Open hockey is underway at the Woodland Park Ice Rink on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday nights and we need some more players to start coming out. Hockey kicks off at around 7:45 during the week, and at 6:30 Saturday evenings. I showed up for the first time this weekend, and we only had five people out there, which wasn’t quite enough to get any kind of a game going. If eight people began to show up somewhat consistently, it could be a great time and excellent practice for anybody playing in leagues at the Stumptown Ice Den who may not feel like driving all the way up to Whitefish more than once a week. Most people there were wearing full gear, except for shoulder pads, and there were men and women skating, with a pretty big range of ability.
The Woodland facility itself is awesome, with comfortable locker rooms and nice benches. It’s great to skate outside, under the lights too. Don’t be afraid of a few pine needles or leaves out on the ice. If you’ve ever skated on a frozen pond, you’re good to go. One thing to note: pucks shot over the boards require a lengthy and tedious recovery procedure that entails removing skates and walking outside the rink to the lawn to search for the pucks in the dark. I learned the hard way, after what seemed like an hour searching around for a puck in piles of wet leaves, to keep my shots low.
Call the rink at 758-7813 for exact times and rates, and hopefully some more folks will start coming out.