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I 'm not sure when exactly we got the idea. But at some point this spring a bunch of the dads from my daughter's high school hockey team decided to sign up to play in a tournament … for ourselves. We'd get some things right, we'd get a lot more wrong — and we'd learn a ton in the process. Namely that hockey is nowhere as easy as it looks. I'm not too proud to admit we may have actually peaked as a team while choosing our name and uniform before the tournament even began. As White Bear parents we selected the team name Orange Hat Society in homage to one of our more intense and orange hat clad dads who usually sits behind the corner of the opposing team's net during games pacing and pulling out his hair. Next we needed a team uniform, and dare I say we broke new ground. Modeled after the leather biker vests in the TV show Sons of Anarchy, we designed sleeveless black jerseys. Yes, I said sleeveless. Picture any biker gang, our look was best described as banditos on skates. The mistakes would begin when selecting the level of play for the tournament. Despite explaining to the tournament director that at best our team was comprised of some out-of- shape ex-high school players, we were talked into playing in the "C" division. Word to the wise: despite what the tournament directors will tell you, level "C" in the State of Hockey basically means, "some USHL." We had a moment of relief when we were placed in the Bullhead Division, which sounded appropriately bottom-feeder. But then the Orange Hat Society proceeded to lose 9-1, 10-3 and 12-2 in our three games. Oh, did I men- tion the teams we lost to were aptly named the Pylons, McCrackens and Mullet Mayhem? Despite our 0-3 record and being outscored 31-6 over the weekend, the dads did manage to make a few memories along the way. One of the dads even managed to squeeze into his freshman daughter's breezers, a scarring "hot pants" image I will not soon forget. And our locker room playlist was quickly downgraded from Jay-Z's greatest hits to "Life's Been Good So Far" by Joe Walsh, because, as one dad put it after another lopsided loss, "this song will remind us it's OK no matter what happens on the ice." We ended up having a great time anyway, but a double helping of humble pie was served as I remembered all the times I'd made sugges- tions to my own daughter about things she could have done better only to get on the ice and be reminded just how hard it really is. As hockey season approaches once again, our merry gang of hockey dads will all dust off our orange hats and head back to the rink to sup- port our daughters. Only this time, no matter what the scoreboard says, I like to think we'll all remember to keep cool. Because as Joe Walsh would say, "Life's been good." MINNESOTAHOCKEYJOURNAL.COM // OCTOBER.2015 BY JOHN KING FINAL BUZZER We'd get some things right, we'd get a lot more wrong — and we'd learn a ton in the process. Namely that hockey is nowhere as easy as it looks. It's Not As EAsy As It Looks 30 PHOTOS: JOHN KING WHITE BEAR LAKE DADS GET A TASTE OF THEIR OWN MEDICINE The only easy thing about hockey is picking a team name.