When people ask me why I like hockey they don't understand what my obsession with the sport is. It's a fair question since I never did learn how to skate or how to play the game. It maybe because of this that my passion is what it is.
Since it is Thanksgiving I thought it would be cool to share some of the things in the NHL I am thankful for.
1. Sidney Crosby & Alex Ovechkin: I was way too young to watch & appreciate the Gretzky & Lemieux era's. A rivalry between two young superstars is what the NHL needed coming out of the lockout and that is what Crosby & Ovechkin have provided.
Each player has won a Hart trophy, (Crosby in 07, Ovechkin in 08-09) An Art Ross trophy, (Crosby in 07, Ovechkin in 08)and A Rocket Richard Trophy (Ovechkin in 08 & 09, Crosby in 10)
Ovechkin won the Calder Trophy in 2006 and Crosby won a Stanley Cup in 2009. They have met once in the Playoffs with the Penguins winning in seven games.
Ovechkin is 25 & Crosby is 23. They have accomplished so much and have yet to hit the peak of their careers. There are a lot of young & talented players that have taken the league by storm but these two are the catalyst. It will be fun to see the rivalry renewed at the Winter classic in Pittsburgh on January 1st.
2. The Winter Classic: What started out as a marketing gimmick to get some attention for the NHL as turned into one of the must see TV events of the year.
From Pittsburgh & Buffalo playing in a steady snowfall in 2008 to Detroit & Chicago renewing an Original Six rivalry at Wrigley Field in 2009 & Philadelphia & Boston playing at Fenway Park with the Green Monster lurking in the background in 2010 there has been something magical about this event.
3. The Original Six: Every league has it's founding teams steeped in history & tradition. In the NHL those teams are located in Montreal, Toronto, New York, Boston, Chicago & Detroit.
Whenever these teams get together to play each other or come to St. Paul to take on the Wild there is a buzz in the crowd and some mystique in the air that words can't explain.
If you are lucky enough to catch them in person you will experience it for yourself.
4. The Detroit Red Wings: I put them in a separate category because this is my favorite sports team of all time. I became a fan in 1993 just before the nucleus of players was coming together.
Since that time I have seen them win Four Stanley Cups and make two more appearances in the Finals. I have seen them win the Western Conference six out of eight times they have been in the finals.
I have been able to cheer on Steve Yzerman, Nicklas Lidstrom, Brendan Shanahan, Brett Hull, Luc Robatille, Henrik Zetteberg & Pavel Datsyuk as they wear the winged wheel. These players are or will be one day in the Hall of Fame.
5. The Minnesota Wild: I moved to the Twin Cities in the fall of 1998. It had been five season since the North Stars moved to Dallas from Bloomington.
St. Paul was awarded an expansion franchise a year before I moved to the cities and I was excited to live in an area that had an NHL team. I never in my life dreamed I would have had the opportunities to follow them on a regular basis.
I've helped produce their radio broadcasts for the 1st four seasons and have done some stringer work covering them after the lockout. I have seen more NHL games than any other sport because of the Wild. The opportunities they have given me is something I am truly thankful for.
6. The Stanley Cup: It is the greatest trophy in all of sports. Now I know people who are bigger fans of other sports will try to state their case that their sports trophy is better than Stanley.
To that I ask them what did the players that won that trophy do with it when they got to spend one day with it and where are their names on the trophy.
It doesn't get cooler than that. It's the hardest trophy to win and when it is won there are no words to describe it.
Those are some of the things I am thankful for when it comes to hockey. If you have anything you are thankful for in regards to hockey I would love to hear from you.
Thank you for reading & enjoy the hockey
No comments:
Post a Comment