My friends at CliqueClack did an interview with Dean Devlin, creator of the sensational new series Leverage. Dean and I played hockey on the same team (with, I’ve just now remembered, Adam Baldwin, also) from around 1989-1991. He was a forward and I was a goalie. One night in Burbank, our team gave up a breakaway near the redline. I saw it happening when the puck was still in the offensive zone, so I was ready.
When the other guy crossed our blue line, I was already way out of the net, near the bottom of the faceoff circle on my left side. I skated backward with him to force him to shoot on my terms. I guess I was near the crease when I saw him pull his stick back way over his head. “Oh good,” I thought, “he’s just going to try to blast it past me. Those shots almost always go wide, or right into my glove.”
The next thing I knew, there was an explosion in the rink, and a bright flash of light before everything went dark. When the lights came back on, I was on my knees, surrounded by a semicircle of skates. I pulled my helmet off, and watched a whole bunch of blood pour down onto the ice.
“Oh, the way it beads up is really neat,” I thought. Then, “Wait. That’s my blood.”
I’d done my job and forced him to take a low-percentage shot that went wide, just like I was supposed to. Unfortunately, it went right over the net and into my skull. My helmet was crushed, and I got to take a trip to the emergency room for something like 36 stitches in my head. I also got whiplash, which was not awesome.
Anyway, in Dean’s interview with CC, this game came up. He said:
“Wil was a dynamite goalie. When he was still shooting Star Trek, we were playing in a game and a puck actually cracked his helmet open and he needed stitches and the producers of Star Trek basically wanted to murder me. ‘You’re letting Wil stand there in front of a net while we’re shooting the series?’” Oh, the scandal.
I miss playing hockey so much. If I could justify the expense, I’d totally buy some new gear (I’ve outgrown my skates and pants, and I’d need a new helmet for obvious reasons) and find one of those leagues for guys who are in their thirties.
It may seem silly, but seventeen years after we played together, hearing that Dean thought I was a dynamite goalie means the world to me. I worked really hard to be a good keeper back in those days, and I was really proud of our team. I had a lot of free time, so I worked out at the rink almost every day, and played pick up games a couple of times a week. That season, I had a great record and a great save percentage. I even got to travel and play in an exhibition game against some members of the 1980 gold medal team in front of a sold out Boston Garden – where I was scored-on and pulled after one shot, which still makes me sad to this day. In my defense, it was Mike Eruzione who made the shot, and it was a two-on-none break. But still, I wish I’d stayed in the game.
Until I read this today, I had no idea the producers bitched Dean out, and it’s amusing to me that they did because I wasn’t even a regular on the series when this happened. In fact, shortly after the injury, I got a call from the Star Trek production office. I was surprised to hear from them, and assumed someone had heard about the accident and wanted to bitch me out about it.
They were actually calling me to tell me that Gene Roddenberry had died.
It’s weird how memories are all woven together, isn’t it?
Discover more from WIL WHEATON dot NET
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
It’s posts like this that’ll insure you beat Britney, Wil.
Hockey’s always been the game I wanted to learn most if I was ever to take up a sport. It just seems the right blend of pacing, skill, and strength that would suit me.
The 36 stitches thing scares me, but what are you going to do?
Strange as it may sound, this is the kind of post that keeps me reading your blog and buying your work… when the everyday becomes worthy of note. And yes, it’s not only weird but it’s absolutely fascinating(!) how intertwined our memories are. Thanks for this.
Heh. Very interesting story!
I didn’t know you actually played hockey. I did too, and I miss it dreadfully! I do need new skates, although I have most of the rest of my equipment. Haven’t skated in a few years though, which is not ideal. Not at all ideal.
However, I love the anecdote. Minus Roddenberry’s death, of course.
Beautifully written too!
Oh, and here’s a fun coda to this whole thing: Several months before this happened, my friend Chris Hardwick was in a really scary car crash. His head shared some space with the windshield, and up to a year after, little bits of glass were still coming out. We used to tease him about it all the time, and there were many Klingon jokes.
The day after my injury, and at least a week before I got the call from Paramount, Chris called me.
I picked up the phone and said, “Hello?”
I recognized his voice immediately, so I didn’t hang up when he said, “Hey, who’s Lieutenant Worf now?!”
so, wait, you talk about a pre-helmet hairdo. does that mean you had to change your hairstyle due to the helmet incident? do tell!
i had a bunch of stitches up my forehead (nothing so exciting as a hockey game — i just wiped out while bicycling around a corner and faceplanted), but the resulting scar is under my hair for most hairstyles i’d be willing to wear.
Oh, the two events are not related. The helmet hairdo is what they made me wear starting in the second season, when it was this overly-sprayed mass of misery that sat on top of my head and made me look like an action figure.
oh! *THAT* helmet hairdo. *fear*
honestly, scars would’ve been cooler.
i bet that even in the 24th century, chicks dig scars.
That’s so cool that you played hockey. I miss playing as well, though I just played it on inline skates instead of ice. It’s such a fun game, and I can take a puck to the shin (without pads) better than most guys.
I once got and impressive knot on my shin from a guy on our team when we were just playing around. All the other guys were scared of his slapshots since he shot so hard. He ended up getting me in the shin on accident and he was impressed that I didn’t flinch and I stayed on my feet.
It was actually kinda cool watching the knot swell up right before our eyes.
True story: I was so excited to have a cool scar, but my mom talked me into getting plastic surgery. That’s why it was something like 36 stitches.
You can barely see it, now. The guy worked it up into my hairline so unless you’re really looking for it, you don’t even know it’s there.
Dude, you should SO get back into playing hockey. I realize the cost might be prohibitive, especially for a netminder (goalie equipment is ex.pen.sive).
Have you checked out Play It Again Sports? There may be a location near you in CA: http://www.playitagainsports.com/locations.aspx?s=CA
Then again, I’m not sure how much fun it would be to try to use pads and such that have already been broken in by someone else.
And goalies are weird so it may be bad juju to use pre-owned gear.
(I figure I can make a crack about goalies because I used to play goalie with my cousins in our pick-up games. No mask, no helmet, no pads. And yes, I still have all my original teeth and don’t have any scars. I was lucky. Stupid, but lucky.)
I’m trying to decide what you’d have on your stylin’ goalie mask, since most NHL goalies have works of art on their noggins. A galaxy of stars, perhaps? Star Wars characters (go ahead, risk a lawsuit with Lucas, I dare ya)? The ugly clown sweater?
Aw, man! Scars are cool. Parents, going and thwarting all their children’s plans. Pfft.
It’s cool to hear you played hockey. I’ve never played on ice, but back when I was young I played a lot of GK amongst our local street hockey urchins.
About 10 years ago I started playing roller hockey, which is a blast. I’m a little too old to play in a league for “guys in their thirties” anymore, unfortunately, although there are guys in their early twenties (or younger) in my league. I play D now rather than goalie, but might consider going back into goal one day when I get too old to skate out.
I highly recommend playing roller if you have the time and can find a local rink. It’s great fun, and more affordable than ice (both for equipment and rink time). Especially if you follow Topaz’s suggestion to try Play it Again Sports (that’s what I did when I got started).
It is so *wrong* to be playing junior hockey in Southern California. It’s supposed to be on frozen lakes, outside!
(mostly kidding)
Seriously, find a non checking rec league…now.
I started playing again after 8 years off and I love it. we play Sunday nights, and I look forward to it all week.
Trust me, you’ll love it.
Speaking of weirdly woven memories, I thought of your flickr posts with your dogs and B-2s when I first saw this: http://www.losangeles.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123130303
I’m a huge hockey fan – have been for almost 35 years. My son plays ice and roller, and referees for both. I don’t know how you would actually have the time to fit in hockey, but if you are ever really interested, my son has lots of contacts in several rinks. (You met him at a con in Pasadena several years ago) He plays roller at Planet Hockey in West Covina, which has several thirties teams. He plays ice in Lakewood and Anaheim, and he is on a team with all ages, one being in his forties. Just don’t think about playing at the Pasadena Ice Rink. The rink is in terrible shape, and the only time they allow for hockey games is like at midnight!!!!
As far as equipment, he used to manage a hockey shop and is still friends with the owner. He could probably hook you up. Email me if you really cannot resist the urge anymore. But as I mentioned earlier, with your busy writing schedule, I don’t know how you could possibly include a recreational sport. But hockey DOES get into your blood, doesn’t it??? (er…. sorry I mentioned blood…..)
I wish my mom had been as persuasive with the doctors that treated me after a giant piece of an oak tree decided to go all ACME Anvil on me when I was five.
I still have a bald spot, right up near the front of my head. (And speaking of helmet hair, it took quite the supply of Aqua Net in the late 80s, when I was wearing… well, pretty much the female version of Wesley’s ‘do, to hide it!)
I first played hockey in shoes on a frozen pond, but that was only a few times-before my first military brat move. I never had the opportunity to really skate in a rink due to geography and funds. But I skateboarded with the best of the mediocre, and when inline skates hit it big, I was right there on them.
Years went by, and I started skating pretty well.
Then a sporting goods store went out of business (Oshmans?) and I lucked into a wonderful pair of high-end Tour inline hockey skates for cheap. These skates made my old no-names look like a T-16 next to the Falcon.
B-E-A-U-TIFUL, they were. I wore them for years, and in college I played roller hockey with a pretty decent rec team. I was one of only two girls in the group. We played as hard as anyone, and while I’m no superstar, I could hold my own. Our team ranged in age from about 18 to well over 40, and almost all of us knew each other from…wait for it…physics lab.
The oldest guy, one of our goalies, was a physics prof. We played at a roller rink after closing. From ten to midnight every Wednesday. Well, ok. From ten ’til we stopped. We were supposed to leave by midnight, but once one of us got a key, well-not midnight. But, as always, those days ended.
Earlier this year, I dug those skates out for a spin. I found them broken beyond repair due to a chemical spill onto my skate bag that apparently made the plastic extremely brittle. I admit that I cried like a baby.
After an immediate but prolonged exploration of the internetz, I knew I couldn’t afford to replace those skates with something similar now. I settled for a basic pair of rollerblades with a serious sigh.
I’m still a bit sad about this.
And I miss hockey, too.
It’s nice to see another girl player. I was the only girl who played in our group. The other girls just watched their boyfriends play.
I really miss playing, but I’m really not in shape for it now. I do still have my skates though. They’re just covered with dust. 🙁
I wanted to play hockey when I was a kid. Very much so. Years ago, when I was in my teens, I think I asked my parents why I couldnt play. The answer was something along the lines of they didnt know I wanted to or they didnt think I was serious.
…
Apparently, a seven-year-old telling everyone that asks that she’s ‘gonna be an ice hockey player when I grow up!’ (who had, at that point, never been on ice) wasnt a big enough hint. Neither was pretending dads auto-return golf putter thingy was a hockey goal (how I managed not to smash a golf ball into anything, Ill never know).
The year womens ice hockey was introduced to the Winter Olympics, I was pissed. I think I was about the age of most of them.
I did play rugby for a semester though. I had a blast. Was very sad when I had to quit.
I’ve been a hockey fan my entire life (I have the Flyers 1974 Stanley Cup champs t-shirt I wore as an infant to prove it) and always wanted to play. No girls I knew of played so I gave up on the idea.
Last summer I finally built up the courage and took an adult learn to play class at a local rec center and had the time of my life! Hockey is amazing to play, and taking the class made me appreciate the pros a ton more. I’m going to start it up again next spring and try to play in a league. Hockey is awesome.
How many copies of the audio version of Happiest Days do we all need to buy to get you geared up?! Get back out there. I’m sure there’s a nearby league that needs an awesome goalie.
There’s a sewing machine repair/hockey supply store in Missoula, MT run by a man who took up hockey later in life. Visit him-he’ll persuade you to get back on the ice. And hey, while you’re at it head over to see your bro! (Thank you to the link for his photography awhile back, btw. Took me home.)
And, make sure you get a really good helmet this time. 🙂
Wow, I didn’t know you played hockey. If you want back in, check out Ebay, lots of deals out there on equipment. In MN, you could play drop-in for free everyday as a goalie…
In our rec leagues most teams don’t charge the goalies to play.
Ahhh the stories we could share. I too am a goaltender… been one since I was 9 years old actually. I remember this one time during a game, I was playing really well. So well, no one could score on me. Much to one guys displeasure, so much so that he decided that if he wasn’t going to score on me he would take his stick to the side of my head instead! No stitches, but ended up with a badly bruised jaw and a dented helmet. Couldn’t eat solids for a week. Takes a very ‘special’ kind of person to be a goalie! 😛 I wouldn’t change it for the world. I think you should definately get back on the ice!
I remember seeing this picture for the first time when I was a teen and it brought a smile to my face. Nothing like seeing your favorite actor play the same game as you, not to mention the same position!
I know it isn’t the same but I hadn’t played volleyball since high school and just joined a league – and I’m in my early 30’s. My team came in 2nd in our league and my old body parts hurt now after I play, but I’ve never had more fun in my life. Give it a try, Wil. Go play hockey.
I fully agree! I also started playing rec hockey a couple of years ago after almost 6 years away. I was a bit rusty at first, but it came back.
It’s cool to read that you were watching the World Juniors as well, Wil. I am so stoked that they’ll be here in Saskatoon next year. 🙂
If I get a new mask, I’m totally painting it to look like a d20.
And you’re right about goalies being weird. I’m the most logical and though not quite a capital-S Skeptic, I don’t believe any of that hinky juju bullshit … except where hockey is concerned.
Case in point: The night I was injured was the only night I ever listened to something other than Metallica on my way to the rink. It was always …And Justice For All, but that night, I was listening to The Smiths.
Coincidence?! … well, yeah. But still.
I love this story. I don’t have anything to add, I just wanted you to know that I loved it. Thanks for sharing.
OMG That picture is from the game I played in the Boston Garden. See that skate? I took it and its brother out of storage about a month ago and went to Pasadena with Nolan.
Not only was the ice there TERRIBLE (The whole rink needs a massive renovation; I hope they don’t close down) but my skates were too small, and about as sharp as the side of a fork.
Still, we skated for about an hour, and I loved every minute of it.
I tried to recall when I first encountered and began reading Wil’s writing, but failed. I know that I started some time during high school. I am now seven months out of college. In all that time, I never commented. I am not sure why. I have thought about it, but all I can say is that the feeling never grabbed me.
I never thought to stop reading though. Wil’s constant struggle with both bettering and second-guessing himself always resonated with me. I wondered at all the issues he dealt with surrounding Wesley. Wesley was the character me and my friends fought over when playing Star Trek (For better or worse I will always remember Wesley fondly). I also learned what WIl learned, about life, about responsibility, about writing, about doing. Mostly though, I got to know the person behind the grey jumpsuit. In doing so, I moved from wanting to take Wesley’s place on the coolest spaceship ever, to wanting to emulate the quirky and geeky dignity of a man who, with all due respect to Master Yoda, passionately, and often successfully, tries.
But despite all that, despite my deep appreciation for what Wil does and continues to do (a la Yoda), I never commented. Then I read the last few lines of today’s, or rather yesterday’s, post. Perhaps I am the only one to feel this way, but the way the words pour the reader into a moment of wonder tinged with sadness, wonder over the way of memories, I was, for lack of a better word, struck. I certainly did not expect it. I could not let the moment go unnoticed. I felt obligated to say something, anything.
Wil, you are a great storyteller and great fun to read. I hope you continue to discover the littlest nuances in even your most casual voice. And I hope, like many people, to continue to share in your discovery. Thank you.
Andrew
Oh Wil…Goalie…explains a lot. I’m also a goalie…we aren’t quite right. Although, up here, (Toronto) if I say something too geeky or weird, as long as I have one of my friends around to follow it up with, “He’s a goalie,” the blank stares/looks of fear turn into nods of understanding.
Also, I’m glad you enjoyed the World Junior final…those guys are amazing, and the Canada-US game was one of my favs this tourney.
Kef…
I love these posts Wil. But I just wanted to comment because, hilariously, the ad that showed up on your RSS feed when I was reading this post was for “Cleveland on Ice”. Almost the same, right? 🙂
Oh c’mon Wil. You can afford new equipment. 🙂 Imagine the story and blogging potential in lacing ’em up again!
I’m 31 and play in an adult league. It’s fun, even with the 6:30 AM ice times.
It is sweet that you played hockey. I tried to play intramural ice hockey in college but my super ability is that I have no joints. As a result by the end of a shift my blades were bent over towards each other and I was pushing against the ice with the outsides of my feet.
I wanted to play so bad that I tried various things to strengthen my ankles and even built a metal brace to keep it from happening. In the end I figured it was not meant to be and gave up trying to play. But I still watch religiously and play have awesome broomball skills.
Long time reader, first time commenter…
You’ve finally motivated me to post, since you are talking about one of my favorite sports. We are pretty much the same age, I played hockey from about age 4 to age 19 (Junior C) until I realized that my (lack of) hockey skills were not going to be a career. I moved to the big city, started working, and didn’t play for another 17-18 years. I just started playing beer-league hockey again a couple of years ago, and am loving it. I never got seriously injured playing as a kid, as an adult in the last year I’ve cracked a couple of ribs (mmmm….percoset…) and sliced open my chin (didn’t get stitched up, but should have). I guess that’s the price of aging. 🙂
Anyway, keep up the good work, and if you are ever in Toronto, look me up and we’ll get you back on the ice!
Tom
-Thanks for the link. Any Leverage info is welcomed. Although I would have liked to have read an actual interview instead of what reads more like highlights of an interview. Oh well, you take what you can get.
-Ok, now knowing that you have a good relationship w/ Rogers online and a fond past w/ Dean, I totally expect to see you getting scammed by the Leverage team next season.
-Love the hockey story. I mean, if you are going to be scored on, wow. Really looking forward to the adult Wil hockey stories in the next book. 🙂
-Aside: well here’s something we definitely do nothave in common from our youths. Grew up in MO, rarely cold enough for the ponds to freeze that solid reliably, and no ice rink in our town. Plus, I could never skate worth a crap, so no hockey for me.
Dude! I remember getting the “news flash” about your getting hurt at that game, and that photo included in the blurb, and I remember loving it because it was a candid rather than one of those “done up” 8X10s the mags all printed and I posted all over my bedroom walls! You were my wallpaper!
And in regards to your Star Wars action figure story from the Con in Pheonix(?)(I have yours, well, Wesley’s…I feel like I’m having a “Misery” moment right now…my heart is pounding!) I found your PG-13 story hillarious because you’re one year older than me, so I had Yoda (and I cat named Yoda) and was in love with Luke–who I met a few years back when he was in Brookefield, Wisconsin; and now I have a five year old who is begging for his own Star Wars characters to play in the space shuttle he got for Channukah/Christmas!
Oh, and your Post about sixty degree temps in December…It’s been thirty-six this week, and we’ve been running around in shorts, boots–cuz there’s two feet of snow–and no coat! Ha! We’re lucky if we hit sixty on a summer night. Our summers are just long enough for everyone to b*tch about how hot it is, then it’s gone. We wear winter coats nine months a year.
Ok, I sound like I’m bragging…but I really hate it! This is not the right climate for a person with Fibromyalgia (I can’t move when I’m cold!)
Ok, I’m sure I’ll not be able to control myself, and write again.
-Your poet admirer from WAAY back.
Wil,
I’m not really a hocky fan. But this is a particularly well crafted post. I’m not sure I can specifically nail down what about it makes it shine for me, but the way the mundane, or at least non-cerebral, falls into a much deeper territory at the end really works.
When you’re looking for the next story to flesh out and drop into a book, this should make the list.
Now having said all that…it’s also just a great read. Thanks for today’s (and a lot of other days) entertainment.
I think one of the cool things about hockey is that it seems like more than other sports, random people feel comfortable swapping their hockey injury stories. My sister went into the pro shop at her local rink to buy a better helmet after she got a concussion, and the old school retired WHA and NHL guy who runs the place started listing off all of the concussions he got playing without a helmet over the course of his career. He was like, “You’ve only had two concussions? I’ve had seven and I’m perfectly fine, they’d ask you how many fingers they were holding up, they’d be holding up 3, you’d say 5, and they’d say ‘you’re fine, get back out there'”.
In any case, unless Britney Spears starts posting hockey stories, she doesn’t have a chance of catching you.
I told my hubby about my post, including the clown sweater piece, and he said, “If Wil gets a mask with a clown, the opposing players will be like, ‘Can’t shoot…clown will save it. Can’t shoot…clown will save it.'”
Yeah. I know. He’s just as strange as you are.
And as I was talking with him, I thought, “Naw, Wil would probably have some sort of D&D thingie as mask art.”
Give the lady a prize.
(Although I admit…I had to go look up what a d20 was….)
Go, Flyers! *woo woo woo*
I’m actually a Flyers fan by marriage – hubby’s a huge Philly sports fan, so I get sucked into rooting for the Eagles/Flyers/Phillies. Not so much for the 76ers since he doesn’t really care for basketball.
I’d love to play hockey too but I’m so out of shape that I’d pass out just lacing up the skates. Being in Minnesota as I am, you can hardly turn around without bumping into a league of some sort, so I don’t think I’d have trouble finding a ladies’ team.
Ahh, if only I were younger and in better physical condition…
I never played hockey. In fact, I never saw a hockey game until that guy I was cyber-dating came to visit from Canada and took me to see the Sharks in San Jose. About two years later, I found myself living in Ontario, Canada with him and his two teenage sons.
Both boys played hockey. The older played defence while the younger was a goalie. I quickly learned the special torture that is being the (step)mom of a goalie; agonizing over every shot, cheering like mad when he stood on his head. The first few years after I moved, I drove with my husband and either boy to hockey arenas all over southern Ontario; those trips are still my main source for remembering the geography of this area.
The guy and I got married. For various sentimental reasons, we decided to get married in February, which happened to fall smackdab in the middle of the minor league playoffs. My soon-to-be husband, who was coaching the younger son’s team in the playoffs, specifically told the convener not to schedule any games that day because we were getting married. She didn’t. She did schedule a game the night before and the day after, though. Yes, I got married in-between hockey games.
The day I received my Permanent Residence status for Canada (Canadian version of a green card), my husband and I went to a game at the old, wood-beamed, cavernous community arena to watch our younger boy play. We were standing aisle of the old arena, my hand in the pocket of his jacket and his arm around me, when one of the players fired the puck over the glass. My husband instinctively did the hockey puck duck, which unfortunately pulled me directly into its path. I had a lovely bruise on my upper arm for days.
And so I was officially made Canadian.
We need to get working people! Britney is gaining. That would be wrong on so many levels that I can’t even articulate them all.
Thanks! It is good to see another female player! (I know the screen name is misleading, but that was intentional at the time, and made sense at the time-really, it’s just wabbit.)
Thank you most sincerely for this comment. It made my day. In re-reading this, I realized that I didn’t thank you for sharing your adventure. My apologies. This was a good post, Wil. Especially that last bit about memories, which is oh so true. You certainly brought a few of mine to mind, and I just might head down the local rink this weekend after all this. I do have one now. So, thank you twice-for sharing, and for letting me share a bit back.
Talk about some old school equipment there behind you. I remember that chest protector, looks like the kind I had as a kid.
If you have a “Play It Again” store in CA you could always pick up some cheeper used equip. And as one person mentioned above, goalies usually play free these days. We’re very much in demand ya know. 😉
Butterfly or stand-up goalie, Wil?
Mostly stand-up, kind of like Ken Dryden. I watched and worked out with a lot of butterfly goalies, though, so I had this weird “Whatever works” sort of style.
Ice hockey is love! I played in a tournament the weekend after Christmas…5 games in 3 days…and I still have the bruises to prove it!
There’s just something about the camaraderie of a hockey team that I love. And the guys on my team always have my back which is also a good feeling. Watching a teammate flatten an opposing player because he pulled my skates out from under me is very satisfying. 😉
I play offense in co-ed and defense in women’s league, so I get a variety of experiences.
Everything you post makes me dig you more, Wil! 🙂 I was raised in a hockey family, and was playing the same time as you (college hockey by then, tho). Your getting scored on by Mike E.–well, you wear that like a badge, my friend.