I got to the Anaheim ICE rink quite a bit early, just because I'd never been there before and wanted to have plenty of time to look around. The facility was pretty nice, right in the middle of downtown Anaheim. Parking would have been free up to two hours, but I got there so early and stayed a bit late and ended up paying $5. That's pretty reasonable.
They have two rinks there, an Olympic size and an NHL size. The NHL size was being used for some sort of hockey practice (wasn't the Anaheim Ducks, although they do practice there). The Olympic was used for lessons and later a public skate. There was a snack bar, and a pro shop that I assume was overpriced because pro shops always are.
I checked in a half-hour before my 7 p.m. class, got my rental skates, went to the benches outside the Olympic rink and watched all the kids taking their lessons. The ice was coned off into six strips, the nearest to me was kids beginning hockey skating. I felt bad for one kid who clearly had skates a size or two too large, but the rest of them seemed to be doing it.
They zamboni'd the ice at 6:55, then it was time to go. One-third of the area was partitioned off for lessons, the other two-thirds was public skating. At first, there was only three of us, but within 10 minutes it had filled up to about a dozen.
The instructor told me that if I had never been on the ice before, I might want to shift over to the beginning skating class right next to us. I told him I'd risk it, and if I wasn't keeping up, I could always shift over, and he said that was fine. He highly advised me to buy my own hockey skates ASAP rather than relying on rentals, and I think he's definitely right. More on that in a minute.
He showed us two basic moves, and said we'd be working on them pretty much the entire length of the 8-week class. A cross-over start, and a one-foot stop. The crossover start involves turning sideways to the direction you are going, leaning on your edges in that direction, pushing off with your back foot as it crosses over the front foot, then twisting and pushing off with the front foot as you go off in the direction you aim with presumably the momentum of both pushes there to help you. The one-foot stop involves putting your weight on one foot, gliding on both edges, then turning in the other foot and putting it slightly in front of you, allowing the inside edge to scrape the ice and slow you down.
The class ended after 30 minutes, and he encouraged us to go over to the public skating part of the ice and continue practicing what we learned. I eagerly obliged, and really enjoyed skating in circles and testing how well I could get moving and turning. I had little problem weaving in and out of traffic, and managed to keep going the entire time without falling or running into anyone, so I consider that a major victory. I even took out my phone and took a video skating a lap, although I thought I was holding the camera a lot steadier than I actually was. At the very end you can see my feet as I try one of the one-foot stops from class.
After half an hour, the zamboni came out again, and then there would have been another hour of public skate, but I decided to call it a night. I'm getting over a cold and was starting to cough pretty good in the cold air, and I didn't want to start hawking loogies at my unsuspecting fellow skaters. I drove home happy and exhausted and sore.
I definitely agree with the coach that the rental skates were holding me back. They were snug in the middle of the foot, but loose in the ankle and toe, neither of which is ideal. I don't exactly have an expert feel, but the blades felt dull and had trouble cutting through the ice and scraping when needed. I stopped at one point and sat on the hockey benches so I could clear all the shavings that had accumulated on them, which was interfering with my skating.
There's no lesson next week due to Thanksgiving, so that gives me two weeks to go out and get my own skates, and I intend to do so. I had planned on getting by with rental skates for the duration of my lessons, and laying down some cash for quality ones once I was ready to start playing. Now I'll either move that purchase up, or by myself some cheap ones that can just get me through the lessons and then by the nice ones before I start skating for real.
I hope to get at least a couple of public skates in between now and the next lesson. Tomorrow morning, I'm taking both of older nephews (four years old each, closing in on five) to their first skating lesson. I should be able to hit the public skating for half an hour while they learn, and it'll be fun.
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