Skates scraping, the puck clacking off the boards, a crowd of parents stamping their feet to stay warm. Hockey has its own soundtrack, and our bear would like to add one more sound to it: the clink of a mug. The Hockey collection is one bear, one puck and a one-handed style of play that no coach has ever approved.
Stick on the ice
He is drawn in crisp black silhouette, charging forward on his skates, low and powerful, with his stick sweeping down toward a puck sliding just ahead of his blade. The lean is perfect. The knees are bent. Anyone who has ever laced up knows that posture means he is about to fly down the ice with nothing but the net in his sights.
The one-handed game
Here is the catch. Hockey sticks are meant to be held with two hands, and this bear is using one. The other paw is stretched out in front of him holding a tall mug of beer, foam bubbling over the top, as steady as if he were sitting in the stands. He has decided that stickhandling and toasting can happen at the same time, and honestly, his form suggests he may be right. Every rec league has one player who plays exactly like this.
Rink-side style
The skater sits inside a rich gold circle, bright as a trophy freshly polished for the end of the season, and the lettering loops around the outside in relaxed script. It is clean and simple enough to read from the far end of the bleachers, and black on gold fits right in with a hat, a scarf or whatever team colors your hockey person insists on wearing to every game.
For the one who smells faintly of the rink
This is for the beer league defenseman who has not missed a late Tuesday game in ten years, the hockey parent with a thermos and a travel schedule longer than most pilots', the pond skater who waits all year for the first hard freeze, and the fan who can explain icing and still gets mad about it. Picture them grinning at a bear who plays the game exactly the way they would if the rules allowed it. The puck is loose, the net is open, and the mug has not spilled a single drop.
Written by Liam. Thanks for reading.
