During the Fall of 2006 Chris was trying to figure out something active to do during winter since riding his sportbike and SCUBA diving were no longer in season. Because he always had an interest in hockey, he decided that not knowing how to skate wasn't going to be a reason for not playing hockey anymore. He bought his first pair of skates in November and immediately felt the urge to skate as often as possible after taking some private lessons on Long Island. After getting many gift certificates for Christmas and his birthday for sports shops from his other half John and family and friends, Chris purchased the rest of his hockey gear and went to his first open hockey game (first time on the ice with a stick) in early January of 2007. It didn't take long for him to realize that he was addicted to hockey.

Around that time Chris contacted Jeff Adams who is the Communications & Recruitment Director for the NYC Gay Hockey Association about what it would take to play hockey with a team that was open and accepting of a gay guy wanting to get into the sport. Since then, he has been driving in from Long Island on a regular basis to go to Ronnie's Ice early on Saturday mornings and playing as much open hockey out on Long Island as he can (without hurting himself).