Hi friends,

The Town Hall has been rescheduled for Monday, January 23rd at 7pm. It will be held at the Atwood Glass Nickel Pizza (2916 Atwood Ave) in the basement. We will provide pizza, there will be bar service (by which we mean there will be a bartender happy to give you drinks in exchange for yer moneys), and we’ll chat about how things are going this year. Please arrive promptly, so that everyone can get their pizza and settle down before we start chatting. The membership meeting will be held immediately prior to it at 6:30pm; members, please watch your inboxes for further information.

If you can’t make it, have something you’d like us to add to the agenda, or just want to give some feedback, please drop us a line here to help us prioritize topics and best facilitate the open forum discussion.

A reminder to those of you who have been involved in the league for at least a season that now is your chance to apply for membership if you haven’t already. Further information and the membership application can be found here or by logging into the website and going to Resources –> Membership. Please have all applications in by Sunday, January 22nd so that we can get ballots together. (If you’re new to the league this year, hold tight; you’ll get the chance to apply in the spring, after the season’s over but before our Annual Meeting where we do things like vote on Board Members and such.)

Finally, we look forward to seeing everyone this Sunday as league play resumes! (YAAAAAAAAAAY oh my gosh let’s never have Christmas and New Year’s on the weekends again.) Which reminds me, i need to get my skates sharpened–have you done that lately?

Keep your stick on the ice,

-k8- (they/them)
on behalf of your Board (Christina, Randi, Shelly, Tim, Matthew, Brian et moi)

Hello MGHA!

Hope everyone had a great holiday! Are you ready to skate off all of those extra cookies and drinks? I know I am!

So, let’s do this! Check out the practice schedule below. We’re also looking for some help. Take a look at our makeshift classifieds ad and let us know if you can help.

Thanks!
Tim (he/him/his)
– MGHA Board and Hockey Ops

Practice Schedule

Here’s the practice schedule for this Sunday, January 8th:

• 4:40 PM – Black / White
• 5:50 PM – Red / Gold
• 7:00 PM – Pink / Orange
• 8:10 PM – Maroon / Blue
• 9:20 PM – Lt Blue / Green

Please be there. Practices are great team-building times and this is a prime opportunity to work on some of your team’s weaknesses. If you can’t be there, please email your captains and let them know within the next day or two. They’ll be planning a practice based on the number of skaters attending.

We’re Looking for Help!

Oh! And by the way, are you looking for an opportunity to help the league? If so, do I have a role for you! The MGHA is looking for the following:

The “Stats Magician” (name flexible – you can pick it) would help us to make sure the website stats stay up-to-date week after week. We’d give you access to the website so that you can input the scores, penalties, and saves/shots from the week’s games. The process is fairly easy once you do it once or twice. This role will likely only take about 20-30 minutes a week.

Our “Gear Guru” would help us by taking care of donated gear. This person would keep an inventory of the gear and occasionally manage that inventory, checking to ensure that the gear is in good shape and, in the case of helmets, making sure they are not expired.

If you’d like to help with either of these awesome positions, let me know. These positions, of course, would count toward the volunteer time required for membership. (Note: Membership is different than just league participation. If you’re interested in membership, please send us a note via the website. We’ll also be sending more info on membership in the near future.)

December brings colder weather, 3 more games, and the potential for pond hockey! Check out what’s coming for the MGHA in the new winter month.

Check out when your favorite teams play on our Schedule, catch previous broadcasts in the Fan Zone, and see previous game pictures on our Facebook Albums!

Feature Game Preview

By MGHA Radio Host Zac Sielaff

We’ve got some exciting Feature Games coming up before the winter break, starting on December 4th with the GryffinDucks taking on the Flamers. While both teams feature solid offensive threats, look to the goaltenders in this battle. The GryffinDucks have their net protected by MGHA veteran Ryan Birdsall, who has over 1300 saves to his name. Flamers goalie Katy Werginz is new to the league, but has already proven herself to be more than capable, pitching a shutout in her MGHA debut against the Golden Skate Warriors.

Social Sponsor: Shamrock Bar

Speaking of the Warriors, they’ll take on House of Blues on the 11th. Both teams benefit from veteran leadership and a solid core of talent on both sides of the ice, giving them a very balanced attack. It’ll be great to see how each team adapts to the other, and this game could go either way.

Social Sponsor: Dexter’s Pub

Finally on the 18th, Bluega Whales will take on The Unforgiveables. The name of the game for both of these clubs is speed. In the end, this match may come down to whose legs last the longest. Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving, see you on the ice!”

Social Sponsor: Glass Nickel

RSVP on our Facebook page and event, and we’ll see you at Hartmeyer Ice Arena!

—

PS: we’re planning for more Community Partners in January, email social@madisongayhockey.org if you know a community organization interested in tabling with us!

 

 

Nothing to do on your Sunday afternoon? Come join the MGHA for a “Day at the Rink” skate on our home ice at Hartmeyer Ice Arena from 1:30pm – 4pm! Take the ice with family, friends, and D.C. Eagle of the Madison Capitals. Holiday treats will be provided. Best of all, it’s completely free.

After you tire yourself out on the ice, stick around in the stands for an MGHA Thanksgiving Potluck. While you eat, MGHA players will be facing off in skill-level separated challenge games. First up will be the advanced skaters, followed by the first intermediate game. Then our beginners will square off, showcasing how far they’ve come in just a few short weeks. The night will end with one last intermediate game. Did we mention this is all free?

We hope to see you there!

PS: Check out our new Apparel Page to get your MGHA threads for the holidays!

GOBBLE GOBBLE GOBBLE!

Translation: Happy Thanksgiving MGHA!

To celebrate, we have some challenge games. We’ve changed up the order so that skaters have the opportunity to skate at different times than normal. Please sign up for the game(s) that you would like to play. We ask that you self select a game that you can safely play in.  Sign up for one game until midnight Friday; after midnight on Friday, you may sign up for additional games.

Schedule:
4.40 – Advanced
5:50 – Intermediate
7:00 – Beginner
8:10 – Intermediate

27Nov2016 Challenge Games

You must log in to sign up.

Hope to see you on the ice!

-Hockey Ops (Brian, Mark, Tim, Nichole, Matthew, John, Kelli)

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If you haven’t yet, take a quick look at the Teams & Schedule page (make sure you’re logged in). It’s got a list of all of the scheduled games, team practices, and challenge games for this season. Last week’s info will be shown first (good for double-checking who won that game last week), with older stuff hidden behind a link. I wanted to talk briefly about some things the website will be doing this year.

 

How To Report Absences

When you’re logged in, the website can tell what team you’re on. It will show you a checkbox with “I am attending” beneath your team’s games. If you’re going to miss a game, email your captain to let them know, and uncheck that checkbox. That’ll let the website know it needs to find a sub for you.

Please do this before noon on the Sunday of your game!

How To Sub In A Game

If you want to sub for a game, you’ll tell the website this on the Teams & Schedule page. This replaces the sign-up sheet we used to have at the entrance to Hartmeyer. Pick which games you want to sub for and click the “I want to sub” checkbox underneath.

Please do this by noon on the Sunday of the game you want to sub for! Hockey Ops will email captains about missing players and potential subs shortly after noon, so if you’re late, you won’t be included in that email. Captains will email you asking you to sub in their game.

The website will prioritize recommendations to captains. You can read through all of the decisions it makes, but the most important one is skill level. If your skill level is too different from the absent player, the website won’t recommend you to sub. Everything else is just icing on the cake to make things nicer – the skill level filter is to make sure games are balanced. You might sign up for a game… but if there aren’t any players of your skill level missing, you won’t get recommended to sub.

New folks – this means it’s OK for you to try to sub for games!!! You will replace someone of the same skill level as you, so the games will remain fair. 🙂

How to do this has been summarized, too, in case you’re ever curious in the future and don’t want to dig up this email.

Scorebox

If you’ve been poking around on the Teams & Schedule page, you’ll notice that you have scorebox assignments, too. If you’ve never done the scorebox before, the scorebox documentation should help you out.

I created a utility that will help you track goalie saves on your phone, which some of you might prefer over paper. You can get to it through the scorebox documentation linked above, or through the game off of the Teams & Schedule page (where it will be pre-populated with the appropriate teams).

Your Calendar

If you go to your team’s page, scroll down to the bottom (where upcoming games are displayed). A link underneath will let you add all of the games to your calendar!

This doesn’t work for challenge games or your scorebox shift. That might not get coded until next season. 🙂

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The MGHA season calendar is updated with dates of clinics, evaluations, and practices. The season schedule will be released the week prior to the first games. Before the games begin, however, there are a series of important events to help us all prepare to take the ice. Please read carefully and reply to this email if you have questions or concerns.

Clinics
Clinics are open to all new and returning players. New players who are new to hockey are strongly encouraged to/should plan to attend all clinics.

We are very excited to announce that we will be having a GEAR SWAP on Saturday the 20^th, just before PRIDE!

TLDR:

• Stop by between 1-3p on Saturday in front of Hartmeyer Ice Arena
• Donate, swap, and acquire gear
• Look as fly as this pug with new gear; see image below
• Returning players: We’re having a jersey drive. Donate all of the extra jerseys and socks you have lying around!

 

Mo’ deets:

This event is for new and returning players who want to acquire new gear or get rid of old gear. We have a bunch of donated gear that is free if it fits you, so this is a great opportunity to save some money, especially for new-to-hockey players who don’t have any gear yet. Don’t be shy! If you have no idea where to start, come hang out with gear mentors and other returning players and get some advice. Returning players – if you’re interested in selling your gear, please plan to be available to accept payment. Even if you don’t have any gear you’re looking to move, come hang out and help out!

 

Can’t make this date?

• Players who need gear: contact Kit (kit@madisongayhockey.org) and we can see if we have anything that’ll work out for you
• Players who want to get rid of gear: post your items on locker-room/our Facebook group and wait for someone to bite! Or if you want to donate your gear and not have to think about it further, contact Kit (kit@madisongayhockey.org) to arrange for a gear drop-off/pick-up ASAP (preferably before the 20^th)!

Thanks,

-Kit Hamada and Sarah Bottjen, Gear Swap Rockstars