2021 doan’s Winter Classic

We have two skates in already on the rink at Jim Doan’s! Jim has made more upgrades to the barn and we now have even more room to spread out and host a banquet.

The 2021 Doan’s Winter Classic is scheduled for February 6th. We draft four teams as evenly as possible from those present at 9:30 am. Games begin by 10 am. Single elimination tournament. We typicaly end by 1 pm and relax with some food and drink in the barn.

We will have pop up skates between now and then depending on the weather. If you have an interest in skating, join the email list.

These events are at your own risk. Don’t worry mom, we have plenty of safety meetings!

EHL Registration

Our plan is to run the early Sunday hockey league for the 2020 – 2021 season. If the restrictions are not lifted we may be held to just one sheet of ice for the season. We are working through the challenges as we can. A league meeting is scheduled for Sunday, August 16th at 2 pm. Details are on the EHL Page.

In the meantime, I do have sheets of ice reserved for August 23rd and 30th. You can register for the upcoming season with a $50 deposit on your ice time bill and receive discounted drop in skate fees of $10!

Simply purchase the EHL Registration, then when logged into the site you can book the Sunday ice times for just $10 each.

8/23

11 am; 12:15 pm; 1:30 pm; 245 pm; 4:00 pm

8/30

11 am; 12:15 pm; 1:30 pm; 2:45 pm

Use this button below to purchase your EHL Registration. The $50 goes towards your teams ice bill.

Color

Size

Clear

Island Lake State Park to Kensington Metropark

My go to bike ride is about 20 minutes from my home.

It starts in Island Lake State Park, which offers free access with the Michigan Passport.

Here are some quick stats:

Enter the park off Kensington Road and park at the Island Lake Picnic Grounds. (option to add a couple miles by parking at Trail Head)
Ride your bike north, under I-96 and enter Kensington Metro Park
Turn left when you come up out of the tunnel to ride down the biggest hill or just stay right to ride around and up the biggest hill. We go right first, then left on second time around.
The trip from parking, around Kent Lake and back is 10.8 miles according to Strava app on my phone.
Bathrooms are available a few times along the ride, very clean.

Enjoy to ride!

Great Skate Last Night! Salsa was a hit.

A Big Thanks!

With Greg Weingarden and Chuck Irwin in net and skaters: Andrew Wright, Bob Gidcumb, Brian Mullin, Conner Bigelow, Darren Newton, Dwight Hicks, Jeff Rouse, Jim Doan, John Finn, Keith Kiernicki, Logan Rothley, Mark Vansaw, nicholas gilbert, Patrick Nord, Reed Clark, Scott Poliskey, Simpson, Tony Hall.

Thanks for skating last night. Special thanks to Jeff Rouse and John Finn for bringing guests. As long as we can get enough skaters, we will skate on Fridays.

Fridays are special skates for the after party in Skaters Bar. This Friday was exceptional as I brought lots of home made salsa, guacamole and chips to wash down with a few beers. Skaters Bar was packed with our skaters and GFHA coaches who hung out after a practice.

Wish I had taken some pics, but I was too busy chowing on the salsa and reliving the better moments of the skate.

I’ll set up a link for this coming Friday the 12th. I have a 7am flight to Denver on Saturday, so I won’t be hanging out this week! Need some beauty rest!

We are just a few short weeks away from the 3 on 3 tournament. If you are putting a team together, now is the time to do it. At least register the team, payment can be dealt with at registration. I’ll share my video chalk talk of the way a 3 on 3 game works.

Flint Oldtimers Tournament

Team Gears Beer is competing in the 50+ Division of

BILL EVERETT’S 32nd ANNUAL

VEHICLE CITY INTERNATIONAL OLDTIMERS HOCKEY TOURNAMENT

Flint, Michigan, USA

April 7, 8, 9, 2017

AMERICA’S QUALITY OLDTIMERS HOCKEY TOURNAMENT BENEFITING THE

WHALEY CHILDREN’S HOME

Whaley Children’s Center serves resilient youth, teaching them how to succeed as individuals,

by providing continuity of care across all programs and supporting them with the resources

they need to succeed as individuals.

We hope to see you there,

The Bill Everett Family

Gears Beer Team Lineup

Bob Gidcumb

Darren Newton

Dave Crabill

Don Edwards

Dwayne Gidcumb

Mark Hochkins

Phil Burak

Scott Poliskey

Scott Walters

Time Johnson

Tom Willet

Tournament Schedule

Gears Beer game times:

Friday at 8:30 PM at Crystal Fieldhouse
Saturday at 5:00 PM at Crystal Fieldhouse
Sunday at 8:30 AM at Crystal Fieldhouse

Full Tournament Schedule

Double Your Drop In Hockey!

Full Sheets For Wednesday & Friday Drop In Hockey

There has been more interest in our skates the last few weeks and the list fills up fast! Soon we will have a new system to organize the skates, but it isn’t ready just yet. For now the Whoozin.com system has been serving its purpose. Yet, it has been a challenge to keep space open for the “regulars” when the list fills up so quick. So, I’ve booked two sheets for a series of Friday nights. I’m working on locking in the goalies, which is the biggest challenge to pull this off. It will work out, but I wanted to give you a heads up on the schedule so you can recruit a few MORE skaters to fill two sheets. With tournaments coming up, generally we have more guys wanting to get some ice time in. I’ve only booked four dates of doubles so far.

Two Sheets Dates

February 10th
February 24th
March 3rd
March 17th

I had expected to start next week, Feb 3rd, but that won’t work with the rink. Also, note that Feb. 17th isn’t on the list for a double, we are off that Friday. So I booked the ice for Thursday the 16th of February. Yep, for some of us that will be back to back nights of skating! Were up to it!

Doan’s Winter Classic

A much smaller, outside 3 on 3 tournament is scheduled for February 25th. Yep, we moved the date back again! Winter and Jim’s family commitments have us pushed back a bit. There is only room for 24 skates. 6 teams of 4. We do a random draft based on a rating system. Everyone brings a dish to pass. You can learn more about Doan’s Winter Classic at https://gears.beer/product/2017-doans-winter-classic/
Contact Dave if you have an interest in joining the tournament.

3 on 3 Ice Battle – June

Jeff, Annabelle and Dave

Annabelle and Jordyn

Also, a heads up on the 3 on 3 Ice Battle. I’ve booked 23 hours of ice time in June! 6 pm – 10 pm Friday June 2nd; 9 am – 8 pm June 3rd and 10 am – 6 pm June 4th. We are running a sanctioned USA Hockey 3 on 3 tournament in conjunction with the GFHA and the EHL. If you missed the New Years Day Ice Battle, you can check out the info at http://gears.beer/battle

The 3 on 3 Ice Battle details are still in development. We are looking for a few sponsors to keep team cost down. More details to follow.