Beer League Hockey

Who Plays Beer League Hockey?

Beer league hockey players consist of a mixed bag of humanity including accountants, bartenders, laborers, CEO’s, architects, lawyers, truck drivers, salesmen, engineers, non-working lazy trust funders, doctors, managers, city workers, software developers, retirees and even the unemployed (if they can come up with the pricy league fees).

Our backgrounds don’t matter. What unites us is the love of the game, drinking beer together, and trying to hang on to whatever youthful exuberance we still have left.

To the casual observer, beer league hockey is a collection of players, most of whom underachieved and fell short of the dream of playing hockey in the big leagues, organized into a locally-played league.

But beer league hockey is much more than that.

It’s more of a need; a lifestyle.

On the surface, a beer league in hockey is an adult hockey league that caters to local hockey players in a community.

The beer part of beer league hockey accounts for the fact that most players drink beer before, during, or after league games.

In fact, it kind of centers around beer in one form or another.

Beer is a primary ingredient included in the communal bonding ritual that takes place after each game.

Another ‘beer’ connection is the fact that sometimes beer league hockey teams are sponsored by local bars, pubs, and restaurants.

Because in most leagues, there is always beer.

Tons of it.

Beer league hockey is for both adult men and women who are, more often than not, beer drinkers.

Hockey and beer go together as seamlessly as salt & pepper. Or beer… and pretzels.

Usually not.

While checking and hitting is a key component in hockey, there is no point to it in the beer leagues.

Most of us are older guys who have no interest in cleaning somebody’s clock anymore. We would rather go to work in one piece tomorrow, instead of the ER tonight.

Although there is no checking, there is still bumping, pinning, pushing, shoving, hooking, stick-checking, and of course… chirping.

What About Fighting?

Fighting does happen sometimes. However, in the beer leagues, most players wear full cages and shields so it’s rather pointless.

Further, most beer leagues are quick to serve suspensions and even fines to players who fight.

The guys who still don’t get it are usually banned from the league.

Those guys are called likes-to-go guy.

Beer league hockey is a beautiful world that allows us to play the best sport in the world with our friends, drink beer, share tall tales in the parking lot, and achieve the occasional glory of a highlight-worthy goal.

It’s more about the experience itself than it is winning the league championship t-shirt and hoisting the beer league cup.

But that’s cool too.