Why I Love Hockey - Part 19

It's a joyous day here at Stately B. Manor because we received our mini-pack order form in the mail today! Yay! It's official - hockey season is slowly but surely getting closer! The January 1 game, the rumored Ice Bowl, isn't on the form which is good news and bad news. Bad because, c'mon Sabres you can't let mini-pack holders order tickets to that game? The Ralph holds 80 bajillion people, it's not like we're going to buy the place out. But it's good because that seems like pretty good confirmation that there is something special going on with that game. It would be nice to have first dibs on reserved seats, but I don't really expect availability to be a HUGE issue considering the seating capacity of the stadium. I do know this - I will be there. If I have to mug small children and steal their tickets, I will be there.

Most of our other games will probably be value games since we're living on the cheap right now which means unexciting opponents like the Blue Jackets, the Islanders, and the Blues (okay, I did request the Blues game in hopes that Jay McKee will be healthy and playing). But we're planning on throwing in an Ottawa game, and Penguins game, and maybe the Flyers depending on what I decide about seeing Danny Briere back in town. Right now I can't decide if I want to be there or not just because I'm not entirely sure what kind of reaction he's going to get from the crowd. I have no desire to hear Danny get booed. I'm a little sad that he ended up in Philly because I was really looking forward to seeing Marty Biron's triumphant return to Buffalo and now I think the crowd is going to be a little more mixed. Although it's possible Danny will get cheered like a returning hero and Darcy Regier will get booed all season. Who knows? Buffalo, you're so hard to predict!

Why I Love Hockey #19 - Skating
I cannot ice skate. Not at all. Granted I grew up in an area of the country where ice skating is not exactly the happening thing to do since the only place to find ice was in the one rink in a 300 mile radius. I only attempted skating once in my life and it didn't go well. I've said many times since moving to Buffalo that I was going to take another stab at it, but I know in my heart, it is one athletic skill I'm just not destined to be very good at. This is part of the reason hockey blows me away. Hockey players shoot, pass, juke, jive, spin, fake and fly... and they do it all on ice skates! It's such an integral part of hockey that it's easy to take it for granted. But everyone once in a while I see an amazingly awesome move and I realize, "Holy crap! He just did that on ice skates!" I couldn't pull off some of these movies in plain ol' sneakers.

I love that some guys are purely functional skaters. They look terrible and clunky but they get the job done. Andrew Peters is not a great skater by NHL standards but he could skate circles around you and all your friends whether you want to admit it or not. I love that some guys are just amazing skaters, poetry in motion. I love how even great skaters can have completely different styles. I love watching Henrik Tallinder take those long, smooth strides, so graceful that it sometimes looks like he isn't even working that hard. But I also love watching Brian Campbell duck his head and take off down the ice in short, choppy strides, his little legs pumping just as fast as they can. I love watching Maxim Afinogenov hit full speed within a couple of steps, come to a complete and total stop just like that, turn, and then blast off in another direction. I love watching Scott Niedermayer effortlessly skate around oncoming hits, as nimble as a dancer. I love watching Jaromir Jagr just power his way through opponents with those big, powerful legs. I love watching Sidney Crosby take a pass and then kneel down, while still moving forward, to place the shot exactly where he wants it. I love guys going into a full body slide to block a shot and then popping right back up on their skates. One of the things I hate about the new streamlined jerseys is that it means no more jerseys flapping behind players as they fly down the ice. That just ain't right.

Wait, the Season is Over? Are We Sure?

Congratulaions to the Stanley Cup Champion Ducks. I try not to be overly vindictive and I don't despise the Senators the way many in Buffalo seem to... but it was kind of fun watching them roll over in the finals, wasn't it? And for all the hate thrown at him, I'd much rather see Chris Pronger with the Cup than Chris Neil or Ray Emery. Punk or not, he's one of the best defensemen in the NHL and he certainly earned his championship on the ice.

The Stanley Cup presentation is the only sports championship that makes me cry every single year, even when it's not my team winning. (Last year is excluded because I didn't watch it. It wasn't really an anti-Carolina thing so much as last season was just really heart-breaking. I didn't watch much of the Finals at all.) First, there's the Cup itself, the greatest trophy in sports. Then there's the Cup going right to the players instead of the owner or GM. Seriously, Jim Irsay is a great owner (I guess) but did anyone really want to see him with the Super Bowl trophy? No. No, they wanted to see Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison toting it around. Every player gets his time with the Cup, his little moment in the spotlight, skating around and hoisting that sucker over his head just like a little boy. This year there were three things in particular about the celebration that got me:


I adore all three of my brothers (usually) so I'm a total sucker for Scott taking less money to play with his little brother Rob. I love that when Rob finally, finally got to touch the Cup - he flatly refused to do so every time Scott won it with the Devils - it was handed to him by his big bro. (Sidenote: Everyone and their grandmother has mentioned it at this point, but kudos to Scott for one of the all-time great playoff beards. If I'm his wife, I'm shaving that sucker off and putting it in a scrapbook somewhere.)


I was already soft on Teemu Selanne because of the whole "I'm going to keep a childhood promise to 16 friends and fly them in to Anaheim and cover all their expenses" story. And of course there was the fact that he was this year's chosen beloved veteran who's never won a championship. But then he started getting choked up before he even touched the Cup. And then he took the Cup from Pronger and the tears started flowing more freely. And then one of his little guys leapt off the bench into his arms. And then he hugged his wife and completely fell apart, blubbering like a baby. I really can't recall athletes in other sports getting as visibly choked up about winning as hockey players often do and I love it.

But this... this made me lose it. Aftter seeing this I was as gone as Teemu.


Even now, just looking at this photo makes me a little emotional. I'm really surprised Giguere's story didn't get more attention during the Finals - I mean, how many times did they remind us during game 3 that Chris Neil was a new father? - but even without the constant reminders that his son Maxime has been through so much in his very, very young life already, seeing J.S. skate that little guy around the ice hit me square in the heart. And how beautiful is that photograph with the confetti raining down and the cast-off helemt? Gorgeous.

In closing, can we end the whole "Ugh, I can't believe the Stanley Cup is in CALIFORNIA" stuff already? Is Anaheim as a region going bonkers about the Ducks winning the way Ottawa or Edmonton or Buffalo might had their teams won? Hardly. But that doesn't mean the players are any less deserving and it doesn't mean the fans who were in the building or watching on TV are any less excited. I don't know if the Ducks winning is necessarily GOOD for the NHL, but it's certainly not BAD. So quit your whining!

More to come. I have to figure out what it is that hockey bloggers blog about in the off-season.