Why I Love Hockey - Part 11

Why I Love Hockey #11 - The Sounds of the Game
No sport has as many amazing and distinctive sounds as hockey. Baseball comes closest with the crack of the bat meeting the ball just right and a flaming fastball slamming into a mitt, but even baseball doesn't beat hockey. Hockey has sticks rapping off the ice and each other as players fight for the puck. It has bodies crashing against the boards and boards clattering for a few seconds after the impact. It has skate blades swishing through the ice. It has the bang of a puck against the boards and all the different sounds a puck can make when it bounces off the goalpost depending on where and how it hits - clang, clunk, and my personal favorite, ping! It might drive my husband crazy but when the puck makes any kind of distinctive noise off a post, I spend the next 45 seconds doing my best imitation. Ping! Ping! Ping! Ping! Ping! Ping! Hockey also has the blaring goal horns - some arenas more blaringly annoying than others. It has the tweeting of the referees's whistles. It has players tapping their sticks against the ice to call for a pass and the goalie slamming his stick against the ice to alert his teammates to the man coming out of the penalty box. I love Rick Jeanneret and Jim Lorenz, but I would happily listen to stretches of hockey games without any announcers at all. Nothing but the beautiful, recognizable sounds of the best game in the world.