Rob Cady remembers the good old days. That was back when he could lace up the skates and hit the ice for a nice game of gentlemen’s hockey and keep up with people.

But the way Cady remembers it, those days passed by in a blur – the blur of younger skaters. Now Cady wants to lace them up again and he’s looking for skaters of a similar ilk.

“I’m look for the guys I played with way back when. I’m looking to grab an hour of ice time and play pick up games,” the 56-year-old Cady said.

Cady said he would like to get about 30 players, 45 years old and older together.

“Thirty would be a good number. The first thing that goes is the wind, so we would need a plenty of skaters,” Cady said

Cady has been involved in ice hockey most of his life. He has coached youth and travel hockey for almost 20 years.

The Orono resident said he started playing recreational hockey as a charter member of Adult Recreational Hockey at Alfond Arena.

“We were all basically the same age and basically the same skill level. We started slowing down and then younger players came along,” Cady said.

He explained that the younger players were kids who had just graduated from high school.

“The joined in because they had nowhere else to play. They were fast and they had a skill level that was something we could only dream about.”

Over the years Cady played in a number of organized leagues and some not so organized.

“There was what we used to call the Hospital League on Sunday afternoons,” Cady said.

In that league, the teams were literally tossed to together.

“Everyone would throw their sticks in the middle of the ice,” Cady said. “Then someone would starting throwing to each end. You’d go find your stick and that was the team you played on that week.”

Cady said the system worked because the players, for the most part, were of equal ability.

“Most of the time it was fair. Sometimes we had to make a minor adjustment but it generally worked.”

Anyone interested in playing can call him at 866-5674. If the answering machine picks up he’d like callers to leave their name, age and phone number.

“There are a lot of people out there who have quit playing because they can’t keep up with the kids anymore. This would be a great chance to get back out on the ice and not worry about how good you are. If I can get by one guy now that makes my day,” Cady said.

Don Perryman can be reached at 990-8045, 1-800-310-8600 or dperryman@bangordailynews.net