The Invisible Man

Frequently in hockey if you don't play well, people say you "disappear" for the game, or become "invisible". This is because you weren't apart of any big or noticable plays. But sometimes there's another meaning, one in which your teammate literally disappears for the season.

You know the type of guy I'm talking about. Everyone signs up for a rec. league and gets put on a thrown together team. Someone shows up to the first 3 or so games, then suddenly stops appearing. It's like the guy in the movie Summer School who asks to go to the bathroom on the first day of class, and isn't seen again until the final exam.

By the time the 7th game rolls around, everyone barely remembers him, and may not even notice he is gone. Only if you're lucky he might show up for the final game of the season, which doesn't really count anyway cause your team invariably tanked due to low turnout.

For a rec. league you might actualy think this is a good thing since you end up getting more ice time. In reality though, it's always better to have more guys on the bench for you. The shorter the shifts you play, the harder you play them, and the better the team typically does.

It's sort of a catch-22 with this as well. The worst the team does, the less people show up. But to have a better chance of winning games, you need people to show up. I've never been on a winning team which didn't have a full roster almost every game, and I've never been on a losing team where at least 2 guys didn't stop showing up.

This past summer was definitely the worst. By the end of the season, we must have played 3 games with only 5 skaters, and at least 4 others with only 1 guy on the bench. Contrast that to this season at Hot Skates where we're in the playoffs. Except for a few occassions where people were out of town, we've almost always had a full roster.

This is why the first few games in a season are vital to a new teams success in a rec. league. A lot of people sign-up cause they think it will be fun and they can score some goals every so often. But if that's doesn't happen, and you start getting beat down, well then don't expect the guy who only recently picked up a stick 2 weeks before the season on a whim to show up anymore. It really sucks.

Don't worry though if you see me on your team. Through thick or thin, I'll be there. Not only cause of my heart in playing, but also the fact that I paid for this league. Seriously, why do people not show up when they paid hundreds of dollars for this?