Reasons I Love Hockey
It's time to talk hockey.
The Caps are going to round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which is SO EXCITING, and I just can't stop talking about my love for the men in red.
If you follow me on Twitter, you see me freak out every time there's a game and retweet a million things from the official Washington Capitals account, because they get an A+ when it comes to live-tweeting. I made everyone on my team at work make playoffs brackets (because they made me do one for March Madness and I hate basketball so it's only fair) and it's just the best time of the year!
But you're probably thinking, uh...why hockey?!
Here's why I love it:
- It's high energy.
- It's intense.
- THE FIGHTS.
- It's not a hugely popular sport, and I like liking something that not everybody else likes. It makes me feel cool or something.
- I have childhood memories involving hockey. I grew up in Arizona-- not at all a state you would expect me to have hockey memories from-- and went to quite a few Phoenix Coyotes games back in the day. I vividly remember climbing up a million stairs to sit in the nosebleeds for a school field trip and feeling like the bright ice was blinding me even that far away, but it was so much fun.
- I dated a guy for two years in high school who basically lived, ate, drank, breathed, and dreamed hockey 24/7. He had played his entire life and was the biggest Washington Capitals fan ever, and because of him, I got hooked on it all for real. Something about seeing him play at the local rink up close made the sport so much more exciting to me, and so much more interesting. I learned all the rules of the game, learned all the players on the Caps, went to games and sat in great seats close to the ice, and just became obsessed with the whole thing. I have him to thank!
- It moves SO quickly. You know how football is like ten seconds of action and then a whole lot of standing, kneeling, setting up, doing nothing? Yeah, hockey is the total opposite. It's all fast bursts of energy and quick skating down the ice.
- The fans get SO into it. You can't watch hockey quietly.
- There's something about the fact that hockey is all on ice that makes it insanely impressive. Doing what they do while on skates just blows me away. I can't even slowly skate around an ice rink without gripping the walls, much less race after a puck with a stick in hand and a million pads strapped to my body while also fighting off the other guys and trying to score goals without getting penalties. Just DANG.
- Playoff beards. Enough said.
- Super young guys play NHL, but so do older guys. We have 20 year olds on the Caps (it's crazy that people younger than me play in the NHL) and then we have guys pushing 40. Impressive on both ends of the spectrum.
- It's low-scoring. Basketball bores me because the scores go so high and so many baskets are made in the course of the game that one rarely makes much of a difference. In hockey, there are many games where there's only one goal TOTAL, so each one matters way, way more.
- There are some AMAZING players, and I'm not biased when I say that the Caps have quite a few of them. I'm sure you've heard the name Alex Ovechkin, and for good reason. He's the BEST. He shatters records like it's easy. It's sweet. He's not called The Great 8 for nothing!
- There are some GOOD-LOOKING GUYS that play hockey. Not all of them have missing teeth (although some do, like Ovi...) and they're all in fantastic shape, which doesn't hurt. And again, the playoffs beards. Plus their long hair. SWOON.
- It lasts for most of the year. The season starts in the fall and goes through at least May if teams make it to the playoffs, so you really only have to go through summer without hockey on to watch. It's great.
Basically, hockey is the best sport. I'll debate this all day long, so hit me with your best arguments if you disagree... ha! But really. Tune in to a game if you don't believe me or if you've never given it a shot! (HOCKEY PUNS.)
Also, GO CAPS. Let's beat those Pens tonight!
One year ago on the blog: What I Read in April
Two years ago on the blog: One Year In College vs. One Year Out: How We've Seen Jesus