.italiaball/puck.

My other car is a Zamboni

Posted on March 7th, 2008 by Lango.
Categories: hockey, lodi, piacenza.

A little more than a month back I made a wonderful discovery.

First, though, the series of events that led to this discovery…

One weekday night in late January, I saw hockey played on roller skates.

A baseball teammate from nearby Lodi had asked if I’d be interested in checking out a game. It was the first time I had ever seen this sport played, though for the past two years I’ve been perusing articles about it in the local paper, a bit curious about the game and its appeal. Called hockey su pista here, it is apparently referred to as hardball hockey in the States, though I had never heard any reference to the sport in the US. The international powers are Portugal, Spain, Argentina, and Italy, and other countries rarely challenge their dominance in international play.

Incorporating parts reminding me of knee hockey (low nets, goalies always down on one knee), roller derby (roller skates, though sadly not as much physical contact), field hockey (shorter, curved stick), and floor hockey (basic elements of hockey), it sort of plays like overtime 4-on-4 in the NHL, in that players have some space to move, and are able to cycle the ball in the offensive zone for extended periods of time. There is little contact however, disappointingly, at least with respect to ice hockey.

The following video from the game is an example of a penalty shot given when a penalty is called on the opposing team (and a card is drawn). The offending player exits the playing surface for the penalty box for five minutes, but another player can substitute him during that time. At this time the home team, Lodi, was losing by a few goals, but had been given another chance to close the gap following a penalty on the opposing team…

The size and energy of the crowd surprised me, but my local friend explained that the sport is very popular in Lodi. Ice hockey not so much, as you’d have to head closer to the Italian borders with France, Switzerland, and Austria to find the ice hockey “hotbeds.”

Anyways, chatting further, I let it slip that I loved playing inline hockey growing up on the neighborhood streets in the States, and that I really enjoy watching ice hockey, always wishing I had played organized hockey as a youngster. This resulted in the following exchange with my friend…

Him: “Credo ci sia una squadra di hockey inline di Serie B qua a Lodi.” (I believe there’s a Serie B-level inline hockey team here in Lodi)

Me: “C’è una lega qua in zona?!?!?!? (There’s an inline league in this area?!?!?)

Him: “Si si.” (Yeah)

Me (jumping out of my seat): “Sei un grande!” (You’re the man!)

At this time I was already imagining myself on rollerblades becoming the Italian Gretzky, and basically tuned out the rest of the game we were watching, lost in my thoughts of past street hockey glory against neighborhood kids half my age translating into Italian inline stardom.

Upon returning home it took me approximately .14 seconds to google the league web site and find a Serie B team in Piacenza, a neighboring city to the south to where I’m living now.

And the Piacenza team was playing at home that Saturday night.

And so of course I was there, resisting the urge to hop the boards in streetclothes and grab a stick from an unsuspecting player. The quality of play surprised me a bit, and I would later find out the Piacenza team boasted a former Czech Republic ice hockey player as well as others with top-level Italian ice hockey experience. A chat with the Piacenza coach following their game led to me attending practice that Tuesday, a day after purchasing hockey rollerblades and extra equipment (helmet, elbow pads, shin pads, etc.) from an ex-player. One more practice that week and, despite still being a bit rusty, I was already making my Serie B Italian inline hockey debut the next weekend as defenseman in our game at Forlì towards the Adriatic coast…

This game was very interesting, you could say, for one particular reason.

It was my first time ever playing an organized hockey game in my life.

Meaning I had never suited up for a game with a referee, in a league, etc., whether on ice or an inline rink. Prior to Forlì, I had only played inline hockey on the street and in outdoor rinks with friends, rather sparingly, at least over the last few years. And here I was playing in an Italian 3rd-division hockey game against the top team in the league, and against players who had been playing organized hockey for quite some time.

Being my first legit game, this meant that certain little things that undoubtedly come naturally to seasoned puck players, do not necessarily yet come naturally to me.

For example, getting dressed.

I had only a slight idea as to how to put all that equipment I had just purchased on me in a manner in which it would actually function. You certainly don’t outfit yourself with all this equipment and protection when going down to the local tennis court to shoot a street hockey ball with some friends. Undoubtedly, my Italian teammates were wondering what drugs their coach was smoking for allowing this American who couldn’t dress himself not only to play defense, but actually start as a defenseman against the division’s top team.

Which brings us to the act of playing team defense. Again, when with friends, the defensive side of the game, you could say, suffers a bit. You don’t find much organized team defense in pick-up games. Rather important knowledge for a defenseman I would say, no?

Now I have watched thousands of ice hockey games whether in person or on television, and feel like I can hold my own talking about the game even with my Canadian friends who learn hockey before even learning to speak, but it’s a slightly different beast when you’re out there trying to keep the puck out of your own net with real live opponents streaking down the wings at you in the defensive zone.

As you can see, and I’ll fully admit, I have had some learning to do. Fortunately the basic hockey skills (skating, shooting, passing) I have down. It’s the little things and nuances of the game that only come with game experience that i need to master. But I’m learning pretty fast, and finished +2 in our last game (there were two goals scored by my line while I was playing, while none were scored against us, thus I finished +2), and generally felt comfortable and confident as well. It helps a lot that every practice is two hours of intrasquad playing.

And believe me, you’ll all know if I score a goal in a league game.

With the weather starting to turn and baseball preseason games beginning shortly, though, I’m going to have to cut short my already abbreviated hockey season fairly soon, but when baseball ends this fall, hockey picks up again, and I resume my quest to become the Italian Gretzky.

A bit unlikely, yes, but I’ll happily settle for being the next Dino Ciccarelli.

9 comments.