We’re in the swing of things now. This week will focus again on mainly clinics. Look for a sign-up next week for scrimmages!

October 10 Schedule

The only group who needs to sign up this week is the intermediate skaters because there are multiple sessions. Most sessions will be run as clinics (no official scrimmage time) with the exception of the advanced group.

• New-To-MGHA Beginners and Never Skated Before
  • 5:40 PM on Rink B
  • Stick around for Tim’s “Hockey 101” at 7 PM*
• Returning Beginners
  • 5:00 PM on Rink A
  • Stick around for Tim’s “Hockey 101” at 7 PM*
• Intermediate Skaters – Sign up here… https://www.madisongayhockey.org/intermediate-preseason/
  • 4:30 PM on Rink B or 6:10 PM on Rink A
  • If this fills up, we’ll open an overflow slot at 6:50 PM on Rink B
• Advanced Skaters
  • 7:10 PM on Rink A
  • Scrimmage
• Goalies
  • 6:50 PM on Rink B
  • More details will be provided on the MGHA Goalie Facebook page

Again, only intermediate players need to sign up. Everyone else, please attend the session that aligns best with your skill level and league newness. New skaters, please leave time to get geared up before your session.

Reminder… everyone should be able to have ice in every preseason week. If you’re having trouble finding a slot, please reach out to us.

*Tim’s “Hockey 101”
This session will talk about everything the new player (or beginner player) needs to know about hockey. We’ll talk about the bench, where to sit, where to go on the ice, where to stand during a faceoff, and all the other little odds-and-ends we can think of.

Other Things You May Have Forgotten
If you haven’t already, please make sure you’ve completed the following. More details are available in the season kickoff email.

USA Hockey Registration
https://www.madisongayhockey.org/usa-hockey-registration-2021/

League Fees Deadline was Friday, October 1.
https://www.madisongayhockey.org/product/2021-2022-league-fees/

Play-With Requests (Optional)
https://www.madisongayhockey.org/play-with-requests/

That’s it!
See you on Sunday!
Tim
(on behalf of HOps and the Board)

TL;DR: Updates to times. Please find your group and arrive accordingly. Intermediate players need to sign up for a session. 😀

Hey everyone!

We had a great first week! It was so nice to meet so many of you and I look forward to meeting more of you and seeing a lot of familiar faces in the weeks to come.

As expected, we have to do a little shuffling for October 3 based on attendance last week. Read below for details.

October 3 Schedule

The only group who needs to sign up this week is the intermediate skaters because there are multiple sessions. All sessions this week will be run as clinics (no official scrimmage time).

• New-To-MGHA Beginners and Never Skated Before
  • 5:40 PM on Rink B
• Returning Beginners
  • 6:10 PM on Rink A
• Intermediate Skaters – Sign up here… https://www.madisongayhockey.org/intermediate-preseason/
  • 4:30 PM on Rink B
  • 7:20 PM on Rink A
  • If this fills up, we’ll open an overflow slot at 6:50 PM on Rink B
• Advanced Skaters
  • 5:00 PM on Rink A
• Beginner Goalies
  • 6:50 PM on Rink B

Again, only intermediate players need to sign up. Everyone else, please attend the session that aligns best with your skill level and league newness.

Reminder… everyone should be able to have ice in every preseason week. If you’re having trouble finding a slot, please reach out to us.

Other Things You May Have Forgotten
If you haven’t already, please make sure you’ve completed the following. More details are available in the season kickoff email.

Hockey Registration
https://www.madisongayhockey.org/usa-hockey-registration-2021/

League Fees
Deadline is Friday, October 1.
https://www.madisongayhockey.org/product/2021-2022-league-fees/

Play-With Requests (Optional)
https://www.madisongayhockey.org/play-with-requests/

That’s it!
See you on Sunday!
Tim
(on behalf of HOps and the Board)