by Marc Melville

Created on: February 07, 2009

In our small but rapidly growing farm town, there were at least a dozen known rinks the kids would play at. Some were simply a clear spot of frozen water in the middle of the woods. Others were ponds or lakes. And some were actual fabricated rinks, carefully constructed with a base of 2x8's and plastic sheeting, 3' high boards around the entire rink, iron piped nets, and lights that flanked all four sides. Usually two nights a week the kids would stick to their own peer groups and have anywhere between 4 and 12 players. Once a week one group might travel to another rink and play.

Our uniforms usually consisted of whatever we wore to school that day, plus hat, gloves, skates, and stick. We hadn't yet heard of fancy $80 technical wicking materials, arm warmers, or strategically layering up of our shirts. Nor did we regurgitate clever tag lines like "cotton is rotten". We sweat (gasp!), clothes got wet. It was called acceptance. If we got hot, we took off our jackets. If we got cold, we put on our jackets. It was that simple. Having wet clothes was part of the game and motivation to skate faster. Amazingly, nobody ever died of pneumonia. In fact we were never sick during those winter months. Silly.

Kids would show up either one by one or in small packs. Parents dropped off some of the kids and others were old enough to drive their own family jalopy. Games would commence as soon as there were enough to play.

Once we had our Bauer Turbo's or Custom 1000's laced up and pulled snug, it was time to clear the ice of any snow that had fallen or ice-shrapnel from the last session. "Bailin'!" or "Clearin'!" we would call it. There were usually at least three or four shovels that were kept in snow banks and stood like loyal spectators. One by one we would grab a shovel and fall in line like that of a four plow-truck peleton clearing the streets after a significant dump of snow. The ice was cleared and ready for carnage in a matter of minutes. Bailing was also a great warm-up before the games began. Everybody took their turn bailing. In-between games, if it was snowing or the ice was absolutely minced from our primordial might, the losing team might bail. Or the kids with excessive energy bordering on spastic would pick up a shovel and bail just to keep moving.

After the ice was cleared and smack talk settled, it was time to throw sticks to pick teams. Whether we had 4 or 12 players everyone put their sticks in a pile at center ice. Sitting down, facing away from the stack,

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