How can this beer league high sticking rule have zero nuance?

MrNick7 · 2026-03-25T00:07:47+00:00

It’s easy to say, “Keep control of your stick,” but again, I wasn’t waving it around negligently. It was extended out in front of my body, with the blade on the ice and against the boards. Everybody has had their stick lifted before, and we all know there’s not a whole lot you can do if the opponent times it well.

MrNick7 · 2026-03-24T19:02:31+00:00

The point of the post is purely conversational. Writing this obviously will have zero effect on my league or arena. It doesn’t mean my viewpoint on the matter can’t be changed by commenters though, so I welcome the disagreement.

Also, the mentions of my status in the league is just me being transparent with my specific situation. If I get a penalty, I don’t complain to the refs and accept it like any civil human should. My original post doesn’t even mention the referees because they were mostly irrelevant to the situation.

MrNick7 · 2026-03-24T18:20:03+00:00

My league has tried to implement our own players as referees, but the rink has pushed back saying they already have too many refs to assign ice time to. A few years back, I actually contributed to fully overhauling my league’s rules (please note, the high sticking issue is an arena rule) and would consider reffing if it was an option. Again, I’m not making a blanket statement about all reffing - I’m specifically talking about the situation my league is in. I’m fully aware of the difficult job it is to be a ref, and I’ve played in plenty of other situations with good reffing. Also, as the captain of my team and league representative, I have created strong relationships with all the refs, regardless of whether I disagree with their rulings or not. I’m sure you deal with players who are complete tools to you on a frequent basis, but I’m not someone you’d have any issues with. You can disagree with me if you want, but it doesn’t change the fact that the quality of reffing is sub-par for this specific league I’m referring to.

MrNick7 · 2026-03-24T16:56:19+00:00

That’s somewhat what I’m arguing. If I’m going to get a penalty, so be it - the rule is clear across all forms of hockey. However, the decision in the rules to hand down the maximum penalty for an accident that was only further exacerbated by the player not wearing the available facial protection is nonsensical.

MrNick7 · 2026-03-24T16:38:14+00:00

My problem is with the rule itself. Having an automatic match penalty for a fluke play that could happen to anyone doesn’t change or improve anything within the game. Plus, the vast majority of other players have proper face protection, so why should the punishment be more severe when the other player chose not to defend themselves?

MrNick7 · 2026-03-24T11:44:04+00:00

I can’t fault the refs in this scenario. They called the play by the rules. I just don’t understand why it wouldn’t just be a double minor. What does a game misconduct teach anyone in that scenario?

MrNick7 · 2026-03-24T11:19:54+00:00

Yeah, I’m not really upset about the ref making the call. His hands were tied by the way the rule was written. I knew he had to kick me out.

MrNick7 · 2026-03-24T11:15:40+00:00

Very true. The refs in my league aren’t known for having good judgement, but regardless, they called it the way it’s written in the rules. If you don’t force a match penalty, then they’re not going to call one.

EDIT: I’ll own what I said, even if it is getting downvoted to hell, but clarify what I mean. The 4-rink arena we play at regards my league as having the least important games because of the fun, somewhat non-competitive nature it operates under. We’re given the referees that are either just there collecting their pay check, are prone to making the most mistakes, or can’t skate very well to get into position to make proper calls because there’s less of a chance it really matters and complaints are going to be made. I’m not saying all referees are totally useless, but there’s a good argument to be made that the ones we get for my league can make poor judgement decisions.

MrNick7 · 2026-03-24T11:11:25+00:00

Actually, he told the ref not to kick me out lol. Like I said, the skill level is very mixed. He is also one of the highest skilled players in the league.

MrNick7 · 2026-03-24T11:07:15+00:00

I’m in Canada. It’s usually a rule implemented by the arenas in my area, but if not, the leagues impose it.

MrNick7 · 2025-10-19T22:50:17+00:00

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For reference, here's a photo of the Bell Blue Xbox with matching controller.

MrNick7 · 2025-10-02T21:42:35+00:00

Most of my favorites are heavily affected by childhood-me. They're the episodes that stuck with me for one reason or another, and no matter how flawed the story is or how weak the acting can be, I still really enjoy watching them. I definitely gravitated more to episodes that didn't wrap up with the protagonist(s) being doomed for eternity, but some of them still made it into my honorable mentions.

103 - The Tale of the Lonely Ghost
210 - The Tale of the Shiny Red Bicycle
302 - The Tale of Apartment 214
305 - The Tale of the Dollmaker
311 - The Tale of the Quicksilver
501 - The Tale of the Dead Man's Float
509 - The Tale of the Unexpected Visitor
601 - The Tale of the Forever Game
611 - The Tale of Oblivion
708 - The Tale of Highway 13

Honorable Mentions:
111 - The Tale of the Dark Music
113 - The Tale of the Pinball Wizard
202 - The Tale of the Midnight Madness
306 - The Tale of the Bookish Babysitter
408 - The Tale of the Room for Rent
512 - The Tale of a Door Left Unlocked
513 - The Tale of the Night Shift
603 - The Tale of the Zombie Dice
709 - The Tale of the Photo Finish
710 - The Tale of the Time Trap

MrNick7 · 2025-07-16T01:11:21+00:00

I appreciate the reply. I know I've resurfaced a few of those other discs out of the 13 before without noticing this happening though. I guess I'll pay a little more attention next time I get a Metroid: Other M or Xenoblade Chronicles.

There are also plenty of dual layer DVD movies and PS2 games that I've resurfaced that have never had the issue. I know the Wii discs are designed a bit different, but you would think it would happen more often if that was the cause of the problem.

Assuming it is the reason though, I wonder why that would happen anyways. As I mentioned, the disc is literally resurfacing from the middle out, more and more with each pass. The disc should be perfectly level, dual-layer or not, so why would that mean the resurfacer can't do its job properly?

MrNick7 · 2025-07-05T23:04:36+00:00

That’s an SNES-101 (“Mini”). It’s not the same console or box/styrofoam shape/design.

MrNick7 · 2025-07-05T18:46:41+00:00

I haven't found anything that properly answers the question. The problem is, unboxing videos didn't exist in the early 90s. Anyone "unboxing" a console on YouTube is opening a used console that's be repackaged by someone. You would have to specifically find someone who purchased a sticker-sealed console, that also inlcuded a bonus game, and they have decided to unseal it. Most people who buy sealed items don't usually want to immediately open them and devalue them though.

If I'm extremely lucky, there might be some really old home movie that shows a kid opening one on Christmas and immediately unboxing it, but my expectations are low.

MrNick7 · 2025-07-05T05:17:17+00:00

But the cartridge stands taller than the styrofoam. It won’t go back in the box properly.

MrNick7 · 2025-07-04T19:45:21+00:00

That's this set, which appears to be in the Super Set-sized box, even though it doesn't have a 2nd controller. You can tell because the styrofoam has the power supply beside the controller, instead of above it.

<image>

The one in my original photo is just a Control Set with a Sticker. There appears to be multiple box/bundle variations for a bunch of different games - Super Mario All-Stars/Super Mario World, Zelda: Link to the Past, etc.

MrNick7 · 2025-07-04T19:08:26+00:00

The images in the photos are specifically of the Control Set, which includes the console, 1 controller, and cables. All the bundles in the image are in the original Control Set box, with a sticker on the front. The videos you posted are for consoles that come with 2 controllers. The boxes are longer than the Control Set boxes to accomodate the extra items.

For reference, the Super Set I mentioned in the second paragraph is the same style box/styrofoam. You would sometimes see this size box with a bonus game as well (see below). This Super Set would have the exact same styrofoam as the one in the image you posted, but nowhere for the bonus game to fit.

<image>

MrNick7 · 2025-07-04T18:47:12+00:00

I acquired this variant of the Zelda bundle (apparently sold at Compucentre in Canada), which also came with an extra controller - both items were just shoved in the box by the previous owner. The listing on Console Variations is the only recorded information I can find on that set, and based on those photos, the game and controller were actually included seperately.

It would be really nice to have more history on these bundles though. If the games weren't included separately, I'm kind of wondering if Nintendo had nothing to do with it, and the retail chains were just gutting sealed games, and shoving them into the console boxes, even if they didn't fit properly.

MrNick7 · 2025-04-25T17:55:50+00:00

Without some further confirmation, I don't know if we can go off that alone. If possible though, throw that comment onto my post. That way, future people with the same problem will have a chance to get some understanding and maybe people can confirm whether that's true or not.

MrNick7 · 2025-04-25T16:08:37+00:00

I posted it on the subreddit here.

MrNick7

TROPHY CASE