GHL HISTORY: The Evolution
It was in the winter of
2003, that the Grotte Rink underwent some major
changes that started with moving the rink to the west
side of the house. The rink
would be bigger, 100x40 ft. and the boards would be
4 ft. high plywood with 8 ft.
boards at the ends to prevent pucks from flying out
of the rink. By this time, most
of the "regulars" had most of the hockey equipment and
consequently, the puck
was changed from the foam puck to the "blue puck" which
weighs just a few
ounces less than a standard black puck. The rink
also included curvature in
the corners which was something new. The old rink
had basically been rectangular.
Posts were drilled in at the 4 corners of the
rink to hold 4 flood lights. The
doghouses, used before as the actual boards, would serve
and still do serve as
the support for the plywood, only this time they were
stood up on there ends.
Screws were used to connect the plywood to the doghouses.
This was the year
that Travis Peach first started playing goalie for the GHL. He used street
hockey
pads, a baseball glove, and the "red helmet", and
he was ready to go. This was
really the first year that many new people visited the
rink and started playing
"Grotte Hockey".
