Next to the cast-iron woodstove in our farmhouse in Center Harbor, New Hampshire, hangs a pair of wooden skates--my mother's from her childhood. We grew up listening to her stories about skating with her family on the frozen canals of her native Holland, so it probably was inevitable that skating on Squam Lake became our family's favorite pastime. In fact, all the kids in our family grew up playing ice hockey, even my four sisters.
Now that we've grown and started our own families (all told, easily amounting to more than two hockey teams), we return to the farm on the lake every third year or so and invite friends for a skating party.
If your family is planning a skating party, be sure to wait for a day that's cold and crisp, when the ice is as smooth as a marble countertop and three times as thick.
A hockey game is the main event of our party, but non-hockey players and smaller skaters can have just as much fun using the warm-up drills and games below for their own personalized party.
WARMING UP
Cold feet can ruin any ice party, so we warm our skates next to the woodstove before we head outside. We also wear silk or other thin socks--the more room your toes have to breathe, the longer they stay warm. Once you're ready, start warming up with these icebreakers.
MONKEY-IN-THE-MIDDLE
This is a good way to practice passing and puck control. As many as eight skaters form a big circle with one person standing in the center. The object is for the people around the circle to pass the puck without the monkey (in the middle) intercepting it. Two rules: All sticks must be kept below the knees, and there should be absolutely no lifting of the puck.
SHARP SHOOTER
My siblings and I see who has the best puck-shooting marksmanship by standing in the mouth of one hockey goal (formed by snow boots) and shooting the puck all the way through the goal at the other end of the rink. We use three pucks and give each player three tries.
Next to the cast-iron woodstove in our farmhouse in Center Harbor, New Hampshire, hangs a pair of wooden skates--my mother's from her childhood. We grew up listening to her stories about skating with her family on the frozen canals of her native Holland, so it probably was inevitable that skating on Squam Lake became our family's favorite pastime. In fact, all the kids in our family grew up playing ice hockey, even my four sisters.
