October is a great month to really settle in for the hockey season. The change of weather is setting in all over, and people are beginning to recognize their surroundings.
Unfortunately, recognizing your surroundings is not always a positive experience. You know, like when you look around the room and you recognize that its only you and two other guys who are still a part of the team when you arrived in September?
Pay to play hockey, or in some cases more appropriately named, pay to party, or pay to sit in the stands hockey, is really a gift. Looking at litterally hundreds of of pay to play programs across North America can be time consuming. But oh so satisfying.
Its even more satisfying when readers email all kinds of great stories. Like these;
Its not junior hockey when the owner of the team who hired his son to coach the team is caught sleeping with his sons girlfriend. Now the owner is actually in a relationship with the girl, and the son simply continued to coach the team. Something says the family dynamic might just be a little strange during the holidays.
Its not junior hockey when your team of ten players and two goalies has a few guys not show up for the game on Sunday because they were watching football. But, coaches being crafty, got some midget players to fill in and play under those players names.
Its not junior hockey when your pay to play team is told that you cannot practice because the owner has not paid the ice bill, and the owner is on holiday in Mexico. Coincidentally the vacation was three days after he collected the team tuition.
Its not junior hockey when your assistant coach is driving home from the restaurant after a team meal and gets pulled over for texting and driving. Then you find out he was actually texting one of the boys sisters who just happens to still be in High School.
Its not junior hockey when on a three day road trip several hours from home you arrive to the team hotel and the credit card gets declined to pay for the team rooms.
Its not junior hockey when two new players come to play on Friday night, and not only can they not skate, but when checking Elite Prospects, you learn they have never played. Thankfully though, the coach had them just sit on the bench under other players names while your team got pumped by double digits. Turns out, they only came because coach offered to give them a case of beer for showing up.
Finally, its not junior hockey when your coach comes into the room ten minutes before game time and tells you that you are playing for the other team this weekend because they dont have enough guys to play. Nothing says quality programming like these programs.
