Living without work, school, and social gatherings has been a challenge, as expected. But no one could have prepared us for how difficult hockey withdrawal would be.
It started with the NHL. The Columbus Blue Jackets and Pittsburgh Penguins were supposed to play in an empty arena but just hours before puck drop the entire NHL suspended operations indefinitely.
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Starting a domino effect, youth and adult leagues around the country canceled games while ice rinks closed shop shortly thereafter.
It was at this moment the hockey community gasped, realizing the enormous role and therefore hole left in the wake of shutting down our game.
To be clear, we recognize the severity of the situation and support the safety measures… but that won’t stop us from missing our beloved game.
But with optimism and modern technology in mind, let’s discuss 4 ways we can all get our hockey fix during the quarantine life.
Binge NHL.com’s Video Library
Feeling our pain, the NHL has been kind enough to open up their extensive library of hockey content for us to binge like a new season of Game of Thrones. Beyond their “Pause Binge” category, you can look up classic games, game recaps, and countless highlight reels.
Of course, there’s always YouTube too!
Train at Home
Listen, we’re all going to get through this. And when we do, we’ll all get back on the ice or dek as soon as humanly possible. So let’s do ourselves a favor and make sure we’re not useless once we return with some at-home training.
Whether you have synthetic ice, a driveway, pucks, or hockey balls, get creative and motivated to improve your skills so you’re ready to sauce, dangle, and snipe once quarantine life is over.
There are tons of online resources out there but check out Quest Hockey’s full weeklong Stickhandling course if you’re looking for something progressive, purposeful, and challenging for all ages and skill levels.
Play Some Chel
For the oldtimers, that means playing the NHL video game series made by EA Sports. And if you are an oldtimer, you won’t believe how far hockey video games have come from the days of Blades of Steel, NHL Hitz, and Wayne Gretzky’s 3D Hockey.
Regardless, NHL 20 is a great way to play and compete with and against your teammates, friends, and family without the risk of getting one another sick.
Listen to Hockey Podcasts
While there isn’t an abundance of NHL news and scores to analyze, there are still plenty of people eager to talk hockey!
Of course, Biz, Whit, and the Spittin Chiclets gang never disappoint with their uncensored interviews.
But 31 Thoughts: The Podcast, The Hockey News podcast, and of course the Hockey Players Club podcast all bring the goods.
