Zug Flames Hockey Club

Game 1 recap

On Saturday night, the Zug Flames met HM Herti in our 1st league match of the 2009-10 season.  The game progressed nicely with the Flames drawing first blood on a nice goal by Gabor (Zsa Zsa) Biro.  HM Herti struck back and tied it up.  TheFlames Aaron Meszaros scored the next 2 goals to give the Flames a 2 goal lead that was short lived.  A few more goals by Herti and another by Aaron (to complete the hat trick) left the game tied 4-4 going into the 3rd period.

Some flat skating from the Flames and to much offensive pressure from Herti lead to a couple quick goals by Herti from which we could not recover.

The final result was 7-4 win for HM Herti.  On January 3rd, we'll get our revenge.

Let the games begin!

On Saturday November 7th, the Flames take the ice against HM Herti in our 1st game of the 2009-10 season.  The puck drops at 17:45 in the Herti Stadium where there is plenty of room for fans so bring the whole family.

I survived Budapest!

What a fantastic weekend we had in Budapest.  Gabor Biro deserves many, many thanks for organizing a super camp. 

We were met at the airport in Budapest on Thursday night by a coach bus which took us to the Intercontinental Hotel situated right on the Danube river.  Friday morning, we had our first training with one of the local coaches putting us through the paces.  Friday night we played a game against one of the local adult teams and beat them 5-3.

Saturday morning we had our 2nd training with a another local coach.  He was fond of saying "follow me" when we didn't understand his english. Saturday evening, we met our 2nd opponents, a team of Hungarian ex-pro players.  We got schooled and lost 16-3.  Although it was our 4th skate in less than 48 hours, we should have done better. 

Saturday night, we had our team dinner at a traditional Hungarian restaurant across the river from our hotel.  The food was fantastic as were the Hungarian wines.

Sunday morning found us up early at the rink for our final skate of the weekend.  We decided to forgo training and play a 4-on-4 game of Europe vs North America.  Naturally, North America won.

I would highly recommend Budapest to anyone.  It is a beautiful city, safe and not very expensive.

Now starts the planning for next year..Bratislava, Ljubljana, Riga...any suggestions?

Sharpen those skates....

I have received our training schedule from the KEB for the 2009-10 season.  Our first training is on Thursday September 17th from 21:30 - 23:00.

We skip the next Thursday because we are inBudapest and start again with Thursday October 1st.  Please see the complete schedule (training and home games) here. Download ZF Training 2009-10 

Don't forget to update your availability in the Doodle for Thursday nights!!!

Finally, I will try to plan a family night again sometime in the week before Christmas.

Training Camp 2009 details posted

Please see Training Camp 2009 page for detailed information about our trip to Budapest.

New jerseys are in!

Our new game jerseys are in and I will pick them up this week. It is also time to pay your dues.  We have to pay for the jerseys as well as our ice time at the Herti.

Please transfer SFr 500- to the Zug Flames bank account by September 15th.  Our banking details can be found on the Club Info page.

I will distribute new jerseys at our 1st training on September 17th. I also have a limited number of of our OLD game jerseys and socks for sale.  The cost for thisset is SFr 40-.  I will bring these also on September 17th should anyone wish to purchase a piece of nostalgia.

ZSPL Schedule for 2009/10

The schedule for the upcoming season is now available here. The away game against HC Rigi is still missing and will be posted as soon as known. Download Spielplan09_10  

New this year is that we will play senior league rules which means no checking. There are also a couple new rules regarding penalties. If a player is assessed a 3rd minor penalty in one game, a 10 minute penalty is tacked on.  With the 4th minor in a single game, the player is tossed from the game.

Thanks to Zimi who represented the ZFHC at the ZSPL meeting and sorted out the schedule for us.

Lace 'em up: 10 Rules for Pick-Up Hockey Players

 

Just like the big boys in the NHL, adult hockey players are preparing to lace up for the 2009-10 recreational season. Most pick-up hockey groups are relatively stable.  The same 15 to 20 guys roll into the rink in September, exchange a few pleasantries about the family and the job, then quickly move on to hockey trash talk and debates about which NHL team has made the most astute off-season moves. 

In the middle of it all will be a small number of new guys invited to join the game. Some of these rookies arrive at the rink already knowing how to fit in.  Unfortunately there are always one or two newbies who just don't get it. 

The "rules" and etiquette of adult pick-up hockey are subtle, usually unspoken and until now not written down.  As a service to our readers, HockeyDirt is pleased to present 10 tips for anyone joining a new pick-up hockey group.  If you are joining a group of "veterans" and want to avoid being the butt of locker-room jokes, or worse yet, being un-invited, here are a few simple pointers.

1)  Pass the puck.  You might be the best player on the ice.  You might be able to stick-handle through the other team at will and score, but nobody likes a puck-hog. Give it up – think or yourself as the next Gretzky, not the next Ovechkin.

2)  (a)  Don’t kill the goalie:  The Warm-up.  No goalie ever asks to have his head warmed up.  Nor do they need to work out kinks in their neck or collarbone.  There is no need to shoot the puck above the goalie’s belly button.  If you want to wire a few high hard ones, or test out your new composite stick, do it against the glass.  Injuring the goalie during warm-up is a big no-no.

2)  (b)  Don’t kill the goalie:  The Game.  When the goalie puts his glove or pad on the puck stop hacking & poking.  Assume the play is dead & skate away.  If you are driving the net and have to choose between Bertuzzi'ing the goalie (and scoring) and going around the net (and not scoring), opt for the latter.
 

3)  Don’t kill anybody else.  If you get the puck at the point, resist the temptation to shoot for the top corner.  Ripping a shot past the ears of the guys standing in front of the net won’t win you any friends. 
 

4)  Pay the man.  Some shmuck got suckered into being the guy who collects the money needed to pay for the ice – you need this guy more than he needs you.  Don’t make him chase you down for money.
 

5)  Get off the ice.  If you are tired, get off ice.  If you are resting your stick on your knees & sucking for air, get off the ice.  If you’ve been on the ice for more than 2 minutes, get off the ice.  If your line mate's head for the bench, get off the ice.  When in doubt, get off the ice.

6)  Keep it clean.  Assume the NHL rules apply to you – stop hooking, holding and water-skiing.  If you trip somebody, apologize. If somebody trips, hooks or holds you, assume it was an accident.

7)  Air out your equipment.  When you were 13 it was cool to bring tears to your teammates’ eyes just by opening your bag.  That time has passed.  Keep it clean.

8)  Don't whine about the teams.  The same shmuck who collects the money attempts to create balanced teams from a wildly unbalanced talent pool.  If the odd game is a little one-sided just shut-up and play harder.  Consider it an opportunity to work on your defensive play.

9)  Give up your dream.  You are not going to the show.  You will not be discovered by an NHL scout while playing pick-up hockey at 10 pm on a Tuesday night.  Play hard but remember that Janet Gretzky is not waiting at home for you & everybody has to go to work the next morning.

10)  Be like Mike (Bossy).  Despite being a deadly, highlight-reel goal-scorer, Mike Bossy was always humble.  Any time he scored, which was very often, he deflected attention away from himself by crediting his teammates with great plays and great passes.  Be like Mike - if you score, no matter how beautiful you think the goal is, resist the temptation to blow an Ovechkin kiss to the (non-existent) crowd or give a Jagr salute to your (non-existent) fans.  Skate over to the guy who passed you the puck, tap his glove, and get on with it. 
 

Follow these simple rules and you will fit in right away.  You will be invited back, the puck will be passed to you and you'll be invited out for a post-game beer.  Follow these rules and you will be you will be accepted as one of the gang, even if you are a Leaf fan. 

Just like the big boys in the NHL, adult hockey players are preparing to lace up for the 2009-10 recreational season. Most pick-up hockey groups are relatively stable.  The same 15 to 20 guys roll into the rink in September, exchange a few pleasantries about the family and the job, then quickly move on to hockey trash talk and debates about which NHL team has made the most astute off-season moves. 

In the middle of it all will be a small number of new guys invited to join the game. Some of these rookies arrive at the rink already knowing how to fit in.  Unfortunately there are always one or two newbies who just don't get it. 

The "rules" and etiquette of adult pick-up hockey are subtle, usually unspoken and until now not written down.  As a service to our readers, HockeyDirt is pleased to present 10 tips for anyone joining a new pick-up hockey group.  If you are joining a group of "veterans" and want to avoid being the butt of locker-room jokes, or worse yet, being un-invited, here are a few simple pointers.

1)  Pass the puck.  You might be the best player on the ice.  You might be able to stick-handle through the other team at will and score, but nobody likes a puck-hog. Give it up – think or yourself as the next Gretzky, not the next Ovechkin.

2)  (a)  Don’t kill the goalie:  The Warm-up.  No goalie ever asks to have his head warmed up.  Nor do they need to work out kinks in their neck or collarbone.  There is no need to shoot the puck above the goalie’s belly button.  If you want to wire a few high hard ones, or test out your new composite stick, do it against the glass.  Injuring the goalie during warm-up is a big no-no.

2)  (b)  Don’t kill the goalie:  The Game.  When the goalie puts his glove or pad on the puck stop hacking & poking.  Assume the play is dead & skate away.  If you are driving the net and have to choose between Bertuzzi'ing the goalie (and scoring) and going around the net (and not scoring), opt for the latter.
 

3)  Don’t kill anybody else.  If you get the puck at the point, resist the temptation to shoot for the top corner.  Ripping a shot past the ears of the guys standing in front of the net won’t win you any friends. 
 

4)  Pay the man.  Some shmuck got suckered into being the guy who collects the money needed to pay for the ice – you need this guy more than he needs you.  Don’t make him chase you down for money.
 

5)  Get off the ice.  If you are tired, get off ice.  If you are resting your stick on your knees & sucking for air, get off the ice.  If you’ve been on the ice for more than 2 minutes, get off the ice.  If your line mate's head for the bench, get off the ice.  When in doubt, get off the ice.

6)  Keep it clean.  Assume the NHL rules apply to you – stop hooking, holding and water-skiing.  If you trip somebody, apologize. If somebody trips, hooks or holds you, assume it was an accident.

7)  Air out your equipment.  When you were 13 it was cool to bring tears to your teammates’ eyes just by opening your bag.  That time has passed.  Keep it clean.

8)  Don't whine about the teams.  The same shmuck who collects the money attempts to create balanced teams from a wildly unbalanced talent pool.  If the odd game is a little one-sided just shut-up and play harder.  Consider it an opportunity to work on your defensive play.

9)  Give up your dream.  You are not going to the show.  You will not be discovered by an NHL scout while playing pick-up hockey at 10 pm on a Tuesday night.  Play hard but remember that Janet Gretzky is not waiting at home for you & everybody has to go to work the next morning.

10)  Be like Mike (Bossy).  Despite being a deadly, highlight-reel goal-scorer, Mike Bossy was always humble.  Any time he scored, which was very often, he deflected attention away from himself by crediting his teammates with great plays and great passes.  Be like Mike - if you score, no matter how beautiful you think the goal is, resist the temptation to blow an Ovechkin kiss to the (non-existent) crowd or give a Jagr salute to your (non-existent) fans.  Skate over to the guy who passed you the puck, tap his glove, and get on with it. 
 

Follow these simple rules and you will fit in right away.  You will be invited back, the puck will be passed to you and you'll be invited out for a post-game beer.  Follow these rules and you will be you will be accepted as one of the gang, even if you are a Leaf fan. 

Look out Budapest...here we come!

This year's training camp is scheduled for September 24^th to September 27^th in Budapest, Hungary. Gabor "Zsa Zsa" Biro has been working hard to make us feel welcome in his mother land.  So far, we have 2 ice trainings booked for both Friday and Saturday as well as a game Sunday morning.

Flights should be booked individually.  Most people are flying Swiss on Thursday at 17:25 and returning Sunday on the 19:50 flight.

I have made a page called Training Camp 2009 where I will post the detailed ice-times, hotel name, ice rink, etc when I get them from Zsa Zsa.

ZFHC 1st Annual Golf Outing

On Friday June 5th under sunny skies in Holzhausern, the Zug Flames held its 1st Annual Golf Outing. Twenty golfers teed off in tournament play.  First place was taken by Ernst Tanner, second by Colin Muller and third by Paul DiPietro.  Paul also won "closest to the pin" dropping the ball about 2 meters from the cup on hole 11. Our own Rob Johnson won the longest drive competition.

Many thanks to Sean Simpson for helping me find golfers. Also thanks to Lianke Thermann of Auto Pierre Sudan for providing the Maserati golf balls.

Lastly, thanks to Edgar Hartmans for organizing the golfing with Migros and the apero.