Life is short. Between life’s opening faceoff and the final buzzer, there is only so much time to squeeze in all that life can offer. Here’s a list of hockey-related activities that you should try to accomplish before your skates touch down on that big rink in the sky.
1. Have your picture taken with the Stanley Cup
2. Volunteer at a youth hockey tournament
3. Play in the USA Hockey Labatt Blue Pond Hockey Championship
4. Get Wayne Gretzky’s autograph
5. Attend a Stanley Cup finals game
6. Score a natural hat trick
7. Strap on goalie pads
8. Drive an ice resurfacer
9. Visit the Hockey Hall of Fame (in Toronto or Eveleth, Minn.)
10. Send a drawing to Slaps Gallery
11. Referee a hockey game
12. Shoot a one-timer
13. Attend a Frozen Four
14. Pay a visit to the NTDP in Ann Arbor, Mich.
15. Cheer on Team USA at a World Championship or the Olympics
16. Try sled hockey
17. Take a hockey road trip
18 Listen to Mike Emrick broadcast an NHL game
19. Watch “Slapshot” – again
20. Skate at the Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, N.Y.
21. Score on a penalty shot
22. Play with a wooden stick
23. Trade hockey pins
24. Attend the Minnesota State High School Championships
25. Build a backyard rink
26. Go to an NHL All-Star Game
27. Eat a pregame meal at Billy Rob’s, the press dining room at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.
28. Watch a game in every NHL arena
29. Memorize all the names of the original Broad Street Bullies
30. Play bubble hockey
31. Kill off a 5-on-3 power play
32. See a game at Yost Arena at the University of Michigan
33. Coach a special hockey team
34. Become a billet family for a Junior hockey player
35. Subscribe to the NHL CenterIce package
36. Go top shelf on a breakaway
37. Draft a fantasy hockey team
38. Play cross-ice hockey (no matter how old you are)
39. Tip in a shot from the point
40. Attend the Beanpot Classic inBoston
41. Donate old equipment to a youth hockey program
42. Write a hockey haiku
43. Collect and trade hockey cards
44. Host an NHL draft party
45. Turn a friend on to hockey
46. Watch the original episodes of “Peter Puck”
47. Clean out your hockey bag – it stinks!
48. Sharpen a pair of skates
49. Run the scoreboard and clock
50. Grow a mullet