Home Away From Home

Finally more on the locker room. Sorry for the delay, i have been absolutely swamped. This is the Pens locker room on a road trip.

The locker room. It's a place to laugh. It's a place to joke. It's a place to get pumped. It's a place to get clean. It's a place for cliches. It really is a "multi-purpose facility".

The amount of time a hockey player spends in the locker room of the home barn throughout the season is definitely significant. The guys start filing in about an hour before practice and two or more hours before games. Sometimes, we even stay and hang out an hour after practice ends.

What exactly goes on in there on practice days? Well, "what happens in the locker room stays in the locker room". So obviously I can't go into specifics. But a general idea: We show up and talk it up about last weekend's banger over at Murph's place and who did what crazy shit. Next? Everyone gets a few chirps in on each other for laughs. We will put some tunes on, and some guys will throw in a ripper. The conversation continues while we start putting on our gear. Usually its pretty relaxed on practice days. Then coach will say a few words, and we'll get ready to hit the ice. Afterwards, some bonding time after a nice workout on the ice. Conversations about what flick to watch that night or where to meet for a couple sodas. Tunes are still playing in the background, usually some mellow stuff. Post-practice rippers. Then we hit the showers. The only place where 20 naked dudes can be in a 4x4 area and not be gay. (this only applies to hockey players). After getting fresh, we usually hit up sheetz for a Renegade or a Schmuffin, then on to do whatever.

For most of us, the best time of the day are those 2 or 3 hours we spent at the rink with our teammates. It's an escape from all the shit life pours on you during the day. There's nothing like sittin in the room after a tough practice with your 20 best friends, throwing in a ripper, listening to some tunes, bullshitting about everything.

More later. It's late.