Back to the Rink: A Message From Our Future Selves

Michael and Angela kick things off with a quick trip through This Week in Youth Hockey, including the college kids’ media day and their shiny new hockey jerseys. Meanwhile, the 12-year-old officially begins full-time practices for the new season—which apparently means missing one already because Mom and Dad have tickets to see Third Eye Blind. Priorities.Then we fire up the Pucked Up Parents Time Machine and head back to 2013, when Michael and Angela were wide-eyed, inexperienced hockey parents with absolutely no idea what they had signed up for. What would our 2026 selves tell those rookie versions of ourselves before embarking on the next 13 years of hockey?Would we warn them about the cost? The endless miles? The tournaments, hotels, equipment, early mornings and general insanity that comes with raising a hockey player? Would we tell them to enjoy it more, stress less, or simply buy stock in hockey tape?Michael also climbs back onto his favorite soapbox to once again rail against the lack of local media coverage for youth hockey, because apparently 13 years of experience has not made him any less salty.And finally, we look at how getting involved in hockey can evolve over the years—from coaching and volunteering to the ultimate leap: actually strapping on the skates and getting out on the ice yourself.It’s a look back at where we started, what we know now, and all the things we wish someone had told us before we became hockey parents.