Press Clippings

reprinted by permission

Posted on Sun, Oct. 26, 2003

Hockey 101
A no-check league introduces hockey to players of all ages and abilities.

Brian Hollenbeck is one of the few people in the Twin Cities who actually can get away with missing a few hours of work, or even a date with his wife, because of hockey.

Hollenbeck is the beginner programs administrator for the Twin Cities league of the Adult Hockey Association, a nationwide program that offers no-check leagues for adults. In its third year with the AHA, the Twin Cities chapter has 51 teams, stocked with players ranging from high school graduates to retirees, ex-college players to people who have never skated.

So how does a league like the AHA offer competitive hockey to so many different groups? Each person who registers, either as an individual or with a group of friends, is evaluated on a set of basic drills and game action. From there, the league places teams into one of five tiers. Needless to say, Hollenbeck has skipped doing the dishes at least once or twice.

"We all have to have very understanding wives," he said.

For more information on joining an AHA team, go to www.ahahockey.com.

Q. How fast has the league grown?

A. We've experienced 30 percent growth each of the last two years. The biggest thing is that we provide something there isn't any place else: a safe, fun, good environment for all levels of hockey. There just wasn't any place for adult high school player to go. Bar league hockey is filled with ex-high school and college players. It's just a free-for-all. Here, everyone can show up with whatever level of equipment they want, and off you go. Parity is the number one concern, and we work hard to make sure the levels are competitive.

Q. How do you do that?

A. At the end of every year, if a team has a great year and really has established themselves as growing out of their level, they're encouraged to move up a tier. Every year we have a great influx of new talent, and we help teams out in draft for new players, or help them move up a level.

Q. What is the range of players like?

A. We get 18-year-olds, senior citizens and everything in between. We have people as old as end of their 70s. We have guys who played high school hockey, guys who maybe played a few years as a kid and just hadn't played for whatever reason. We have people who never put on a pair of skates in their life. We take them all.

Q. How does the beginner program work?

A. The first thing we do is have an orientation. We show everyone how to put equipment on. Some people are 40 years old and have never played before, so I'm sure some of that equipment is like, "Where does that go?" We go over rules of play, equipment, some skating techniques, then bring out the pucks. We work on stickhandling, passing, make sure the basics are in place.

Q. What's made this league so popular?

A. It's really found a niche. This league is very highly organized, very professional-level. Players get full home and away uniforms. Stats are tracked online. If you win the playoffs, your team goes to national tournament. I think a lot of people think that's really cool, especially for people who have never played hockey before.

Q. How do the Twin Cities teams fare at the national tournament?

A. Our teams always represent very well. We had one team win a national championship this year. I think you have traditional areas where hockey's big — Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin — but I'm always surprised when we see teams from Texas who are actually really good.

Q. Is this a full-time job for you?

A. Based on the hours, yes. If you ask my wife, I'm sure she'd probably say yes. For all of us who help do work for the league, this is not our regular job. With 50 teams, 20 games in the regular season, 850-some players, and making sure a lot of players and teams are taken care of, we spend an astronomical amount of hours on evaluations, booking ice, booking officials, making sure the Website's updated, and just dealing with issues of 850 hockey players. All of that's a huge amount of time, but it's certainly a labor of love.

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—Ben Goessling

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