What is Recreational Ice Hockey (“Rec Hockey”)?
Recreational Ice Hockey (or ‘Rec Hockey’) is designed to be fun and inclusive Ice Hockey for all! The teams play competitive matches against other Rec teams but don’t take themselves too seriously and are always open and looking for new players!
Rec Hockey Rules
Rec hockey generally follows the same rules as regular ice hockey. One of the biggest differences is that some teams and leagues (notably the University leagues) play ‘non-checking’. Think hockey that is as close to non-contact as you can get and you’re pretty close.
This could really make a difference to you, if you’re new to Ice Hockey. Some might want to play non-contact to build up their skills and others will want to dive right in. Sadly, it is difficult to work out what teams play what and more often than not, the same team will play a mixture of non-checking and checking games in one season! The best thing to do is speak to the team (either on their above links or go down to a training session) and find out what the deal is!
Manchester’s Rec teams
The teams listed below, all play out of Altrincham ice rink. Check out their Manchester Ice Hockey profiles for more details!
- Manchester Swarm
- Altrincham Jets
- Trafford Thunder
- Black Bears
- University Ice Hockey (Manchester Metros)
- Manchester Mayhem (para hockey)
Rec teams are purely amateur and therefore don’t often have the best online presence (websites and fancy social media pages often take time and/or money to develop) and so it can be hard to get in touch with them. The below profiles, should hopefully point you in the right direction.
If you are part of one of the below teams (or a new Manchester rec team) and want to feature more information on your team, get in touch at admin@manchestericehockey.co.uk.
English Ice Hockey Association (EIHA)
The EIHA has a list of teams currently registered to play Rec Hockey at Altrincham ice rink. Just note that this site can often be out of date and the best way to check is to contact the teams above. The page does have helpful information though on Rec Hockey in the UK generally.