[jonny24]

Originally Posted by Acajack

We have few posters with kids in hockey here, but maybe Esquire or some others will see this.

Anyway, I spent quite a bit of time at the Centre Slush Puppie over the winter, and it's a complex with four rinks, one a CHL arena and the other three are community ice pads.

I noticed that even once on a Monday late afternoon (barely 5 pm) there were groups of men in the parking garage having beers and listening to music outside their vehicles.

I might expect this during a weekend hockey tournament but is this is a thing that hockey dads do?

I wouldn't mention it if I hadn't seen it 3-4 times with different groups over the winter.

Originally Posted by esquire

^ They were doing this while their kids were having a practice?

I've never seen that personally. 99% of parents on my kid's teams sit around and watch from the stands. Maybe the parking lot parties happen but I don't get invited I'd associate that more with beer league hockey than with kids sports.

I will say that no other activity my kids engage in sees parents bond as much as with hockey. Baseball, ringette, dance, etc. I can barely recognize the other parents. Somehow hockey is different, you really get to know the other parents in that milieu.

My first thought was beer league - we do the exact same thing in the park after rugby practice - but 5pm is weirdly early in the day for that, no?

I like to use the "No alcohol" signs in dressing rooms as a bottle opener

Edit: early in the day for men's hockey, not for beers