JMS Hockey

Now that I've got a couple 13,14 games under my belt, I've realized there's what we call "unwritten" rules when playing JMS. Sometimes they're followed and other times they're not. Hopefully this brief primer will sort of out some of the confusion for players so we all know what to do in these situations. Essentially its about being a good sport when you're in these types of situations. Deflected shot hits the netting behind the net - We all know this is considered "out of bounds". Some players let it go, others keep playing regardless. The right thing to do is let the defense have it and move out from the offensive zone and let them bring it out. Off sides - This is a pretty basic rule, but what happens when your team is WAY off? The correct thing to do if your team has the puck and is offsides coming into the zone, is to simply dump the puck into the other teams zone and regroup and let them bring the puck out. I've seen a lot of times, guys will pass back to the D out of the zone and then come back in, which is wrong. Essentially think that offsides is a change of possession and act accordingly. Tripping, incidental contact, minor injuries - If your team trips a guy, or someone gets injured or some other incident that requires the game to stop you should simply assess who was the guilty party and when play resumes, allow the other team to take possession of the puck. All too often a team will have a guy trip somebody (either intentionally or by accident) and then just retain possession until play starts again. You should really give the puck to the team who had their guy get tripped. If it was in the offensive zone, flip it out to the D and let them cycle back to the neutral zone and then bring the puck back in. Cherry picking and floating - Absolutely a no-no at any level. I've seen a LOT of guys in upper level games and even in some of the Elite skates doing this. To me, this is just lazy players looking to pad their Excel spreadsheets they have at home. It doesn't make you a better player and at most levels, you should really have the skills to get around guys instead of waiting for a pass deep in the neutral zone. Anybody doing this on any level is simply unacceptable. Goalie saves and stoppage of play - Recently seeing a lot of guys hanging out around the crease after a goalie makes a stop, waiting for the goalie to flip the puck to one of his guys, then going after it to try and get an easy goal. This is up there with cherry picking. If play stops, back up and get out of the zone and let the other team come out. This is the same thing if play stops after a save and guys from the other team are still hanging out on the zone, hoping to get an easy shot from an errand pass. If there's a save, get out of the zone and at least tag up before coming back in so the other team can at least make one pass and get out of their own zone. Body contact - The standard language at any skate is, "Watch the body contact" which is really objective. Sometimes a new player will see two guys holding and pushing each other with a lot of stick play and think, "Oh, I can do that too." then goes and semi's a guy into the boards. Understand JMS is a community and guys skate with their friends. If you see this kind of stuff, it's usually because friends let friends a certain amount of leeway with regards to how hard they play against each other. It's almost always in jest, and if you pay attention, you'll see both guys skate away either laughing or smiling. Make sure if you're going to play a guy hard, you know him and he knows you, so nobody gets pissed or gets their feelings hurt. Shift length - This is a biggie since most of the levels have guys who are all in pretty good shape. Do you want more skating time? Take shorter shifts. Taking long shifts makes the other guys take long shifts and pretty soon, everybody is cold on the bench because everybody is trying to maximize "their" own ice time. If you take short shifts, everybody will follow suit. Also, when a game starts, look around and see who you're skating with. If you're on the ice and all of sudden you're playing with 4 new guys, Guess what? It's time to get off the ice. I try and stick with the guys who are on my line so we can have continuity. Yeah, it doesn't always work out perfectly, but a good way to do this is follow a guy who takes short shifts. Every session I play, I know who the short shift guys are and try to stick with them. Then I just make sure I'm off before or right after they get off. Also, when guys are short shifting, you hear less negativity on the bench and more encouragement and talk about the play because you don't have much time to chit chat before you're back on the ice. There you have it, some of the "unwritten" rules of JMS. The basic thread here is just be a good sportsman and not a dick and you're bound to make more friends and have a much better time.

Well said. It's nice to see people recognize what is good etiquette in JMS! We're all here to have fun, skate with friends and try to grow as hockey players. Nobody is a pro and we need to revere safety as an important goal every night. We all want to go home healthy and having enjoyed our time on the ice!

Thank you. I agree as well.

A) In regards to short shifts - I think a lot of people have a tough time knowing how long a shift should be, and they're taking long shifts when they think they are short. I couple general guidelines I like to follow: A1) as mentioned before, watch your line mates. If they're all off, you need to get off. A2) this one is a little more ambiguous, but, a good shift is two trips down the ice. If it's a back-and-forth games, as most JMS games are, then being on the ice for two offensive possessions is enough. obviously, this is just a rule-of-thumb and not code, as one team may cycle the puck in tier offensive zone for a long time, or a strong forecheck can keep in in one offensive zone for a long time and that can change things. A3) if you're too tired to skate hard, get off the ice. this isn't helping anyone, including yourself. I think that a lot of the floating and not getting back on D is attributed to this. people don't want to get off the ice, but are too tired to play 200 ft. hockey, so they float so they can save energy for their offensive opportunity. don't do this. B) I think another general rule people are not paying attention to, is when they are coming off the ice (in regards to where the puck is). It seems to have become common-place (at least in mid-low level games) to lollygag back to the bench after your team has turned the puck over. pretty frustrating to be a d man back ( or worse, a forward) and watch your whole team slowly skate off the ice as the opposing team is bearing down on a odd-man rush. many people seem to always change when their team is on D and never change when their team has the puck. as we all know, doing the opposite will make you a stronger team.

Body contact, regardless of "playing a friend hard", should be discouraged period. Other players will see this and feel they can do the same thing, thinking I play with these guys every week. Guys and gals can still get hurt, even if they are friends, from "playing a friend hard"

No yellow jerseys ha, still make me laugh every time I see one on the ice. Offsides never bother me if its close, keep the game flowing.

I've always assumed pucks into the netting you just keep playing. That's how a lot of the other drop in skates I've been to have done it. I agree with Mike on the yellow jerseys. I have also seen some guys on the dark team wear mostly dark jerseys with white on the shoulders and arms. And Karl, what's wrong with keeping Excel spreadsheets and occasionally posting stats to facebook? ;)

JMS Hall of fame? Send your stats during the game all in to Barb, I'm sure she could keep track for all of us! :P Yes the Duo colored jerseys are terrible

Awesome post Karl! Now we just need to get EVERY JMS skater to read it! The other unwritten rule not being observed (occasionally), is playing the position you take from the player coming off the ice. I understand most people like playing forward more than D, but you have to play your D shifts too... I have seen it many times where a D pinches in and a forward covers for them on the rush and then the D man just reamins in the forward position. Very frustrating. Makes it worse when they skate the rest of their shift up front and then come off the ice and tell the next guy to play D... Now everybody is messed up! Play D when it is your turn and get back to your position after a rush.

Good point Christopher and I think it just has a lot to do with people not wanting to play D or thinking it's beneath them. A lot of people, for lack of a better term, get overly "fancy" when it comes to D as well imo and press too much, try and skate it through the slot, and don't make the simple smart play etc. There's like 4-5 elite guys in all of JMS that can do that and it's fine but the vast majority of JMS aren't as good at D as they think they are and should probably focus on making a smart/quick break out pass or just making the simple play to clear their own zone. This isn't so much of an unwritten rule or etiquette but given that JMS is kind of a place for development I'd encourage people on D to actually play like it's a real game when in their own zone.

Also note that I'm not telling D to not press in the offensive zone, I'm saying that they should try and focus on improving their game and being smart when they're in their own zone defending.

Since we know what team we're on before we hit the ice, I'm for having white and dark socks too. I don't know how many times I've passed it to the wrong guy because out of the corner of my eye I can only see the white or whatever. So I grabbed up an alternate pair of socks. I'm not saying we all have to look pretty and perfectly match; just some white socks for the white and dark for the dark is all. my 2 cents

Thanks for this Karl, You cover several points quite well, especially the stoppage of play issues. JMS is not for money or the Stanley Cup. When the goalie makes the save or when the puck leaves the rink, back up and start over. All in all I have been very impressed with the JMS "ethic" over the 14 months I've played. thanks to the 99.8% who make this such a great skate.

I think another unrwitten rule that should be abided by (and likely only occurs in the lower level games) is if someone is obviously of a lesser skill level than you, give them another second or 2 on the puck playing defence on them or just play positionally and let them make a pass or skate a bit out of courtesy. I'm sure everyone has seen a level 3 just skate in and poke the puck off a level one and take off in the other direction; its not cool and you look like a jerk. On the offence side of things, make more plays that connect everyone on your team, ESPECIALLY the lower level players. Going off of what i just said before sometimes not everyone on the ice gets a lot of time with the puck on their tape, let everyone play, and try to avoid passing up opportunities to let the lower level players, ACUTALLY play.

I know I appreciate it as a Level 1 when a higher level player will let me take the puck up so i can get some more practice. I am still working on getting back onsides quickly as well. I am new to the game, but have found JMS to be a great place to start!

To add to what Christopher said about taking the position of the player coming off, be sure when you are coming off to be clear about what position you were playing. I think most of us know the hand signals as well. There have been times I have jumped on and the player coming off doesn't say where they were. Other than that, don't take it too seriously. We all have to work the next day, and there are no scouts from the Wild lurking in the stands.

Great thread. This should be summarized and sent to every new JMS'er. Also, when you say floating what does that mean? Just gliding around?

It means cherrypicking and trying to get a breakaway and not playing any form of defense (ie not backchecking). Personally I think there are some occasions where getting behind the D is fine in moderation (if you're a winger). But there are some who just look to pad their (non existent) stats and completely neglecting to play defense.

It means not really playing defense. When your team is on defense, if you are just hanging around the blue line/neutral zone waiting for your team to get the puck so you can take off on a breakaway, you are floating.

I read a lot of good points here and I think most of the issues will be resolved if they were brought up on the ice as well. This is a league comprised of beginners or returning hockey players who are new to adult open hockey who may not know and are more than willing to learn proper etiquette. You'd be helping them out by friendly pointing something out. Doesn't have to be long or drawn out, take 3 seconds and begin with "I noticed you... and end with what you should do is... and then wait for the long "ooohhhhhhhh I get it" or "shit sorry!".

None of us are that good or we not be playing jms. I have no issue with a forward hanging around the blue line taking away the point option for the team that is possession off the puck. Only played outside not on team so this advice may not be to great.

If you are hanging around the blue line and covering the other teams d who are on offense there is no issue with that because you don't want to give the point free shots on the cage to set up a possible tip. kinda want to make the team work for it a bit. Now if you are hanging in the neutral zone past the red line while your team is on defense and waiting for a pass for a break away that is an issue.

Exactly. If you are a wing covering the D man at the point, you are in a prime position for a break should the puck be turned over. Some faster upper level skaters have the awareness to see a turnover in progress down low. This is a situation where the wing may skate toward center to make themselves available for a breakout pass. By the time the puck has been sent up ice that winger could be 6 ft over the blue catching the pass. This is where the team that WAS pressing in the offensive zone and turned it over had every player staring at the turnover. That pass is made, everyone turns their head to see where the pass is going and automatically assumes that winger was cherry picking. My point is, if you are going to speak up and tell someone not to cherry pick, be sure they truly are. Like mentioned before, if your team is defending and you are in the neutral zone waiting for a turnover you are not only cherry picking but your making your team defend short handed, but I don't see anything wrong with breaking at the moment of a turnover to create a break away. If your d man takes possession in your zone it's your job as a winger to make yourself available for a pass, especially if the center is stuck down low. It feels pretty good as a D man to make a long tape to tape pass to a breaking winger. If you made the pass to send them on a break away and score, you not only made a great awareness play, you earned yourself a Apple :-)

Thanks Karl for starting this post and everyone else for your comments. I just signed up with JMS today and am going to my first game Thursday after not having played any hockey for ~33 years. This discussion has helped me get a feel for the culture of the games; I'm getting psyched to get out on the ice!

Here is another one: Non-verbals to announce positions when coming off the ice: Center: Tap top of helmet with glove Right wing: Lift your right elbow and make a wing Left wing: Lift your left elbow and make a wing Right defense: Tap your right knee pad with your stick Left defense: Tap your left knee pad with your stick Always play the position for the player coming off the ice you are replacing (unless there are players that always want to play defense who tell you to go up) - nothing worse then when a defenseman mysteriously becomes a forward leaving only 0 or 1 defense. Be a sport and chip in at D y'all if there aren't players wanting full time D responsibility.

Therest are no unwritten rules to JMS for thy words have now been written by brother Karl. I say, thou who hast never cherry picked, throw the first stone (Brother Karl lays down his stone) All who have witnessed a blue line-holding, tight-pinching defensemen, should thereby knowest that timely strecthing the ice by a wingman mayest be thy greatest lesson to they fellow opponent defensemen. -hockey jesus

Amen! ah thank ya jesus!

High sticks. Even though there are no referees, let's keep our sticks down and not try to hit pucks out of the air. There is a reason for the rule and someone could get hurt. Grab and drop pucks with your hands--that is what God gave them for you to use.

I've had a couple times where I came to the bench and l forgot to mention my position and the next player was pissed waited for me to say what position I was. It's helpful but just go play, chances are my spot was filled anyways. Note I do try to but just saying it's not the world if some don't.

Mark Chapin, thanks for this....those "waving at the ceiling" sticks make me nervous too..... BTW.....I looked in the Bible and I can't find the reference to God making hands to grab hockey pucks?? does God not know about JMS?.... cheers!

Bump. Randomly came across this and think it's pure gold!