Pominville in a Beer League

[WildCard]

Pretty awesome

 

[Randall Flagg]

Was it here that someone posted a screenshot of his beer league stats compared to other players? It was pretty comical

[Zamboni]

But hey, 31 teams don’t want him. Even for depth in the playoffs.  Poms and Vanek can start a team called the molasses Monsters... ?

 

[Gatorman0519]

That’s not fair lol 

[LGR4GM]

We should have signed him over trading for Frolic. 

[Mustache of God]

I hate when skilled players play down in lower divisions and just dominate. Where's the fun in that?

On an aside, it's got to be really tough to be the one of the best players at your sport in the world, playing a game you've loved your entire life. And then you retire. What's left? Do high level beer leagues even compare? I guess you start coaching and pass your love of the game on in that way?

[SABRES 0311]

5 hours ago, Zamboni said:

But hey, 31 teams don’t want him. Even for depth in the playoffs.  Poms and Vanek can start a team called the molasses Monsters... ?

 

Don’t forget Moulson. Molasses Moulson has a nice ring.

[apuszczalowski]

Why not, I had heard that Ed Belfour would play in beer league's in the GTA after retirement, although he may have misunderstood what they meant by 'beer' league.......

Also Hasek I believe played roller hockey in a Czech league but not in net

[MattPie]

You guys would know better than me, but there are high-level summer leagues that the NHL guys play in. The non-NHL guys in those leagues likely keep playing all year, so it makes sense that a retired NHL player would go have some fun in those.

[Claude_Verret]

Remember when Afinogenov showed up to play in an Alabama rec league when his girlfriend the tennis pro was playing there?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8CnFYWgwQU

 

Edited March 4, 2020 by Claude_Verret

[Formerly Allan in MD]

The Sabres often play like they're in a beer league.

[#freejame]

2 hours ago, MattPie said:

You guys would know better than me, but there are high-level summer leagues that the NHL guys play in. The non-NHL guys in those leagues likely keep playing all year, so it makes sense that a retired NHL player would go have some fun in those.

I know of Da Beauty League up in Minnesota. There’s one in Buffalo (maybe a performax league?) as well, but it’s nothing like the scale of DBL. I’m sure others know of more. 

[Tondas]

Back in my time. I played against Craig Ramsay, Derek Smith, Jerry Korab (Crickett  Lounge team) at Sabreland and Randy Burridge in a summer league at Leisure Twin..  A couple of takeaways.  Frickin' Ramsay was crazy good.  He was retired and in his 30's and I was 21 and he burned my a$$ SEVERAL times, and I'm not sure he was really trying.  Such a huge difference between playing college hockey and being a pro.  The guy was AMAZING.  No doubt the best player I'd ever been on the ice with.   Korab busted my shin pad with a slapper.  It hurt like He11 and I thought I was going to puke on the bench.  Burridge cheap-shotted me at the end of a game slamming me into the glass in a "no check" league.  I called him a dick.  I'm sure it still stings him to this day.  ?

[Weave]

3 hours ago, Tondas said:

Back in my time. I played against Craig Ramsay, Derek Smith, Jerry Korab (Crickett  Lounge team) at Sabreland and Randy Burridge in a summer league at Leisure Twin..  A couple of takeaways.  Frickin' Ramsay was crazy good.  He was retired and in his 30's and I was 21 and he burned my a$$ SEVERAL times, and I'm not sure he was really trying.  Such a huge difference between playing college hockey and being a pro.  The guy was AMAZING.  No doubt the best player I'd ever been on the ice with.   Korab busted my shin pad with a slapper.  It hurt like He11 and I thought I was going to puke on the bench.  Burridge cheap-shotted me at the end of a game slamming me into the glass in a "no check" league.  I called him a dick.  I'm sure it still stings him to this day.  ?

Closest I've come is playing against a Philly draft pick in a pick up game at Sabreland.  He was a mid or late round pick.  Holy ***** was he good.  Way better than the rest of us slobs.  I stayed the hell away when he wound up for a slapper.

[Tondas]

10 hours ago, Weave said:

Closest I've come is playing against a Philly draft pick in a pick up game at Sabreland.  He was a mid or late round pick.  Holy ***** was he good.  Way better than the rest of us slobs.  I stayed the hell away when he wound up for a slapper.

It's phenomenal and humbling how good even the worst pro is.  Their skating is unreal.  They make a tight turn, take 2 crossover strides and they are GONE.

[LTS]

7 hours ago, Tondas said:

It's phenomenal and humbling how good even the worst pro is.  Their skating is unreal.  They make a tight turn, take 2 crossover strides and they are GONE.

Yeah.. and you can take it down even further.  I played against a kid from Ohio State one year (when I was 23).  He never played professionally anywhere and still made us all look stupid on the ice.

[Kruppstahl]

Having played a lot of pick up league hockey over the years and having been hit by shots from total nobodies who actually have a very good, hard shot...

...I can tell you that if I was playing against Pommer's team I would be getting out of the way of his shots!  Sure, he's an old man by NHL standards now, and he was never known for having a particularly hard shot, but are you kidding?  He was an excellent NHLer!  All those guys have hard shots by common hack standards! 

My ankle is getting sore right now just thinking about Pommer winding up and slamming me.  Ouch! 

 

 

[darksabre]

I played against Ray Maluta in a pickup skate in Rochester one time. Couldn't go anywhere near the guy with the puck or he'd just take it from you. He didn't even need to skate.

[Tondas]

Crap, when I played against Craig Ramsay and Derek Smith (both retired at the time) at Sabreland , they played on the same line!!!  We joked on the bench to the ref, "Hey, no lifters for those two guys."  It was the closest real-life experience to being on the Washington Generals I ever had.  When they were on the ice, I don't think our team ever touched the puck.  Just . So.  Frickin'.  Good.  And they were in their mid 30's at the time.

But both those guys were first-rate.  No arrogance or dickishness at all.  

[Tondas]

1 hour ago, Kruppstahl said:

Having played a lot of pick up league hockey over the years and having been hit by shots from total nobodies who actually have a very good, hard shot...

...I can tell you that if I was playing against Pommer's team I would be getting out of the way of his shots!  Sure, he's an old man by NHL standards now, and he was never known for having a particularly hard shot, but are you kidding?  He was an excellent NHLer!  All those guys have hard shots by common hack standards! 

My ankle is getting sore right now just thinking about Pommer winding up and slamming me.  Ouch! 

 

 

My experience with every ex pro I played against is that rarely if ever took a slap shot (barring my Korab fiasco).  They knew they were playing "men against boys hockey" and always looked to pass rather than shoot.  Sort of a hockey unwritten rule.

[ubkev]

Playing beer league with Chris Kelleher, who has played in exactly 1 NHL game more than I have, is just unfair. Can't get near the puck, ever! Dennis Bonvie is the same way. I grew up playing pickup hockey with Tim and Tom Sestito and even as kids you could tell they were both special. 

[Tondas]

1 hour ago, ubkev said:

Playing beer league with Chris Kelleher, who has played in exactly 1 NHL game more than I have, is just unfair. Can't get near the puck, ever! Dennis Bonvie is the same way. I grew up playing pickup hockey with Tim and Tom Sestito and even as kids you could tell they were both special. 

It's just insane the talent difference from the 99% of really good players to the 1% of great players.  Night and day.

[spndnchz]

He’s ripping it up. Like 100 points in 20 games. 

[Tondas]

7 minutes ago, spndnchz said:

He’s ripping it up. Like 100 points in 20 games. 

That would be significantly more if he was really trying.