Lasker Rink at Central Park

Ever wanted to win a hockey championship emblazoned with Donald Trump's name? Play under the stars in scenic Central Park? Haul all your hockey gear on a subway? Well, you're in luck, because New York has the place just for this! Located all the way uptown in Central Park North is Lasker rink. They have a pretty snazzy website you can check out here.

Although the rink is located pretty far north in Manhattan, it's very easy to get to. There is a 2,3 subway station right at Lennox ave. and 110th street which is across the street from Central Park. If you drive in, there's usually street parking around the entrance, but give yourself about 15 minutes extra. You can actually see the rink from the street. If you listen quietly, you can even hear hockey games going on. I would estimate the rink is about a two blocks distance from the entrance.

During the warm weather months the rink is converted to a pool. But between October and the end of March they turn it into two mini-rinks. There's actually a good video showing both the pool and the rink on the Parks Department website.

Now you'll notice that I just said mini-rink. It's quite considerably narrower and shorter than a regulation 200x85 foot rink. They make up for this with pond hockey rules of 4-on-4, no icing, but blue lines are kept. The size seems to mess with goalies the most. There are two benches, but no penalty box. If two games are going on at the same time, one plays with two whistle blows for stoppage, and the other with one whistle blow.

Lasker is an outdoor facility. This means you'll be outside in the cold and games can be cancelled due to bad weather. Also this can make for tricky ice conditions during the early and later parts of the season when the weather is warmer. Even during perfect conditions the ice isn't exactly NHL quality. Don't be surprised to find leaves embedded in the ice, lots of dark spots, and big grooves in it. It's still fine to skate on though, and you won't even notice once the game gets going and everyone chops up the ice with their skates.

Lasker provides lots of hockey options: open hockey, stick-and-puck, adult house leagues, youth house leagues, and youth travel teams. They also have the usual stuff rinks have, such as public skate and even some figure skating lessons. Be sure to check out their website mentioned above for scheduling information, as it tends to vary a lot.

This is a USA hockey facility, so all players in the leagues need to be registered (insurance purposes). USA hockey registration runs to $33 this year. Cost of playing in the league is $325 this season, which is the cheapest you'll find for an ice league in the city. Goalies play for free.

There's only 1 season a year from the beginning of November until the middle of March. The divisions in the league tend to shift around every season, but usually it's 5 divisions total for the adult leagues. Players are allowed to join up to 2 adjacent divisions. Each division plays on a different night of the week. All the divisions are co-ed. The last few years I only saw a handful of women players spread across the entire league, but this year there are even 2 full teams made up of entirely women. Don't be surprised when they beat you, because they all appear to have played in college.

Both men and women's locker rooms are on-site. Each has complete bathrooms with showers. These are the only indoor portions of the facility. As with any public park, the rest rooms are sort of...meh. Goalies can also store all their equipment on-site for free during the length of the season. There's a back room they lock up specifically for this. Be advised though, if you don't pick up your equipment before the end of March, then it becomes house equipment for next year!

A few weird things with the locker room though. Obviously it's going to smell. The staff does a good job cleaning it though. That means it'll either smell like bad BO or bleach. Children change in the same room as well, so you're actually not supposed to go buck naked in there. This year they also converted one of the small rooms, which is technically inside the men's locker, into a women's locker room. Yes, that means women walk into the men's locker. Just another reason not to go full nude. And let's all be honest, even if it was all grown men inside, the last thing we need is for guys waving their junk around while they change anyway.

All that's great, but what about the most important park of a rink? What about the atmosphere?! The players who show up tend to range from guys recently out of college, all the way to men in their 50's. I feel there's a bit more maturity with the players attitudes and speech with each other, and it translates to the ice. You'll notice it with the short shifts most guys take. Most of the teams come back every year, and they're kept organized by a captain on each team. Each team has their own attitude, but everyone is pretty well past their prime playing days and is simply there to have fun.

Overall the facility is decent, and definitely the best priced option. The location is very easy to get to, but sort of far north. If you're strictly keeping to Manhattan, then this is the only facility which will assign you as a free agent no matter what (no tryouts). The one thing Lasker offers which you won't find any where else in New York though is the ability to play under the stars in Central Park. When the weather is clear, it can be really beautiful to skate ice with that backdrop. And who can resist the chance to get a Trump branded hockey jersey?