Blades of Glory — The fourth sport in my quest

I have been wanting to learn how to play hockey for about 50 years.

On Saturday at Jones Park, I finally got the chance.

As part of my quest to learn six new sports for my 60th year, I asked two very skilled hockey players I know to teach me how to play — Justin and Hunter

Avid hockey players (Hunter came to the rink right from a morning tournament), the boys showed me a few skills to get me started. Though I have been a skater most of my life, I have never worn hockey skates. They felt exactly the same when I laced them up and I felt pretty confident on my warm up laps.

That’s when I discovered that hockey skates don’t have toe picks.

Splat!

I hit the ice on my three-turn, which is not a hockey move. I really should do more research before I attempt these things.

Fortunately, I had layered up for the weather and my little spill didn’t hurt anything at all, except my pride. I did a few more warmup laps on the family rink and then I met my coaches inside. They brought me the equipment I would need — giant gloves, a stick, pucks and a couple of helmet choices.

Since their mother told them they couldn’t check me into the boards on this first lesson, I decided to forego the helmet. I would have worn it if we were going to do anything more than drills.

We went over some things like how to hold a stick, and then we headed out to the Jones Park hockey rink. I felt about as awkward as a human possibly can walking across the grass in those skates, and the busy rink parted like the Red Sea when those skaters saw me coming. But, I found some semblance of my stride on the ice.

I am much more graceful on figure skates, but you’ll have to take my word for it. Who knew I’d miss that toe pick so much?

Thanks to my very kind coaches, I was able to shoot some pucks, work on my stick-handling and pretend I was skating in a scrimmage. As with all the sports I’ve been trying, this one was a little harder than I expected, mostly because I missed that toe pick.

I really enjoyed it though and I’m going to go back.

If you want to try hockey, or just do a little leisure skating, the Appleton rinks are ready for you. My sister Jenny and I skated on the Erb Rink the night it opened and we had the whole rink to ourselves.

You can rent skates at Jones Park for just $3, and skate for free. There’s a pick-up hockey league that plays periodically too, so if you want to play or watch some great hockey, pop on down.

The young women working the warming shelter Saturday afternoon were very nice as well. Jones Park is festive in almost any season. What a gem!

Thanks again to Hunter and Justin for giving me my first hockey lesson.

That’s four sports down. Let’s go!