The Ringer

Player for player you're better than them. There's no doubt. You watch the play unfold: you own the ice, your goaltender's bored, the action is in their end, this game is yours.

But there he is. No facemask. Old skates. Tattered gloves. Mismatched old practice sweater. He intercepts a pass. He makes a quick turn away from the first challenger. He streaks up the ice, past your trailing centerman. He is challenged again at the center-line. A quick flick of the wrists and twist of the hips, and he's by the next man. He crosses the blue line, your defensemen converge on him, he winds up his blast from the face-off circle, your goaltender begins his butterfly, he . . . swings a deft pass to the slacker, untalented left wing skating unmolested to the far post, who taps in the open net goal.

He makes bad teams good, mediocre teams great, and good teams advance to the next division. Yes, friends, he's the Ringer. He plays at every level except the top (where they are all Ringers).

When he plays for you, you love him. When he plays against you, you fear him and despise his mates. "Why does he play for them?" "Sweet, he's playing for us tonight." "Isn't he bored?" "He gives us the edge we need." "He's an A player, he shouldn't be here." "Everyone's got one, who are they to complain?"

Now, there are two kinds of ringers. The one brought in for one game, and the one who is on your roster. The former is the more distasteful, to my mind. The latter? Maybe the team is just trying to get better. Of course, if he sticks around long enough and the rest of the team doesn't get any better, the resentment builds.

We play in an intermediate division. There are no true beginners in our league. Most teams have one or two guys who are truly playing below their level. The frustrating thing is that last season's "best" team really wasn't. Instead, they had the best two players, then a bunch of mediocre guys. Although player-for-player, they were probably the 5th best team (out of 6), they only lost 3 games all season. I take pleasure in the fact that in the end, they lost the finals (in a two-game sweep) to the team that really is, player-for-player the best in the league (and has one ringer of their own).

It's frustrating to lose to a team when you're beating most of their guys, but can't beat their best player. When you win with one of these guys, you justify it in one way or another: the reality is there is a range of players at every level. You play with the guys you do because you know and like them. So one guy played in college, one guy played in high school, one guy played shinny on local ponds, and one guy just switched over from a couple of years of roller hockey. That's just how it is. So, "My friend is a really good player. We play together because we're friends."

At lower levels, speed is the difference. A fast player can beat a tripod without much effort. The higher the level the less speed plays a role, the more hands do. Our last true ringer wasn't that fast. Probably five guys on our team were faster, some much faster, but he could make the puck dance, and find the open man or the back of the net with ease. Those are some of the most frustrating ringers. You can keep with them, they don't seem that great, but you just can't pry the puck away, which means you are always standing right there when the goal is scored. At least when they blow by you you know there was nothing you could do.

Love him, hate him, the Ringer is here to stay. If he's on your team, make sure you find open space in front of the opposing net, to give him options when the other team converges on him. When you play against him, get a big early lead to get him bored and frustrated.

What's going on in the mind of the Ringer? I've only been there a handful of times (playing in beginner divisions). It's fun, for a while, to skate around people and have your way with opposing defenses. It's fun to intimidate an opposing team, to have them fear you. But, at least for me, it gets boring and frustrating not having players you feel comfortable sharing the puck with. Yet again, this is probably less true the higher the level, the more challenge there is. I wouldn't know, I'm an intermediate player playing in an intermediate division.

Whether it's a bore or not, he's not going anywhere. The best defense is probably to find your own Ringer. Last summer we did. It was a great pleasure beating that team with the two ringers and hearing them gripe about our guy. Seriously, of all the teams to complain about ringers, they were the worst offenders. So, they got what was coming to them.

But it made me feel a little dirty. That's just how it goes, I guess.