12/21/24
October 20, 2003
I've played floor hockey, broomball, field hockey (took one damn shot in the shin) and knock hockey, all variants of ice hockey (played that, too). But I had never heard of underwater hockey until this NY Times story. Crazy, and sounds like fun. Hockey has got to have the most variants of any sport.
Back in elementary school during recess, we used to bring in those mini-sticks and play on our knees outside in the snow. I had a wicked slapper back in the 3rd grade.
posted by garfield at 07:58 AM on October 21, 2003
Isn't ice hockey a derivative of field hockey? And not the other way around? Love the mini-stick game.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 08:55 AM on October 21, 2003
My personal favourite was "desk-hcokey" -- the pencil stick and wad of paper vs. the two fingered goalie, stuck between the posts (two erasers).
posted by mkn at 11:06 AM on October 21, 2003
We used to use those little keychain players that were big around 1992 or so. They were 3-D and had sticks. They were removed from the keychain pretty easily. Wad of paper and a goal made of something and viola', desk hockey. btw, this water hockey sounds like fun. I wonder if there's a big cross contingency with water polo.
posted by Ufez Jones at 11:55 AM on October 21, 2003
I think this underwater business is the same as "Octopush", which was the subject of a post back in March. Not as many comments back then, though.
posted by Samsonov14 at 01:08 PM on October 21, 2003
Has nobody played coin hockey? Three quarters and a smooth desktop, that's all you need.
posted by Succa at 01:20 PM on October 21, 2003
Succa, many a lunchhour has been spent on that game and many a dollar was won and lost in my school days. "Oh c'mon, the table is sticky, that's totally unfair! This game is rigged!"
posted by therev at 03:19 PM on October 21, 2003
"Stop closing your net! Make it wider like mine. You suck!"
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 03:43 PM on October 21, 2003
I always preferred paper football myself. Bonus field goal kicks with ever-present eye-danger added a fun element to the game.
posted by Ufez Jones at 04:51 PM on October 21, 2003
Glove - standard practice is to buy a heavy weight gardening glove and cover it with aquaseal (c), shoegoo, or silicone caulking. This prevents the skin on your knuckles from being sanded off as you push the puck along the bottom of the pool and pads your hand when someone accidentally hits your hand instead of the puck. i've actually played this underwater hockey a couple of times. imo the gloves that are typically used are totally inadequate for protecting your hands when someone's hacking away trying to take the puck off you; and while the sport is supposed to be non-contact (and i assume consequently that too-aggressive checking is penalizable) it's darn hard to catch underwater with all the thrashing about causing bubbles and whatnot.
posted by juv3nal at 01:24 AM on October 23, 2003
Yes, hockey is the best sport. I've never had so much fun with a sport. I have so many memories, like the time when me and my teammates played floor hockey in the hallway of the holiday inn, and then in the entire play area. It was great and they didn't kick us out for some reason (I've been kicked out of hotels at tournaments for stuff like my team setting off the buildings entire sprinkler system, for example).