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What I Love About Hockey
by Alanah McGinley on 02/13/09 at 02:44 PM ET
Comments (4)
In honor of Valentine’s Day tomorrow, here are the reasons I love this sport. It may not be a ‘normal’ romance, but it’s important. After all, I’ve only been married nine years… but my love affair with hockey goes back much, much further. 
1. The sounds of the play on the ice.
The swooshes and clatter, abrupt hollers between players and thud of bodies and pucks, crashing into boards. On a recent edition of CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada, the engineers had difficulty getting sound in the booth and for (roughly) the first 10 minutes of the game, we heard only the game. No announcers, no small talk, no play-by-play. We just heard the game. The HNIC crew is easily some of the best in the world and I seldom have a complaint, but that night I was sad when they fixed the sound booth. For a while, watching it on TV felt the same as watching it in the arena.
The crisp, clean sounds of a hockey game ring with a purity that’s hard to explain.
2. Players’ names.
Some of the non-hockey media likes to say that hockey will never be a truly big sport in America because the players are so frequently not American. But I think that for hockey fans in America and everywhere else, that’s just nuts. While it’s true that so many of the players’ names are infected with a mysterious mixture of consonants and vowels peculiar to eastern European cultures, or the accented inflections of French Canadian names and others, it’s also true that most every hockey fan I’ve ever known is determined to pronounce these names properly, and with respect.
And we can have a little fun with them, too. From Jiri Bubla to Radek Bonk, I’ll never stop giggling, myself.
3. Hockey people.
For every pompous and self-important hockey blowhard—journalist, blogger or fans—who act as if they know everything and you know nothing, there are at least 5 others that rank as some of the coolest people I’ve ever known. Those people have taught me a lot about hockey, but even more about the kind of people I like to be around.
In another sense, I like hockey people because they’re so protective and passionate about their game. To the extent that sometimes people might think they’re trashing it, when the truth is that they’re so desperate to preserve it. To ensure that it continues to be the game we grew up with, even as it morphs with the changing times.
4. Hockey players.
I love hockey players. They’re so often accused of being ‘boring’, but that isn’t the worst thing in the world. They’re only boring because they’re not jerks. Generally speaking, they’re a nice group. I bet if you asked a dozen hockey fans if they’ve heard a story about a player doing something extraordinary for another person, every one of them could tell you a tale… about themselves or a friend, or someone else down their grapevine. It’s just that common.
Really, I’m of the opinion that athletes in general—at least after high school age and the jackass-jock tendencies wear off—are a concentrated group of exceptional people. It takes enormous displine and self-belief to be ‘the greatest.’ The same is true in all professional discliplines to an extent, but unlike in most professions, athletics can’t be faked. The drug users eventually get busted, and the rest earn an honoured and hard-fought place in the history of their game.
I am always in awe of what it takes to achieve that.
5. Handshakes after playoff series.
Or rather, what that ceremonial moment represents, which is the pervasive gentleman’s code that runs throughout hockey. I realize such a code seems almost incomprehensible to people who don’t know the game well. But those people who witness the fights, the hits and other dangers in the game, and feel it reflects only violence, couldn’t be more wrong. There are codes; there is (usually) respect; and there is honor and congratulations for a fight well fought. Like in those handshakes.
Hockey may not be a ‘Sport of Kings’, but I think it is even better than that. It is a sport of everyday people. Ultimately, I think this game is like an incredibly civilized society, only different in that it’s been jacked up to about 100 miles an hour.
Which is why it’s always advisable to wear a helmet.
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Comments
Great, great post. Your love of the game is reflected so well.
Close to midnight yesterday, I was playing with a group of 20 old-timers (loose definition, but at 34 I was one of the younger ones). These guys have been getting together for many years, calling themselves “The Culls”, and it’s almost always just intersquad. The “teams” are fairly fixed, but allow for floaters to balance out the skill levels. But the coolest thing was that at the end of a hard-fought hour and a half on the ice, everyone drifted to center ice and shook hands. Apparently they do it every time, twice a week.
I love that the NHL players shake handsin the playoffs too—wonder if it would do anything for “the code” if they shook hands after every game in the regular season?
Posted by Jeremy from Summerland, BC on 02/13/09 at 05:36 PM ET
I love that the NHL players shake handsin the playoffs too—wonder if it would do anything for “the code” if they shook hands after every game in the regular season?
I don’t think it would be as “special” if they did it after every game. Besides, usually there isn’t as much animosity after just one game - the contrast of shaking hands after up to seven games of beating up on each other makes it more remarkable.
And we can have a little fun with them, too. From Jiri Bubla to Radek Bonk, I’ll never stop giggling, myself.
Cal Clutterbuck and Radek Bonk should be linemates. Also Curtis Glencross and Nigel Dawes - because they both sound so British somehow.
My favorite thing about hockey is the speed. I mean, in what other sport could players routinely get pulled over for speeding on a quiet suburban street in the normal course of the game? And Pavel Datsyuk’s ability to handle a puck.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 02/13/09 at 11:10 PM ET
Thanks for the comments, everyone. I’m glad to know I’m not the only one to wax a little bit philosophical about this sport. Someone else told me I’m getting “soft”.
Baroque - Clutterbuck/Bonk would be awesome called in a play-by-play.
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 02/16/09 at 01:36 PM ET
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About Canucks & Beyond
Alanah McGinley has been blogging hockey since 2003, sharing opinions, rants and not-so-deep thoughts with anyone who will listen. In addition to writing Canucks & Beyond and helping manage Kukla’s Korner, Alanah is one of the founders and co-hosts of The Crazy Canucks Podcast, as featured at Canucks.com.
She has contributed pieces to FoxSports.com and the New York Times Slapshot blog, as well as other stray destinations in cyberspace.
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Other Canucks Blogs
The neatest comment at one time in the Cutting Edge movie was just like in Coppolla"s film of Vietnam and that was “I love the smell of the ice in the morning.”
That said, CBC and their sound and video is the best in the world . . . only FS-D is near it, being better than that of NBC and TSN.
The sounds of the ice and players are superior and that brings the game to the people as if they were at the rink. The only thing missing is the aroma of ice, the popcorn, dogs, Polish sausage and yes, even the uniforms, and the building where the game is.
This is what should attract the public, along with the speed, strength and artestry of the play. That should be what the league should sell, not just players . . . . it is an experience that shouldn’t be missed. Once you get it, you enjoy it.
Posted by bob knoska from romeo, Michigan on 02/13/09 at 05:35 PM ET