2018 Almost Winter Classic update:

Only 1 more week until the Almost Winter Classic draft tournament invites are sent via Opensports.net! Here’s how it will go down for the open 6 goalie and 60 runner positions:

*Sunday November 11th: Goalies and the 2017 championship team members ONLY will be invited. They will have 24 hours to sign up before the next invite block drops…

*Monday November 12th: Runners that have participated in pick-up games this year will be invited.

*Sunday November 18th: CSH Opensports members that have NOT played in any games this year will be invited IF all 60 runner positions have not been filled. If they have been filled, I will create a “reserve runners” sign up so that in case some players bow out for whatever reason, we’ll have players to take their place. I will do the same for goalies.

The AWC will be FREE as always (donations are always welcome). We will, as we did last year, have a donation jar for the MS Society in memory of Rafael Souffront, for whom our trophy is named. There will be a little incentive this year as each donator will be entered in a drawing to win a prize (at present not sure what the prizes will be yet or how many we’ll have).

Also, the winning team will have a slew of prizes bestowed upon them, compliments of our sponsors. Those will be revealed in the coming weeks as will the this years team captains.

And the *real* reason everyone looks forward to this tournament…my wife’s almost famous chili will once again make an appearance! Pulled pork and other vittles will also be on the menu.

5 game guarantee (4 round robin + at least one elimination game). Tourney games will run from 10am until 3pm (“schoolyard draft” is at 9:30 so plan to arrive early).

Looking forward to hosting this as always. Please be sure to have your notifications on for Opensports.net!

CHARLOTTE STREET HOCKEY FALL PICK-UP SCHEDULE

Below is the CSH Fall 2017 pick-up schedule! Note all dates and times are subject to change.

10/1: Pick-up @ Waymer Park, Huntersville: 8-10AM
10/4: Pick-up @ Morrison Family YMCA, Ballantyne: 7-9PM
10/7: Pick-up @ Morrison Family YMCA, Ballantyne: 10-Noon
10/11: Pick-up @ Morrison Family YMCA, Ballantyne: 7-9PM
10/14: Pick-up @ Waymer Park, Huntersville: 8-10AM
10/18: Pick-up @ Morrison Family YMCA, Ballantyne: 7-9PM
10/21: Pick-up @ Morrison Family YMCA, Ballantyne: 10-Noon
10/25: Pick-up @ Morrison Family YMCA, Ballantyne: 7-9PM
10/28: Pick-up @ Waymer Park, Huntersville: 8-10AM
11/1: Pick-up @ Morrison Family YMCA, Ballantyne: 7-9PM
11/4: Pick-up @ Morrison Family YMCA, Ballantyne: 10-Noon
11/8: Pick-up @ Morrison Family YMCA, Ballantyne: 7-9PM
11/11: Pick-up @ Waymer Park, Huntersville: 8-10AM
11/15: Pick-up @ Morrison Family YMCA, Ballantyne: 7-9PM
11/18: Pick-up @ Morrison Family YMCA, Ballantyne: 10-Noon
11/22: Pick-up @ Morrison Family YMCA, Ballantyne: 7-9PM
11/25: Pick-up @ Waymer Park, Huntersville: 8-10AM
12/2: NO PICK-UP (ALMOST WINTER CLASSIC TOURNAMENT)

CHARLOTTE STREET HOCKEY SUMMER SCHEDULE!

Below is the CSH Summer 2017 schedule! Note all dates and times are subject to change.

6/24: Pick-up @ Waymer Park, Huntersville: 9-11am
7/1: Pick-up @ Morrison Family YMCA, Ballantyne: 10-Noon
7/8: Pick-up @ Waymer Park, Huntersville: 9-11am
7/15: Pick-up @ Morrison Family YMCA, Ballantyne: 10-Noon
7/22: Pick-up @ Waymer Park, Huntersville: 9-11am
7/29: Pick-up @ Morrison Family YMCA, Ballantyne: 10-Noon
8/5: Pick-up @ Waymer Park, Huntersville: 9-11am
8/12: Pick-up @ Morrison Family YMCA, Ballantyne: 10-Noon
8/19: Pick-up @ Waymer Park, Huntersville: 9-11am
8/26: Pick-up @ Morrison Family YMCA, Ballantyne: 10-Noon
9/2: Pick-up @ Waymer Park, Huntersville: 9-11am

Weeknight pick-up hockey: Morrison YMCA, Ballantyne – Wednesday 3/15/17

Come join us for some pick-up hockey under the lights Wednesday night from 7-9pm at the Morrison Family YMCA
9405 Bryant Farms Rd, Charlotte, NC 28277

$7 to play payable at the Morrison Family YMCA Office or in exact cast to Sean Mahoski at the rink.
One punch if you have a Morrison YMCA punch card
Goalies play FREE!

2 goalie, 10 runner minimum.

Bring your white and dark shirts as always!

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

#SaturdayNightHockey: Morrison YMCA, Ballantyne – Saturday, 2/18/17

Come join us for some pick-up hockey under the lights Saturday, February 11th from 4-6pm at the Morrison Family YMCA
9405 Bryant Farms Rd, Charlotte, NC 28277

$7 to play (payable at the Morrison Family YMCA Office)
One punch if you have a Morrison YMCA punch card
Goalies play FREE!

2 goalie, 10 runner minimum.

Bring your white and dark shirts as always!

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

2016 #AlmostWinterClassic 12/3/16: News and notes

It looks like we’ll have a record turnout again this year. That large turnout sometimes poses a problem for scheduling as you want to have the players play as many games as possible and at the same time keep the tourney within a reasonable amount of time (3 hours this year).
I won’t go into too much detail here (everything is on the attached rules/format sheet) but here are some highlights:

• GPS friendly address: 9405 Bryant Farms Rd, Charlotte, NC 28277. If you haven’t been to the rink in a while, be warned. There’s some new construction and a traffic circle where there used to be a stop sign so it may not look as familiar as it used to.
• Each team is guaranteed 4 games…sort of (see below).
• Round robin games will be 7 minutes in length, running clock.
• Semi-final games will be 2 periods, 7 minutes in length (2 RR games + 2 semi-final periods = 4 “games”)
• Championship game will be 2 periods, 10 minutes in length.
• Goalies have first pick. (Subsequent picks are usually by committee).
• Draft begins PROMPTLY at 11:30 so please arrive by 11AM! ESPECIALLY GOALIES!!
• PLEASE BRING BOTH WHITE AND DARK SHIRTS! There’s a reason that was in all caps…very important note!!
• If you have goalie equipment, please bring it. You never know if you may have to jump into goal at some point.

We have plenty of napkins and forks left over from last year. Below is a list of other things we will need. If you plan to bring any of the below items, just comment below. Plan for 60+ people to be safe when purchasing.
• Small bowls
• Small and large plates
• Cups
• Ice
• Spoons
• Drinks (cans preferably so we don’t use too many cups)
• Chips and similar snacks

I hope this answers most questions. All other details are on the sheet at the below link.
I’ll be posting the game schedule tomorrow.
Can’t wait till Saturday!
LH

–> CLICK HERE FOR 2016 AWC RULES & FORMAT <–

#HockeyMorningInCharlotte goes Back to Belmont!

At long last, Hockey Morning in Charlotte returns to Davis Park in Belmont, NC beginning this upcoming Saturday! John Rowley represented our group well when tasked with communicating our cause to the Belmont Parks & Recreation/Facility departments. Thank you John!

To break everything down, we do have permission to once again use the empty court in Davis Park for our pick-up games. This is contingent on our ability to be respectful and not disturb any of the tennis activities that may go on there (especially on Saturdays from what I gather) while we are playing. We haven’t received any specific rules or direction when it comes to this so I would say as long as we are not too loud, keep profanity to a minimum, clean up after ourselves, etc. I think we should be able to keep playing there.

I will bring a copy of the official email that gives us permission. I’ll give a few copies to Drew so in the event that I am on there, someone will have “proof” that we are permitted to play there. Hopefully the resident tennis pro will show us the same level of respect that we are to show him and his students.

If it does turn out that our games and the tennis lessons clash too much, we may have to move HMiC back to Sunday mornings but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Spring Fling 3-on3 Street Hockey Tournament

We are pleased to announce our first ever tournament at Davis Park this upcoming March 20th, 2016.
Here are a few details:
– 3 on 3 play (if it’s good enough for the NHL all-star game…)- 4 teams, 6 players per team maximum
– trophy of some kind for the winning team
– It’s FREE!

More details to follow in the coming weeks.

Click HERE to sign up!

2014ish Almost Winter Classic pics!!

Here’s some of the hot hockey action captured on that cold February day…

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS <—–
photo credits: Ryan DeFazio and Brandon Brownlow

Bumpy Assphalts…Almost Winter Classic Champions!

Congrats to Bumpy Assphalts for winning the oft rescheduled, fourth annual Almost Winter Classic at lovely Waymer Park in Huntersville, NC! They defeated Techno Destructos in the tournament finals 8 goals to 4.

Tournamant MVP Bryan Buchalski!

A tender moment between captain and cup.

As always, thanks to everyone who participated this year! The 5th AWC will be bigger and better than all the rest!

CHARLOTTE STREET HOCKEY LEAGUE

Metro Charlotte's ORIGINAL co-ed street/ball hockey league since 2010!

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