Hockey Is Almost Back

 

Summer is my favorite season. There's no doubt about it. The weather is warmer, the drinks are colder, and the days are longer - there's not much more you can ask for. Anything on top of getting a good tan and spending a weekend out on the boat is a bonus. So when coach sends that email with the subject line "Rink Has Ice" - that's just the added bonus of knowing that we're inching closer and closer to the start of hockey season.

Transitioning into the start of a new season is almost surreal. It's the realization that the foyer is back to being a safe haven for your hockey bag and that the 7 AM wake-up calls for summer workouts have finally come to a close. It's those first few steps into the familiar smell of the rink and realizing that they finished a couple of renovations from last season. It's finding out that coach put on a few pounds from the offseason. It's swinging open the door to the locker room and seeing the new twigs all lined up in the stick rack - still fresh in their plastic wrap. It's your new seat in the locker room, your new stall mates, and the custom warm-up gear hanging there - waiting just for you.

It's plugging into the speaker system that has to have the AUX cord at a certain angle for it to work and bumping the new tracks that get the teammates riled up. It's the group chat with a few unfamiliar numbers that start to light up again with chirps. It's the chatter that fills the room as the team gets ready to hit the ice. It's the legs starting to warm up and feeling those off-ice workouts finally pay off. It's realizing that the quiet, new kid from Ontario isn't half bad. It's creating new bonds with new teammates and knowing that the dawn of a new season is finally upon you.

Hockey is back.