Hockey is brutal. Ice skating just might be the most graceful feat of athleticism a human being can undertake. Ice hockey combines that swift, elegant skill with cro-magnan blunt force trauma. It is the latter, more violent side of the sport that most people associate with hockey. The checking, the masks, the sticks, the blood, and the missing teeth - these are the staples of the National Hockey League.
But hockey isn't just beautiful display of physical talent. It isn't just a sledgehammer on skates. Hockey is a sport of rich and meaningful tradition, and it is that unbroken sense of history that fascinates me most about the good old hockey game.
My favorite of the many traditions, of which I only know a few, is the one that closes every series during the Stanley Cup playoffs. After the deciding game, after one team has pummeled the other into submission, the two rosters line up and shake hands like gentlemen.
It's good to know that there are still places in this world where you can do your darndest to destroy another person . . . and when you fail, you shake hands. Cool, eh?
I love hockey. Wouldn't you love to see the guys try to play football on skates. It DOES take so MUCH skill to play this game and that is why I enjoy the game so much. And Hockey IS evolving - they don't let them fight like they used to. People are actually much more interested in the GAME nowadays than watching the sport merely for the fights! I know there are some people left out there that just like to see a good fight but all in all hockey is starting to get away from that. The game itself is extremely fast and so exciting to watch! We go to Raleigh about 5 or 6 times a year to watch the Hurricanes play at the RBC Center. When the Hurricanes lost the final game that took them out of the Stanley Cup playoffs, you KNOW they had to be SO bummed but after the game they shook hands with the other team and THEN they had to come back out of the ice and did the "jersey of their backs" with the fans. They actually took their jersey off and handed it to fans (who won that honor). It was awesome. They made is so fun - they love their fans as much as we love them. I'm really bummed too that my team didn't make it to the playoffs this year but that hasn't kept me from watching the playoffs (I'm rooting for the Penguins now) because it's just too darn exciting not to watch!
ReplyDeleteEh, hockey is okay. But I agree about the shaking of hands. I always though it was stupid how baseball players shake hands with themselves after winning...never quite figured out the point of that...
ReplyDeletem
I love hockey. Wouldn't you love to see the guys try to play football on skates. It DOES take so MUCH skill to play this game and that is why I enjoy the game so much. And Hockey IS evolving - they don't let them fight like they used to. People are actually much more interested in the GAME nowadays than watching the sport merely for the fights! I know there are some people left out there that just like to see a good fight but all in all hockey is starting to get away from that. The game itself is extremely fast and so exciting to watch! We go to Raleigh about 5 or 6 times a year to watch the Hurricanes play at the RBC Center. When the Hurricanes lost the final game that took them out of the Stanley Cup playoffs, you KNOW they had to be SO bummed but after the game they shook hands with the other team and THEN they had to come back out of the ice and did the "jersey of their backs" with the fans. They actually took their jersey off and handed it to fans (who won that honor). It was awesome. They made is so fun - they love their fans as much as we love them. I'm really bummed too that my team didn't make it to the playoffs this year but that hasn't kept me from watching the playoffs (I'm rooting for the Penguins now) because it's just too darn exciting not to watch!
ReplyDelete