The reason former professional hockey players are apt to turn up in local adult leagues, tournament teams or pickup games isn’t very complicated.
“Playing hockey is fun,” said Chris Dingman, a retired Tampa Bay Lightning player. “That’s the bottom line.”
Dingman, 38, was a first-round draft pick, won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche and the Lightning, and now is a Lightning television commentator.
But only a couple of years ago, he was skating in an adult elite league in Brandon before giving it up — to spend more time coaching and skating with his son’s youth team, he said.