Happy Halloween, all!
It’s the spookiest day of the year, and even though there’s a lot that’s different this year than Halloweens past, the magic of the season still remains.
Even though Halloween is all about the supernatural kind of spooky, 2021 has really made us do some thinking, and there’s a lot of everyday things that are even spookier than the suprenatural. As you probably know if you clicked on this article, we at BarDown are big hockey people, so we decided to compile some real life hockey horror stories that have happened to all of us at one point or another during our hockey careers.
1. Stepping on the ice with skate guards on
This one has happened to all of us, and it’s more utterly horrific each time it happens than the last. There’s nothing quite comparable to the feeling of stepping over the boards expecting the natural glide and crack of the ice, only to instead feel the unfamiliar and slippery loss of control that comes with being unable to stand. Though it is one of the most hilarious things that could happen to a teammate, it’s definitely a hockey horror story if it happens to you.
2. Realizing you forgot a piece of equipment while getting dressed
There’s nothing quite as horrifying as having a grand old time in the dressing room, laughing with your teammates, slowly taping your sticks, stretching, leisurely getting dressed, and then reaching into your bag to get something that’s not there. Your hand wanders around your hockey bag calmly at first, and then it picks up speed, rifling through your gear more intensely, until you’ve got both hands and your head in your smelly hockey bag searching frantically for something that’s inevitably on your garage floor. It’s a feeling like no other, but it’s still not as much of a hockey horror story as the moment you have to go tell whoever brought you to the rink what you forgot. Now THAT is a horror story.
3. Getting to the rink when your team is already on the ice
We’re not sure if you know true panic unless you’ve shown up to the arena thinking you had plenty of time, only to find that you’d read the schedule wrong and that your team is already on the ice. The sheer panic that goes through you when it slowly clicks that the team on the ice is yours makes your heart drop into your sneakers, and the only thing you can to is break into a little shuffle run to get to the dressing room as quickly as possible. Suddenly, you’re throwing on your equipment at lightning speed and your socks are on your head and your left skate it on your right hand. Hockey horror story, indeed.
4. Your team getting scored on while you’re in the box
This hockey horror story is a unique one. It like feels a lot like a scene in a scary movie when the main is trapped in a closet of a haunted house and their pals are left to fend for themselves. The main character can’t to anything but listen to their friends scream in horror, and it’s a lot like watching your team get beat up on while you’re sitting in the penalty box. You can see your team collapsing in front of the net, but you can’t physically do anything about it until the other team lights the lamp and you can leave the box to join your disgruntled friends. It’s embarrassing, it’s incredibly frustrating, and it is definitely a hockey horror story.
5. Your skate blade breaking on the ice
You’ve seen it happen to the pros, but has it ever happened to you? There’s nothing quite as freaky as flying around the ice with ease one second, only to crash into the boards with no hope of getting up again the next. It’s exactly like those horrific dreams where you can’t move your body while something spooky is chasing you, except you can’t move your body while your watching the other team soar down to the other end on your goalie, all while you’re forced to crawl to the bench with your blown tire.
6. Showing up to the wrong arena
You get to the rink with plenty of time to spare. You’re prepared for a leisurely walk into the arena and a calm gearing up experience to get into the zone. Then, you start to check for which dressing room your team is in. You check a few of the rooms, only to find a couple of empty ones and a couple more with alarmingly unfamiliar faces. You don’t know a soul here. You know you’re there on time, but you’re definitely not there early enough to be the first person to arrive. You settle yourself in a dressing room. You brace yourself to check the schedule on your phone. You realize you’re at the wrong arena, and it’s literally always on the other side of town when you get this wrong. Start running, kid, this is a hockey horror story.
7. Scoring on your own net
If you’re a defenseman, this has definitely happened to you at one point or another during your career. It usually happens with good intentions, which just makes it all the more horrifying. The way the world slows down, the sinking of your stomach, the confused cheers, the dirty look from the goalie, and the lighting of the wrong lamp are enough to inspire any terrible horror movie.
What do you think is the worst hockey horror story? Let us know what you think @BarDown!
