Step by step guide to get dressed for hockey.

- Step one: Find a spot in the locker room. After arriving to the rink, If you need to sharpen your skates take them to the pro-shop before you start the dressing process.

-Step two: After taking your casual or game day clothing off, find your jock strap and put it on along with warm socks, or none at all if you prefer it.

-Step three: Put on your shin pads along with your game socks, use the straps on the shin pads to secure them, then use the velcro on your jock strap to secure your socks, along with clear tape around your shin pads.

-Step four: Next find your pants, they look like a big pare of padded shorts, slide them on over your shin pads and pull them up to below your belly button then tighten them with the proper straps and ties.

-Step five: Now put on your skates, tying them tight is the best way to go, you start tightening them towards your toe, pulling up on the laces then moving down to the next two and so on until you tie them like a pare of shoes. If you have newer advanced skates they might include pumps, to pump the cushion in your skate to form around the heel of your foot which makes it more comfortable.

-Step six: Now this would be the time after tying your skates to tape your stick if needed. Your choice in stick is very important, the new technology and materials the brands are using for their sticks to make them light, and easy to use. Carbon fiber is the newest material used for sticks today and they seem to be doing very well. To tape your stick start by removing the previous tape if needed. Find your tape and start at either end of the blade on your stick. Tape it layer by layer overlapping each pass by half of the width of the piece of tape.

-Step seven: After taping your stick you're ready to move to upper body. If you prefer to wear an under armor shirt underneath your gear you can start with that, then put your chest protector on and using the velcro straps to secure it.

-Step eight: Now put your elbow pads on, read the tag on the inside of them to know what one goes on what elbow. Then undo the straps to make it easy to put on and slide it in like a glove and tighten each one to your preferred tightness.

-Step nine: Next throw on your jersey just like a regular shirt.

-Step ten: Apply your neck guard to a nice snug fit.

-Step eleven: Finally put in your mouth guard and put your helmet on and strap it up, your helmet is very important, the newer helmets are very advanced with preventing concussions with the new technology. Your chin strap goes under your chin horizontally. The straps on your cage go straight back on the buttons just behind your ears.

-Step twelve: Go have fun and play hard!