Which beginner ice hockey league to go for?
 

Planning to join a beginner's league this coming fall. So far I've heard about ASHL, VACHL, and Coast. Not really sure which one to go for as someone who has very little connection with the hockey at this experience so I'm pretty much flying solo. I heard that VACHL have some sort of a tryout draft process at the beginning but I'm wondering how well run are they usually?

I heard VACHL is not bad for beginners....Its as rookie as rookie can get. From what I got from watching some games, they seemed to have fun.

As for the other leagues you mentioned, all the other leagues have low tier teams, so its just a matter of choosing whats the most convenient for you.

As for some people, they will critique how good/bad a league is by the officiating, I find it irrelevant at a rookie level. As long as all the calls are made to prevent injury from happening, I say....let the group play. Either that or you will see a lot of frerquent stoppages of play which will slow down a rookie group EVEN MORE.

Lastly, I don't think that the lowest tier in ASHL is truly beginners....Sure its their lowest division, but you may find that it may be not-beginner-enough for you.

Hope this helps.

Raybot is spot on.

+1 for VACHL. It's so beginner friendly, they don't even allow slapshots in the game. As for the draft process, it's basically just to renumerate players appropriately to teams that need extra roster fillers (as majority of them will be filled with roster returnees).

I may not be 100% correct though as I only played 1 season there when I was rehabbing from my broken arm.

Hey Ray/Phil, How would one go about finding a spot as a goalie as I'm interested in picking up an extra team this winter

Go to their sites....most of these leagues have a discussion forum for comments, improvements...and teams looking to play on teams.

Theres also a new local pick-up hockey forum i was told about...my friend went on it to play a few games...Once i get the name of it, i will post it.

Funniest part of the video is the cameraman taking a lifetime to figure out if that was a goal.

I talked to Herb & Isaac. I think they either run it (or help run it) and they hooked me up since I couldn't play Ice604 level hockey atm when I was playing hockey against Dr.s orders.

The funny thing is, that Grey team on the video (Cheifs) was my team and despite much lower the skill level is, VACHL is a pretty good group and I wouldn't mind playing with them again given the chance.

Unlike Ice604, there's definitely no young punk metrotown type gangster team trying to prove they could be NHLers and everybody there's actually just looking to play "recreationally." At least that was the impression I got from the 1 and only season I was there so my judgement is limited to that.

True DAT motha fucka!!

How much are VACHL league fees usually? Last time I played ice was drop in back in october, so this league seems fitting

This isn't just in Ice604. I've seen the same things in Coast and ASHL. Guys get suspended from one league go and play in another league. I remember one team in div 1 team at Ice604 got suspended and just jumped over to ASHL since the fights happened in pre-season.
Also, a lot of the refs in ASHL/Coast also ref Ice604.

im gonna hijack this thread rather than making a new one to save on space here.

for a goalie (or even a player) is it worth it going to training school or just unnecessary spending?
i was thinking of going to a goalie training camp but dont know if its worth it if majority of games i play are just fun, recreational, or drop-in hockey.

How long have you been playing goalie? Depending on how seriously you take the game. If you don't mind going out to have fun and only play recreationally, then no.
But if you want to take it up a notch and try to be the best goalie you can be, then school/training is a must. Playing 3-4 times a week and playing against better players will help make you a better goalie, but that type of training can only take you so far.

Try watching some of the training video's on youtube and have someone video tape you when you play. That will give you a start.

I'm going to slip into this thread too,

I just started playing ice hockey and I am not really that good yet... Although, I am practicing at least twice a week with help from my friend (who used to play for a long time). Also, I have taken skating lesson's in the past when I was younger so I have a little it of background in skating. I'm looking at joining an ice hockey league in the fall too, but the problem is, I will be joining with another friend who is pretty damn good but he just wants to play recreationally.

Through looking at that VACHL video, I think right now, through 6-7 times practicing at stick and pucks, I am passed their skill level. I haven't really seen any low tier's play in ice604 or ASHL, but does anyone know where I should be joining?

It may also depend on where you're playing and the amount of tiers they have. If you play at a place like Burnaby 8 Rinks where they have a thousand divisions you'll play with people of your skill level.

ASHL lower tiers are still pretty good compared to the lowest divs in Ice604.

If you are a true beginner, give VACHL a try first.

The guys are right that VACHL is as rookie as you can get. In my experience there its run by the same clowns that run the mother league ice604, but it has heavy backing from the city so the fees are very reasonable. However what sucks is as a goalie you have to pay as well (tho considerably lower).
VACHL also forces every one to go through what they call "try outs" to place everyone one a team. The rules are you cant bring a "team" in but everyone registers individually (like you would a swimming class per se) and they assign ppl to a team accordingly.

The times for the games are fairly decent for VACHL although the mid evening saturday night games got to be a bit of a pain. They do however utilize every facility within the city of vancouver. So therefore you will play at Brittania, Kitsilano, Kerrisdale, SunSet, Riley, Trout etc etc.

I am pretty sure the registration is prolly full or close to as the returning players/teams should have already had their dibs in May/June.

Vancouver Adult Co-ed Hockey League

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Ice604 is probably the next skill level up....but anyone can tell you that league isnt very well organized and they dont start their games till 1045-11:15pm at night on weeknights in the winter. Mainly Asian players especially at the lower levels. Expect marginal calibur officiating and constant schedule changes without notice.
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House leagues: Planet Ice/ASHL/Coast Hockey/Duffers mens

All these leagues are a bit more high calibur and pretty much where most of the better players play. Its pricey ($11,300 per team for ASHL) but you do get prime time ice, current qualified refs, real time stats, good service from league etc ...(if any of that really matters to you men)

What kind of stuffs do you really do in the VACHL 'tryout' or is it more of a lottery draft thing as to who goes to which team?

lmfao at 'trying out' for a noob ass beer league team

Whats wrong with that?? They're trying to make all the teams as fair as possible.

a player can easily sandbag so they get put into a low div and light it up. Happens quite a bit with other beer league teams

kinda off topic but as some RS members previously stated, if you wanna get good, try going to stick n pucks to practice and drop-in hockey to sharpen your skills. After going to about 3 weeks of drop-in hockey my goaltending skills have dramatically increased. i have better confidence and positioning on the net.
Ray, we should have a stick n puck or join a drop in hockey one time to test each other's skills. its been awhile since we played together.

Thats the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard....to fail a tiering process??

If you want to intentionally fail a tiering process, then you might as well tryout for the special olympics.....At least the people in the special olympics won't even realize they're being duped!!

Tiering is supposed to best organized thing an organizer can do for the league. Whats the point being the leading scorer in a division that you don't belong in? Or in a more collective manner, whats the point in being the best team in a division you don't belong in??

Plain and simple...tiering process is supposed to help the league. If you want to fail a tiering process....don't play sports. Its not fun, its not funny,...its a douchebag move only douchebags do.

You have a lot to learn about rec hockey, young gun
i hate people who do it, but there are a lot of people playing in the same tier i play in and they deff don't belong there

Then wouldn't it be wise that there would be tiering process for all the players so the organizers can decide for themselves??

It doesn't take a genius to spot a ringer whether hes faking an orgasm or not.