Friday, March 19, 2010

Blah Blah Blog - Help me pick a name


It has been over a week since my last post due to a serious role change at work but Coach Dutton will keep on kicking! Due to an overload of responsibilities I will have to cut the blog posts to once a week. That being said we have also decided to drop the proposed name of Black Biscuit Hockey due to legal issues. So, a new name must be picked asap! So far, my favorites are Hockey Ninja, Hockey Hooligans, BDuts Hockey Shack, One Stop Hockey Shop, The Dangler, Backhanders, Pipe Ringers, Fisticuffs, Dump and Chase, Goons Hockey Shop, and last but not least...Dutton Lumber (my grandfather owned a lumber company called Dutton Lumber). Thoughts?

Monday, March 8, 2010

Local Player Bio - Kelly Herberger: Rocking the Juicy Fruit



Kelly Herberger - in the back, second from left. She might be little, but her tenacity on the ice makes her a giant. I had the honor of coaching Kelly once upon a time. It was refreshing to be able to work with someone who’s love for hockey started later in life – her love for hockey is fresh and her enthusiasm is contagious. She would listen and respond to constructive criticism which is rare when working with adults. She has come a long way since lacing up her skates for the first time and this is her story:

I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio where hockey was fairly popular. I didn’t have much interest in hockey, but I skated for fun in high school. I started out on figure skates, but my friends convinced me to buy hockey skates because they were “cooler.” I still have these circa 1980 skates. I went to Miami University of Ohio – now a name in college ice hockey – but back then, not so much. I went to a few games, mostly because I had a crush on one of the players. And I played about six seasons of broomball. I wanted to take a hockey class, but some guys told me it would be too tough for a girl, so I didn’t sign up. This is the biggest hockey-related regret of my life.

I moved to the DC area in 1986 and skated off and on for years – many times with a friend who had been an Olympic figure skater (and tried not very successfully to help improve my skating). About six years ago, I started skating regularly. After about a year, I got bored of going in circles and decided to take a chance on hockey. Keep in mind that I was 42 years old, an average skater, and fairly uncoordinated. I had never played a team sport or even competed in any sport at all! I took some clinics and started playing in the “mostly men’s” league at Fairfax Ice Arena. A few years ago, I also started playing in a women’s league. I’ve had terrific teammates, captains, and coaches – both men and women - who tirelessly advise me, pump me up, and forgive me for making the same mistakes over and over. I am so happy to see more young women start playing hockey, and I am in awe of their skill. Don’t be afraid to try ice hockey – it’s difficult, but incredibly fun and exhilarating! The name of my team at Ballston (Kettler) is Juicy Fruit – I know – totally embarrassing, but I didn’t vote for it. There are only 4 teams in the women’s league there, but that was the first time in my hockey career that I’d been on a championship team, so it was really fun for me. Both of our games were pretty exciting –the first game we won 2-1 in a shootout. I scored a goal in the second period and then they scored one. In the shootout we went through every person on our team except me (I begged to be last) – one of our defense women scored the winning goal right before me! In the “gold medal” game, we won 3-1 with a final empty net goal. In the women’s league, we switch up goalies every week, but we ended up with the same goalie for both of the final games – she did an unbelievable job! Of course, since we’re women, both teams who played in the final went out together for beers and burgers after the game.

Below is some information on how to get started playing women’s hockey, whether young in age or young at heart, there are plenty of opportunities in the DC metro area for women to compete against each other.


Kettler’s Adult Hockey Skating classes in our Learn to Skate Program will give beginners a solid foundation to build upon. Once you are confident as a hockey skater, you will be ready to join our Adult hockey classes to learn the fundamentals and you will be joining the Adult League in no time.

Rise & Shoot—Women’s Learn To Play
This class was created in response to a group of hockey moms looking to increase their understanding of the game. The class was so successful we added more classes and the “hockey moms” are rapidly becoming hockey players.
Prerequisite: Must have previous skating experience,
Adult Hockey Skating classes recommended.
Monday Mornings, 6:30am—7:45am
Each session includes 6 weeks of classes plus a 6 pass practice card for public skate.
Price $150
3/8/10—4/12/10 Registration now open

WOMEN’S ADULT LEAGUE
Women’s League registration will open on March 1st.
Games will be played on Monday nights
Season will include 16 games plus playoffs
$400

ADULT SKILLS & DRILLS
Skills & Drills emphasizes learning and improving hockey skills at your own pace through the use of interactive drills, small area games, situational play and scrimmaging. Each session is designed for adult players, men and women, of all skill levels.
Prerequisite: Adults with previous skating experience,
Adult Hockey Skating classes recommended.
Wednesday Evenings, 9:15pm—10:30pm
Each session includes 6 weeks of classes plus a 6 pass practice card for public skate.
Price $180
Sessions:
4/7/10—5/12/10 Registration opens 3/7
5/19/10—6/23/10 Registration opens 4/19

To learn more about hockey for young women in the area check out the Junior Women's Hockey League. It is an ice hockey league established in 2007 to provide opportunities for young females to develop into collegiate student-athletes. The JWHL has teams in both the US and in Canada and will be entering its third season of play in 2009.

Their mission:

Our goal is to be a major player and assist in the development of women's hockey.
We are excited to help it move in a new direction.
We believe the time is now to offer young women an opportunity to develop to peak athletic potential based on a sound philosophy for development of the elite and committed athlete.

Also check out a local woman's team, the Washington Pride.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Caps Goal Song Contest winner inspires Coach Dutton to offer YOU a chance to win!


Have you ever heard of the Sandbox Kings? Well if you are a Caps fan, you will hear a lot more of them! Sandbox Kings won the DC 101 Create a Caps Goal Song Contest. Their song will be played after every goal the Washington Capitals score at the Verizon Center, for the rest of the season. Very cool since they are a local band. The Song is called "Rock The Red". It will debut tonight when the caps play the Tampa Bay Lighting at 7pm. Its on tv on CSN-DC and will be played on DC 101 Friday during Elliot in the Morning. My goal in the future is to post interesting competitions like this one, hockey related of course, on my future web site. Coming soon will be a much more professional Coach Dutton blog site (hopefully as cool as On Frozen Blog where I got this hot intel). After reading the letter between Branko Hodzic of the SBK and the OFB team...you've got to be a fan of SBK! Check them out and support local musicians!!!

So here is the scoop on my competition. I need some more ideas for a store front/website name. In honor of the Sandbox Kings winning DC 101's competition, I am going to have my own. The person that comes up with a name for us will win the grand prize. The grand prize consists of 1 free t-shirt, stickers, one free admission to a skills competition and...free beer after the event. Just post the name idea below, on facebook or email me! The winner will be announced if and when we find the name that is the perfect fit! As you know, Coach Dutton plans to provide you with all things hockey. If you have great intel on local competitions, tournaments, or just some cool hockey based events, please let us know!!

Monday, March 1, 2010

Indoor Rink - Blog #2 - instructions and cost



My poor daughter will soon be able to get rid of her cardboard rink box once I finish up the basement rink! The rink should be finished in a week or two (once my contractors finish insulating the walls and sledge hammer the concrete overhang that is about 2 inches longer than the wall framing). Right now I am finishing up my cutting and screwing. All that's left is bolting and laying the tiles!! Below are the basic plans I used to start this project...

materials/Item Cost/Item Total Cost
(for 15'X15' basement rink)
1/2" X 4' X 8' spruce plywood X 8 $18.00 $144.00
2" X 4" X 8' boards X 35 $2.00 $70.00
3" deck screws box 200 (2x4 to 2x4) $25.00 $25.00
2" deck screws box 200 (plywood to 2x4) $20.00 $20.00
3/8" X 5" bolts, nuts and washers X 16 (corners) $1.00 $16.00
Roller Hockey Tiles got a deal online $300.00
Goal $100 $100

TOTAL $675.00

TOOLS USED:

- bottle opener
- drill
- electric mitre saw
- circular saw
- wrenches
- Robertson drill bit
- 3/8" long drill bit
- safety goggles are a good idea but not always used
- basement


The Corners
Three pieces creates a corner that is a good trade off between good curvature and build-time. Two pieces would help save considerable build-time and will be used on my “door side” where the entry is to the rest of my house. The magic angle is 15 degrees (see pics attached). This creates a full 90 degree total angle on a 4 foot radius. The side and end boards that attach to the corner will NOT need angle cuts!
1. Cut plywood on angle the panels are based on 18" X 4' where the plywood meets the 2" X 4" framing (minus 3 inches for beer rail around entire rink). Thus, the plywood face attached to the framing needs to be 18" and so does the "inside" framing itself. Rip the plywood to 18" (no angle) and then cut the 15 degree angle afterwards with circular saw. This means the inside edge of the plywood will be slightly less than 18" as a result. I did the cutting on the basement floor on top of a few 2X4s to keep the blade clear of the floor.
2. Cut corner framing (2X4) 18" wide (short side) at 15 degrees on BOTH ends (see pics).
3. Screw top and bottom framing to plywood use the 2" screws.
4. Cut and attach vertical pieces (2X4) measure the distance between the top and bottom pieces you attached in the previous step. IMPORTANT - attach these vertical members flush to the plywood with NO angle cuts - this helps the bolts pull the corners nice and tight (see pics)
5. Cut and attach middle cross brace (2X4) measure and cut (I did not put in a middle brace for corners since this is a kid rink and indoors).
6. Repeat the above steps to create three identical panels.
7. Bolt panels together with long flat 3/8" drill bit make 4 holes then counter sink the nut side with a 1" flat bit.


How to make the end and side panels
The sides and ends are full 4' X 8' sheets of plywood framed on the backside. Bolt and mount to concrete basement wall.

total cost approx. $550 (with beer)
build time approx. 40 hrs (just a guess based on my stolen plans since I have not finished it yet)




*These plans are stolen from the web and adjusted to suit my needs.