Found this and it brought back some memories. I had a tournament team from LI and played in many tournaments. Mostly C and D divisions but definitely got to see the great talent from all over. Thanks guys for the flashbacks.
This was a fun listen. I play in the Chicago area. We don't have the rich dek hockey history the Northeast has, but I started as a 19 year old in 1983. The term dek hockey was never heard. We called it ball hockey or as my dad used to call it, shoe hockey! Our leagues were on regulation rinks with the ice removed in the summer. Playing on cement was hard on the body, and without helmets it was a miracle there weren't more major injuries. Lots of great memories including playing against Team Chicago and Eddie Belfour who played out. It wasn't until around the mid 90s that we moved to a facility with a dek. Today we play on all sorts of rinks from the smallest Iowa style deks to full size, and we travel to tournaments.Next year will be 40 years for me, and I'm still at it.
Interesting discussion here on the 1980’s. Like you guys, I was very much involved with street hockey during the same time period (mid 70’s - 90’s), just not nearly at the level any of you were. We started with local tournaments and leagues and eventually sent a few teams to dek hockey tournaments in the NY area. We had mixed results, but just having the opportunity to play in a dek hockey rink for the first time was pretty cool. I even had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Leclerc during this time. Nice job on this one guys. Looking forward to part 3.
Enjoyed listening to part one. I think it would be even more interesting if you included some photos from the early rinks and tournament games. By the way, does anyone know what happened to the original American Street Hockey Institute sign that was on the building in Leominster?
