NHLers booted off the ice by figure skating coach

[IDC a.k.a. Ritti]

This made the news even here in Finland...
Locked-out NHLers booted off the ice by Coach Marla

Coach Marla “waltzed straight out to the middle of the ice and told us all to get off,” Falk, the locked-out Wild defenseman, said, laughing. “We have a tough enough time getting on the ice as it is, let alone having a figure skater kick us off.”

“That’s seems to be the general attitude in figure skating these days,” locked-out Wild bruiser Matt Kassian said jokingly. “It’s very much about control and power, and she definitely had both of those going for her.”

[misskarne]

Wooohoo! Good on her!

Waaah waah waaaaah, you poor hockey brats. "tough enough time getting on the ice as it is"? PAH! Try being a figure skater! Figure skating gets nowhere near the ice time hockey does. Maybe this'll be good for the hockey jerks!

Oh, and it gets worse - the only reason they switched sheets was because they chewed up the first one! And then they tried to send the coach and her little eight year old onto the chewed up one! SKATE ON IT YOURSELF YOU JERKS.

[Aussie Willy]

I wouldn't take the article too seriously. It seemed to be very tongue in cheek.

[Flatfoote]

Love it! Nice to see the jocks forced to yield the floor to the arts.

Back in 2001, a football coach ordered his players to run wind sprints through the ranks of a drum and bugle corps that had rights to the field for rehearsal. The coach decided it was his field no matter what the university had negotiated. Members of the corps were injured. And, IIRC, though this article doesn't mention it, some expensive musical instruments were also damaged. He was ultimately fired over it.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2...otball-players

[gkelly]

Love it! Nice to see the jocks forced to yield the floor to the arts.

Why "arts"? Figure skating can be an artform, but for most skaters it's a sport first. Little girls can be jocks too.

[leafygreens]

Waaah waah waaaaah, you poor hockey brats. "tough enough time getting on the ice as it is"? PAH! Try being a figure skater! Figure skating gets nowhere near the ice time hockey does. Maybe this'll be good for the hockey jerks!

Exactly, figure skaters are the ones who have to skate at 5am, while the hockey players get mid-day ice AND get paid big bucks... Also, they chewed up one rink and then just moved to another, instead of having it resurfaced?

[Zemgirl]

I wouldn't take the article too seriously. It seemed to be very tongue in cheek.

I thought so too, the hockey players didn't seem too upset, more like amused.

I thought it was interesting that the ice was reserved for one eight year old skater. Is this common when working with kids?

[leafygreens]

The reason the hockey players were amused is because they are used to being able to walk into any rink and have as much ice time as they want. They are not used to having a figure skater assert their right to ice time.

The session was probably freestyle or public - and nobody was there so they thought they could just walk on and do hockey. Then the freestyle student shows up and the coach tells them they have to leave. Just my guess. It doesn't matter if it's an eight year old or not.

The fact that an entire team of NHL players got off the ice proves that they were wrong to be there in the first place. Also, they had their OWN rink and were too lazy to have the ice resurfaced, so they go to the other rink and are surprised when someone says they can't run roughshod over the entire facility because little girls have to use it too.

Also, that there was a "tongue-in-cheek" article written at all, shows that figure skaters are supposed to "know their place," and those that don't, get articles written about them that make fun of their "attitude".

[Zemgirl]

The session was probably freestyle or public - and nobody was there so they thought they could just walk on and do hockey. Then the freestyle student shows up and the coach tells them they have to leave. Just my guess. It doesn't matter if it's an eight year old or not.

The article said it had been reserved for the coach and this student, and I was curious because even elite skaters often train in groups (not to mention how expensive ice time is!).

Also, that there was a "tongue-in-cheek" article written at all, shows that figure skaters are supposed to "know their place," and those that don't, get articles written about them that make fun of their "attitude".

That wasn't my impression at all, but YMMV.

[Flatfoote]

Why "arts"? Figure skating can be an artform, but for most skaters it's a sport first. Little girls can be jocks too.

Figure skating is a unique and beautiful thing. It is an art. But we all know exactly how taxing a sport it really is. The jocks I speak of are the ones who think it's not a sport cause of the costumes and dance moves and such.

My drum corps compatriots suffer the same stigma. In fact, the governing body of competitive color guard (Winter Guard International) has taken on the slogan "Sport of the Arts."

I just relate to figure skating the same way. It's definitly a sport, and a very demanding one. Yet it's often looked down on by those who are in the macho type sports.

[sk8er1964]

Figure skating is a unique and beautiful thing. It is an art. But we all know exactly how taxing a sport it really is. The jocks I speak of are the ones who think it's not a sport cause of the costumes and dance moves and such.

You'd be surprised. I know a lot of hockey players, including one who played pro, who have a very healthy respect for figure skating as a sport. They've spent enough time in rinks to know how hard you have to work to get to the higher levels.

[skatemommy]

The hockey players should of asked Marla for lessons on how to skate backwards. and crossovers. and stroking.

[sk8er1964]

They are in the NHL. I'm sure they can skate just fine.

[professordeb]

Well it wouldn't hurt for some of them to learn how to hold an edge considering how many of them "blow a tire" during a game LOL

[skatemommy]

They are in the NHL. I'm sure they can skate just fine.

Stick handle, shoot, fight, spit - yes. Back crossovers....sadly no.

[aliceanne]

I can't complain about hockey too much. We never had year-round ice or multi-surface rinks in my area until hockey became popular. You were either dressed in 20 layers or skating on an inch of water.

[sk8er1964]

Stick handle, shoot, fight, spit - yes. Back crossovers....sadly no.

Watch the defensemen. That they can skate that well backwards on hockey skates is amazing. (If you've ever tried hockey skates you know what I mean). Plus, hockey the game isn't made for long powerful strokes and deep edges. It's made for fast movements, speed, and quick reactions.

FWIW, hockey players from tots on up do spend time doing back crossover drills in practice, but the reality of hockey is that it is a forward-skating sport - they prefer to skate forward. I would hazard to guess most figure skaters prefer to skate backwards - I know I do. Forward power circles are hard!

(As you can tell, I have a lot of respect for hockey. My son played for nine years. When he started I knew nothing about the sport except that they took all our ice time. Now, I understand and like the sport.)