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What is TERMINAL HOCKEY
CLUB?
Terminal Hockey is two things, really.
It's a group of
players ranging in age from 20 - 50, who meet once a week, on Thursday evenings, to play fiercely competitive pickup games.
It's also a state of mind--as the
name suggests, a permanent mental condition that makes you want to play our kind of hockey in the first place.
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How do you know if you're Terminal?
Chances are you were born that way, though cases of adult onset are not unknown. The
symptoms probably began to manifest themselves when you were just a kid. In the winter, you were the first one on the pond, and the last
one off. You were also the kid who fell through most often. In the springtime, when the other kids wanted to play baseball, you were the
one who tied the sofa cushions to your legs and begged the others to take slapshots at you with a tennis ball. When you got older you
were a rinkrat, the kind of teenager who got high on Zamboni fumes You became a diehard fan of one or more professional teams, and you
new their stats better than you knew your homework. But you were also the kind of fan who, if given the chance, would much rather play
than watch. |
| And now that you're a grownup, more or less, you
know you're Terminal because Thursday is the high point of your week. It's the
day when you get up happily but already looking forward to nightfall; when as the afternoon wears
on, your legs begin to twitch under your desk; and when in your daydreams you're already suited up and out on
the ice. |
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You know you're Terminal when your wife or girlfriend knows
not even to think about suggesting that you do something else on a
Terminal Night. She may not
understand your condition, but she accepts it.
After all, it's terminal! |
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Are you good enough to play? Terminal players come in all ages, of
varying abilities, and from all walks of life. At heart, though, we're all hockey
knuckleheads who once a week like to be in the company of other hockey
knuckleheads. We understand each other in a way that only knuckleheads can. |
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| We play hard and we play to win. Terminal
hockey is not feel good hockey, where there are no losers. But it's not fantasy
hockey either. We understand that we all have to get up and go to work the next day, and we play accordingly.
(Most of the time, anyway.) We know that all players are not created equal; we also
know that over the course of a game or two, everyone falters and sooner or later, everyone outdoes himself, if only for an instant.
We build our teams and our games on those inevitable ups and downs and swings of fortune, and more often
than not they all even out in the end. |
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By then it's time to head out to
the parking lot for some much-needed and well-deserved fluid replacement, and for
camaraderie and conversation. What do we talk about? Hockey of course. What
makes the Terminal experience so satisfying is that it both requires and rewards a
one-track mind.
Come check us out, you will not be sorry you did.
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