| The most recent entry of an NHLer playing | | | | bodycheck, well, let's just say that when you |
| adult recreational hockey is Benoit Hogue, | | | | are an NHLer playing the beer leagues, theres |
| having fun in the beer-league in Long Island. | | | | always one in the crowd that tries to prove |
| He joins others including; Matt Cooke, Joey | | | | themself against you. |
| Kocur and Cliff Ronning, who are also | | | | |
| featured in this ever expanding article. | | | | Most people would say the open-ice hit was |
| | | | justified. |
| NHL players are all locked out. They are not | | | | |
| allowed to play or sign for any NHL team. | | | | Joey Kocur |
| They are, however, free to play for any other | | | | |
| team in any other league that they choose. | | | | This 2004/05 lockout isn't the first one |
| Some have gone to Europe and Russia, some | | | | where NHL players ended up playing in the |
| will play in the minors, but many aren't | | | | Beer-Leagues. The Al Dittrich recreational |
| playing anywhere. Or are they? | | | | hockey team out of Pontiac, Michigan added |
| | | | Joey Kocur to their line-up during the NHL |
| As Tom Cochrane once crooned "My boy's gonna | | | | lockout in '92. |
| play in the Beer League." | | | | |
| | | | Later that season he joined another Detroit |
| Benoit Hogue | | | | team, the Red Wings. Two years later he |
| | | | returned to the Al Dittrich dressing room and |
| Benoit Hogue, a former New York Islander | | | | brought with him a token of appreciation - |
| whose name appears on the Stanley Cup, is | | | | The Stanley Cup. |
| just one of the boys. After 15 years in the | | | | |
| NHL Benoit is now playing for the fun of it. | | | | This isn't the only time an NHL'er has joined |
| | | | the beer leagues to keep in shape. Its just |
| As reported in the Long Island Press, Benoit | | | | one of the rare instances that it has made |
| Hogue, 38, has joined with his friends on | | | | the press. |
| three different teams. One of them the Rinx | | | | |
| Ratz of the no-hitting Midnight Hockey | | | | Cliff Ronning |
| League. "I have a good time. I love to get on | | | | |
| the ice. I love to play, " he says. | | | | Another instance of note comes from Cliff |
| | | | Ronning. "I was skating with beer-league |
| By all reports he's a class act on the ice, | | | | players -- guys who play the game for the |
| using his skill to make the others around him | | | | love of it," he says. "I was paying $10 a |
| better, rather than taking over the game for | | | | night to go and skate -- it shows how much I |
| himself. | | | | still wanted to play. Playing with guys who |
| | | | were 40 and 50 and never got the chance to |
| Matt Cooke | | | | play in the NHL was a fun experience. You get |
| | | | back to what hockey really is, where you're |
| In February of 2005, Matt Cooke played for | | | | playing for the love of the game." The |
| the Adtek Rockets out of Burnaby 8 -Rinks in | | | | 38-year-old Ronning, signed with the |
| British Columbia. No points in a 5-2 loss but | | | | Islanders Jan 9, 2004 as a free agent after |
| he did manage to get a body checking penalty. | | | | sitting out the first half of the season... |
| Called in as a spare to give the Adtek | | | | playing beer league hockey. |
| Rockets 12 skaters on the night, Matt Cooke | | | | |
| was playing in a Div 3 game out in Burnaby, | | | | Cliff was also seen playing pick-up hockey in |
| BC, Canada. | | | | Vancouver lately (February 2005) as a goalie. |
| | | | The impression he gave was, as a former |
| But as usual the stats only tell half the | | | | professional he didn't want to take over the |
| story. Apparently the difference in quality | | | | game, so he chose to play goal where he could |
| of hockey between him and the balance of the | | | | let his competitive nature flourish. |
| players was very noticebale, and as for his | | | | |