Playing Hockey

"Gimme Some Lovin' " blasts from the stereo in the Skipjacks' locker room, prompting one of the fuzzy-faced kids to shout, "Great tune!" Joel Quenneville surveys the commotion and smiles. "They know it," the veteran defenseman notes. "But they probably don't know who did it."Quenneville, 32, is a good 10 years older than most of his teammates. He remembers the Spencer Davis Group recording "Gimme Some Lovin'." He can identify other classics as well. Heck, he's so ancient, he played for the Colorado Rockies before they became the New Jersey Devils.

The 16 former Washington Capitals, members of the Capitals Alumni Association, may be a little heavier, a little slower and a little older than they were before they retired from the National Hockey League. But in the games they play to benefit charity, they can still skate around defensemen, shoot the puck into the net and embarrass goalies half their age.Some of the ex-Caps wiped the rust off their skates and broke a good sweat when they conducted a practice session at Benfield Pines Ice Rink in Millersville last Sunday.

Three sophomore regulars on Fallston's regional champion field hockey team were not exactly strangers to the team when they joined it for preseason practice. Although all played on the junior varsity team last season, all have older sisters who have started for the Cougars in past years.While seniors Barbara Ordes, Rachel Simon and Katie Wirth were well-known for their past efforts on the school's Class 2A state championship squads the past two years, sisters Diana Ordes, Kate Simon and Carrie Wirth had to earn their stripes.

Ten-year-old Marty Boone and his 12-year-old brother, Darrell, always liked the idea of playing hockey. They'd rent skates at the Patterson Park ice rink and wonder what it would feel like to have a stick in their hands, a helmet on their heads, and a puck gliding along out front.Nine-year-old Madison Spriggs, another rink regular, also wondered about hockey, though she liked her dolls as much as the next girl.Such dreams never went far. This was the city, after all, and ice hockey was a suburban thing, an expensive luxury for kids in the counties.

Hop the frog, Whisper the dragonfly and Tollor the dragon are some of Anaheim right wing Todd Ewen's closest friends -- and none of them plays hockey for the Mighty Ducks -- though Whisper is into in-line skating and is very much a '90s kind of guy . . . hmm, make that fly.Hop, Whisper and Tollor are some of the characters Ewen has written about and illustrated in the book "A Frog Named Hop," which is being considered for publication by Hyperion Books for...

Only for reasons beyond his control - the rules of USA Hockey, and its tradition of staging national championships in different parts of the country - must Bud Buonato settle for coaching just one team this week. His Howard Huskies Under-16 boys won the Maryland championship this season. That got them a bid to Troy, Mich., to compete on ice there for a national title. But their head coach is not with them. This is because Buonato also happened to coach the Huskies Under-18 team to the state title for its age group.

All-Metro Field Hockey Player of the Year Emily Ward has decided to attend the University of Maryland.Although the Centennial senior was recruited, she will not receive any scholarship money. Still, Ward opted for Maryland over several other local schools."At first, I thought [the campus] would be too big," said Ward, "but I went to visit and I liked the team and the people I met. It just seemed like a place I would fit in."Last year, Ward made her mark as a breakaway artist, scoring or assisting on all but six of Centennial's goals.

Christmas lights may adorn many houses at the moment and snow may be on the way, but it is still lacrosse season - indoor lacrosse, that is. A fixture for many Howard County players, indoor lacrosse is, paradoxically, a faster, more demanding version of the outdoor game, but one with room for fun, experimenting and a chance to work on that left-handed shot. Many county players - whether they are on club-level travel teams or high school teams - play in the Maryland Indoor Lacrosse League, which uses the indoor fields at the Owings Mills Sports Arena, Perring Athletic Club in Parkville and the newly opened Bare Hills Athletic Club in North Baltimore's Mount Washington neighborhood.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are touring Canada this week, and I imagine it's slightly less exciting than when the Beatles came across the pond back in the day. On Tuesday, Prince William, with new bride Kate Middleton standing on the sidelines, picked up a stick and challenged a 20-year-old Canadian goalie to a street hockey shootout. He was as bad at hockey as you would expect a British prince to be. [ Via Deadspin ]

Severna Park field hockey standout Lauren Maranto, The Sun's All-Metro Player of the Year, signed to play at Shippensburg (Pa.) University next fall. The center defender led the No. 1 Falcons to their 14th state title last fall, scoring five goals and adding seven assists while anchoring a back line that posted 12 shutouts in an 18-1 season. Shippensburg, coached by Bertie Landis, finished with a program-best 19-4 mark last season and reached the Division II national semifinals. Maranto said the school had a strong business program and the team is graduating starters at center defender, giving her a chance to contribute quickly.