Battle River Hockey League

I am a player in the Battle River Hockey League. Like now, sometimes when I am driving to the rink, I have time to be thinking about hockey. Sometimes I think about my younger years when I thought I had a chance to make the NHL. I think about that a lot actually. That was my dream as a kid. A lot of parents thought so too, mine included. It didn’t happen for me, like it didn’t happen for every single guy I play with and against and for various reasons.

Some guys never got big enough or fast enough, some had the wrong coaches at the wrong time. Some just plain weren’t good enough. I had a few bad breaks in Junior A hockey and I never seemed to peak at the right time. It upsets me to talk about that still. But I am pretty proud of how good I did get at hockey. Even the tough guys in the Jr. A league I played in, would be the leading scorers in most of the adult beer leagues. I wasn’t a tough guy, I was a pretty fair scorer and playmaker. So even though I didn’t make my dream, I got a lot closer than almost anyone I ever played with. Again, I am pretty proud of that.

A lot of guys who quit hockey in bantam or midget, or who played C or D level hockey, are really happy playing against guys of equal talent in the adult leagues. But for a guy like me it isn’t much fun yet. I am still in my early 20s and although I haven’t been able to continue competitive hockey since Jr. A and a couple years of college, I am way too good for the beer leagues. Not meaning to brag, but it isn’t much fun for me going around guys like pylons; and it isn’t much fun for them feeling the breeze of my jersey while going around them. It’s also a little frustrating when I am trying to set a guy up for a pass, and he is way too slow to get to where I want him; or he ends up on his butt for some reason and he wasn’t even touched.

So here I am in the BRHL. I am new here, but I have heard a lot about this senior league. I learned a lot one day sitting in the lobby of the rink, having a coffee and talking to this old-timer.