its tougher than you think, being goalie.. seriously, ppl underestimate and underappreciate the position.. you have to be payign attn to everything.. there isnt really much time off.. every angle is a tough angle to make a save.. also, stamina is huge, you are always in a crouched position, and your legs are ALWAYS engaged..

also it is a good idea to youtube some good pre and post goalie stretches/exercises

All the drop-in ice games at community centers that I usually play in are pretty low key, wide range of skill levels with the players. There are of course going to be superstars who will light you up, but they will eventually get bored of tearing you a new one every time on a breakaway. I find the greatest thing about drop-in hockey as a goalie is being able to watch the way the other goalie plays/moves at the other end especially if they are better and more experienced.

What I'm saying is that the drop-in atmosphere is usually pretty casual, most of the times. There are occasionally those who feel the need to show everybody on the ice their mad skills, but most guys who go to these drop-ins understand its just about having fun. So regardless of whether the worse player is the forward who can't stop, the d-man who can barely skate backwards, or a goalie who is scared of the puck, it's typically not a big deal. Everyone's just out for a good time and to hopefully learn to get better.

any RS members looking for a goalie on short notice for tonight or tomorrow? lemme know. im looking for more ice time and my pick up game got cancelled tonight. I dont really wanna go to the club tonight and prefer playing hockey. lol!

how does RIC stick & puck work? me and my friends are planning to go there in the morning tmr..Will there be alot of people? And on the website it says 19+..a few of my friends at 18. Are they strict with this 19+ policy? Will they actually check IDs?

I've been to RIC many times in the past and they've only asked me for ID once.

That being said, if you show up right at 9am you might have a small window of maybe 30mins or so where you'll have the majority of the ice to yourself. Generally RIC gets pretty packed especially at this time of year when ice is at a premium after more and more rinks convert to dry land.

RIC limits their number of skaters to about 20-24 but even when it's not full it still gets pretty busy to the point where you don't have as much space as you'd like. If you go later in the day, especially around noon, you might have to wait until guys start coming off.