The NHL's season opened about a week ago and I've been on Cloud Nine ever since. It's pretty much like Christmas come early....except instead of holiday cheer and goodwill towards men, it's bone-crushing hits and jaw-dropping plays. Remember in
Wedding Crashers where Vince Vaughn asks "What do you like better: Christmas or wedding season?" and then answers his own question? It's sort of like that, except change "wedding" to "hockey" and you've got the gist of it.
For those of you who are not hockey fans, worry not, it's not an exceedingly complicated game. You have six players on the ice at a time: three forwards, two defensemen, and a goaltender, all of whom are vying for control of a small rubber object known as a puck. The goal of the game is to put the puck in the other team's net more times than they put the puck in yours. Which sounds pretty simple, but there's a challenge. The challenge being all those big burly guys on the other team.
Hockey is one of those unique paradoxes in sports; it's a game of beauty and skill, but also a contest of muscle and brawn. You can win by making beautiful shots and exquisite passes or you can simply beat the crap out of the other team and intimidate them to death. What makes it the ultimate sport is this balance between beauty and physicality; not only must you be able to handle the puck, shoot accurately, make acrobatic saves (if you're a goalie) and move well on skates, but you also need to be tough enough to get back up after some big burly gorilla runs you over like a tank.
Hockey is also the only major professional team sport to allow fighting. Sure you get a five minute penalty for it and an additional two minutes if you get handed an instigator penalty, but that's all. Teams even employ "enforcers" who are essentially muscle on skates; in many cases the enforcer isn't even that great at playing hockey. They're just there to fight. The great thing about hockey allowing fighting is that as a fan, it's two sports for the price of one. Name another team sport that gives you that sort of bonus.
Fighting, sweat, blood, skill, and agility all in one sport. If that's not a man's sport, then I don't know what is. Also if any of you are Canadian, please stop hogging TSN and help out some of your underprivileged American brethren who don't benefit from year-round hockey coverage. Sharing is caring.
Oh, my team? I almost forgot. I'm a proud San Jose Sharks fan.
Are you a hockey fan? Which team do you support?
Comments (22)
I wish I could give a thousand of e-props to this post. Hockey is an essential part of a balanced LIFESTYLE.
College hockey (: BOSTON UNIVERSITY TERRIERS! 2009 National Champions!
"Name another team sport that gives you that sort of bonus."
rugby.
hockeyyyyyy.
best sport there is.
devils fan, here.
the best part of hockey games are the fights haha
Thank you for posting this. I feel like hockey sometimes gets pushed to the way side (even up here in Michigan). I love everything about the game, have since I was little. Never played in a league, but street hockey happened year round as long as there wasn't snow or ice on the driveway.
I do miss old hockey though (any real hockey fan knows what I'm talking about). I swear that lockout killed a lot of it. You were almost guaranteed one good fight a game, but now the NHL got all uppity and wants to cut some of that out. These new refs use their whistles more than a thirteen year old boy uses his hands for sinning. Though it is getting better.
I've lived in metro Detroit my whole life. My mom is a Wings fan because her dad raised her as one and she did the same with me. I'm a third generation, die hard, Wings fan and will never cheer for another team.
FLYERS TO THE CUP BABY!!! WE ARE DUE BABY!
Ice hockey is my all-time fave sport to watch in person, and I'm a hoosier, so that's saying something... But even not in person, I love it :)
I think my team is 0-6 or 0-7
yes, I'm a proud member of Leafs Nation.....
Yes! I was born and raised on hockey. My earliest memory, actually, revolves on listening to a hockey game in the car on the way home from a party with my family when I was four. I proudly support the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Hawks are amazing especially because you can see them on t.v. now! Hawks are going to go all the way this year!
Ooo, yesss. I love hockey and men who play hockey. It's utterly sexy to me. The fights, the excitement of the game when you're waitng for that last goal to win the game, just everything about it... Mmmm! I am going to admit that I am just an AHL girl, and I'm all about the Chicago Wolves games! :D
@alicec00per@xanga - Agree! :D
the Devils cause my dad's from Newark New Jersey. i love hockey as well. it's a sad time for us here though. it'd go to the minor hockey league games where i'm from but the team went out of business i suppose. the Fresno Falcons. i'd look forward to those games. have a beer, watch a fight. i like the Sharks as well but it'd cheer for the Devils first. great post
oh and have you seen this painting called "We Olive Hockey" by Michael Godard? you gotta check it out. we have it hanging in our living room.
growing up in Boston, hockey has always been a huge part of my life. and the Bruins have given me, in my lifetime at least, 3 players who epitomize almost everything you've written in your post. i'm talking about heart, toughness and talent.. when I was young, it was Terry O' Reilly who stood out to me. he made the most out of his talent with shear tenacity, hustle and aggression and really is who people talk about when they call someone the "ultimate Bruin". Next, as I got a little older, Cam Neely. this guy broke the mold for the now famous term "power forward". he could score with the best of them, and mix it up with the best of them too. and now, the B's got "the monster", Milan Lucic. this guy seems to bloody every guy he goes toe to toe with. skill wise, i think he might fit in more with O' Reilly's stats, not that this is a bad thing. i don't know if he'll ever pot 50 like Neely did but Looch is a true leader and the new face of a franchise that is on the rebound. he's one of the reasons that i'm very excited again about hockey.
.... ahhhh .... case-in-point - you folks are amazing .... but perhaps , just perhaps , 'this' IS - "THE NATURE OF THE BEAST" .... I can recall a conversation that I had a few years ago , during the time that I spent living in the Orlando, Fla. area , speaking with a man who had grown-up in the Detroit , Mich. area .... and we were talking about Pro basketball , and it may have been one of the Pistons 'good' years , but , the point is , that this man was complaining about the incidence of fighting in 'professional basketball' .... now , when I brought up , what goes on at a RedWings game , this man , took a , shall we say , 'mental-tumble' ..... this is sometimes refered to as , cognative dissonance(which is , 'very' over-used , but when I come up with a better descriptive , I'll get-back-to-you) . Now , I've made my point with you , and I'm not going to ramble on here .... those of YOU that get iT , Got it .
@Pennywise2374@xanga - I think most fans around the league were excited for the resurgence of hockey in the Northeast. It's always great to get Original Six fans back to the game in droves. Boston has a great core of players like Savard, Lucic, Chara, and Thomas, not to mention all the legends that have suited up in the yellow and black.
@emra_cadaver@xanga - I love when fans stick to their family teams instead of changing them because of geography. And Zach Parise is money.
@TheRandomWriter@xanga - Right on. The reason I like AHL games is the same reason I like minor-league baseball games; the players play for the sake of the game because they're not really getting paid all that much in salary. I keep up with SJ's associate team in Worcester, MA; ironically their postseason record is better than San Jose's, lol.
@tokyoexpressman@xanga - You are so right about that! They do seem like they care more about the game when they're just AHL, minor league, etc. It's more entertaining to watch in my opinion. I always seem to have more fun at those kind of games than I do the actual major games.
P.S. This is a great post! It's about time someone wrote about hockey on here rather than usual sports or things that show up on here. There are more hockey fans than people realize. Thanks for posting it! :)
DEVILS! :D you can't argue with the record books.
please no flyers, thank you... philadelphia as a city can go somewhere, really.
Lots of Devils fans here. Bleed black and red, eh?
YES! my favorite player is an enforcer! number 32, riley cote :)
and i PROUDLY support the philadelphia flyers, and every other philadelphia team... i love all the haters, keep those insults coming... :)
Pittsburgh's my team...
...but I support the Dallas Stars as well just because I'm from here. :]