JMS Hockey

Now that JMS is allowing people to sign up for games weeks in advance I do not think is a good thing for the upper level goalies. This allows some of the guys to grab all the popular skates before anyone else has a chance at them. I think not posting sign-ups more than a 7 days ahead as it was previously done was the right way to do it IMO.

If you look right now, there's plenty of U/L and Elite games with open goalie spots in the future. If a skate is popular and a goalie believe they can commit far ahead of time, there's no reason why we shouldn't let them. Early goalie signups lead to early skater signups which leads to a more fun game for everyone involved. The game posting is all relative to the current day, so instead of seeing today + 7 days, you see today + 28 days. With how many players we used to have staying up until midnight to sign up for a game next week, I think this levels the playing field more than it does create unevenness - less people are going to wait until midnight to signup for a game that is 28 days ahead of time. There's also the backup goalie feature which gives you first dibs in the event that a goalie cancels. If we find that a lot goalies are squatting on games far ahead of time and then canceling them later, we may have to build something else into the system to prevent or fix that, but for the mean time, we definitely think that creating the inertia to get a healthy game going earlier is a positive thing for the program.

Or worse squatting on games and not canceling and therefore hogging too many the available spots. I live in the SW metro and therefore not every upper level skate appeals to me on the basis of location. Not sure about the logic of needing to get sign ups out there earlier as games have been getting full 5-6 days before the actual skates anyways.

Any goalie that doesn't cancel their position and no-show's is already dealt with individually, as that's a pretty big deal but a problem we have to deal with sometimes regardless. Yes, games are filling up well ahead of time right now - we're also at the peak of our season so that's not too surprising.

My first reaction was similar to Gregg's. It seems a little unfair that I could scoop up a goalie spot almost every night of the week for the next month all at once. I didn't feel as bad grabbing a spot a week ahead of time when anybody else had equal opportunity to do the same. The way it is now, I'm only signing up for as many as I think are reasonable, but may miss out because I'm not as aggressive as the next guy. Or someone else may feel that I'm that guy. I guess you're right, we'll see how it plays out, but my wee opinion is, I'm not too sure about the new feature.

I seem to remember a thread that got quite a lot response a while back in regards to how much time a goalie would have to wait before they could sign up for another spot. I see this trending in that direction. With the extended time frame this issue is going to be compounded. Some limits should be set that allow reasonable opportunity for as many goalies as possible to participate. The importance of having goalie spots filled early to encourage skaters to sign up is valid. Perhaps spots that are not taken by a certain amount of time prior to the game should be opened regardless of restrictions.

Thanks Mike and Dick for your comments, you both seem to understand what I was trying to get at.

I was just able to sign up for 4 goalie spots basically at one time...one in each week because that's what I feel I can reasonably commit to. I understand if it looks like hogging, because, essentially it is. Especially if you want the same ice each week... having 2 goalies feel that way will never allow for any other goalie to get in, but of course that means the sign up needs to happen on time. I think the goalie waitlist function is awesome... it allowed me to cancel out the afternoon of the ice time day without thinking twice about another goalie covering. BUT, as much of a help it is, it also can allow (like Gregg says) squatting on a goalie spot and then cancelling last minute. Signing up for a "wait list" spot is not always appealing to people... at least not as appealing as signing up knowing YOU are scheduled to play. I guess we'll see how this plays out. I know I was frustrated to see the limits of ice available for me, but many of those had to do with the time of the skate, not availability per say. I prefer the 9:30 and later start times, which JMS tends to avoid as much as possible when they can.

Hey all - thanks for the feedback. If we notice a trend of goalies squatting spots, we'll put something in place to stop it. Keep in mind that we're also in the middle of a "land grab" because we are increasing the available ice from 7 days to 28, so suddenly there's a ton of spots available all at once. Four weeks from now we'll be completely caught up and no one's going to be able to grab 4 spots at once unless they've been out there sitting empty for a while.

I'm with the majority on this one. The game I play in every other week is already booked for a month by the same two goalies. So if I want to get in a game I have to plan a month ahead now, or sit and hope a goalie cancels......unrealistic. Its almost like watching a showcase team with a full-time goalie waiting for the goalie to be sick or out of town one game. All it's doing for me is making me look else where for hockey cuz having to plan a month ahead for a pick up game is ridiculous.

Yeah I'm a goalie too and the elite session close to me is now booked for the next 2 months or w/e it goes out to. If there was a decent skate anywhere near me that I could substitute this probably wouldn't be as big of an issue but I don't think there are any other real options. The only other one I can think of is Breck and that's like 16 miles away from me and also booked for the next 2 months.

Count me as another displeased goalie. The game I play in once or twice a month (Thursdays @ STA) are completely booked for the next four weeks (mostly by the same goalies). Other upper-level icetimes near where I live in the SE metro are also booked (Mondays @ STA). I realize you can sign up to be a backup in case a goalie drops, but that holds little appeal for me. I'm not a last minute kind of guy, and I like to know before the 11th hour if I'm playing that night. If this change is permanent, I'll most likely stop playing JMS and look for icetime elsewhere.

The interesting thing is even when signups were done only a week ahead, the same goalies were getting those same upper level ice times week after week. Instead of stopping playing, the goalies need to band together to offer up ideas for SOLUTIONS. The key problem is that there are way more goalies than ice times available, especially when a fairly large group of goalies prefers certain ice times, whether it be by location, time or level. Previously under the old system, I found it impossible to get an upper level net unless, like Doug said, someone cancelled last minute and I could cover. What Andy and Barb have said is that in the "start up" of advance signups, signing up for 4 weeks ahead at one time is only going to happen ONCE. Going forward from here on out, only one more week of ice will become available at any given time and the signups will be like they were before. I'd encourage the goalies to stick with it. It is IMPOSSIBLE to please everyone. If your preferred icetie is booked, consider skating farther out. If you REALLY want to play, there are nets out there to fill. If your standard is only choosing between 2 arenas and only 2 arenas... then yes, it may be difficult to get a net because you have limited your options. Sure, I would love if I could skate at Richfield on the same night every week because it's 5 minutes from home, but it's not feasible. I limit myself when I prefer to only attend skates that begin after 9pm (preferably 9:30 starts or later) because I have kids. I limit myself to preferring to skate only L4, L5 or Elite skates because I don't like Community Sessions or playing net in lower levels. Sure, it may be frsutrating to have to go to Fogerty or Eden Prairie to play when there are closer options, but because of MY PREFERENCES of time and level, I have to take what is available to me. At the end of the day, if you truly want to play and value the hour and a half to yourself, playing a kids game and having some fun... then take the extra 5, 10, 15 minutes to drive a few more miles. Players limit themselves MUCH more than JMS ever could.

I couldn't agree more with Rob. JMS does a great job of making ice time available for us. I personally live in Blaine but will take the 40 minute drive to Burnsville to play in a game that meets the criteria I like to sign up for. It would be great if we had ice at the Super Rink since it's right next door for me, but JMS doesn't have ice time there, so I crank up the Wild game in the car and drive a little further. I think being able to sign up 4 weeks in advance is great because it shows which games have the highest preference so JMS can focus on keeping that ice time and adding similar ice time. No one is going to be complaining about this change a month from now. Just gotta get used to it. Go Wild!

@ Rob PREACH! Rational thoughts prevail! @ Andrew Thank you for the support and for your understanding (and publishing of) of the bigger picture.

It is very tough to find an open goalie spot that in my skill levels over the next 4 weeks. It is kinda a bummer.

Now that the AHA season is over, I usually try to skate JMS once or twice a month when it works with my schedule. Having to plan out 4 to 5 weeks in advance for icetime just because all of the upper level goalie spots are filled(and it seems by the same few people) is diappointing and defeats the purpose of skating in the summer for me. I guess open hockey at some of the local rinks will have to suffice.

Bob I hear ya. Barb Garn is pretty nice though and if you email her your concerns and ideas she will listen. I've emailed back and forth with her a few times and gave her some suggestions. From what I gather there just aren't that many elite JMS skaters to hold upper level/elite sessions and they're kinda hesitant to create more of those sessions. I really couldn't tell you what the solution is and it kinda just depends on the goals of the JMS leaders.