I fell in love with the Montreal Canadiens on January 8th 2011, incidentally the same day I fell in love with hockey thanks to an overtime goal against the Boston Bruins. This started a love of hockey that has only grown. But it is me so I have to complain a bit first.
Three Things I Hate About Hockey
1. Staged Fights: They add nothing the game and can lead to debilitating injuries that can severely lower the combatants quality of life. I would love hockey more if they banned staged fighting.
2. Intermission Analysts at CBC and Sportsnet: I love Elliotte Friedman's 30 Thoughts because it means that I don't have to listen to PJ Stock interrupt him. Friedman gets drowned out on Hockey Night in Canada. CBC intermissions are a mess and Sportsnet is equally bad. The next 12 years are going to be rough.
3. Don Cherry: He is inconsistent and prone to hyperbole with an inflated view of himself. He is xenophobic and if you are not a "good Canadian boy" you are no good. Never mind he is a terrible coach who thinks he's the best think since sliced bread.
Ten Things I Love About Hockey
10. The Fans: They are generous bunch who try to help when they can. They will do what they can to help people who need it.
9. P.K. Subban and Evander Kane: They deal with a lot of shit because they are different than most hockey players and they face it head on in very different ways. I hope they never change.
8. A Lion Playing Hockey: Nova Scotia is where hockey, Al MacInnis, Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, and Sterk, the hockey playing lion. Thanks Nova Scotia, we owe you.
7. Hospital Visits: Almost every team does them and the pictures that come from them are priceless. Also this happened in Montreal.
6. World Junior Hockey Championships: Canada does not win them every year but the hockey there is pure and full of emotion. The looks of triumph after the medal games is beautiful. And you get to watch faster, cleaner hockey.
5. Tim Thompson: The man behind the montages. Everyone tunes in for the montages that Thompson creates and he nails it every week. During the Winter Classic I asked him if he will be doing them for the Olympics and he thinks he will be. Cross your fingers because they could be mind-blowing. This one is his finest from when Sportsnet started the end of Hockey Night in Canada: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVLHaXfbfqY
4. Max Pacioretty: He scored the goal that made me fall in love with the Habs. He sees right through your praise of blocking shots and understands analytics. He also scores a lot of goals and rarely gets praised.
3. Bob Cole: I love the way his voice carries the game. He could make me writing a paper sound interesting. He may not call the correct player often but his voice makes up for any mistakes he makes. Bonus: he loosens his pants before a game. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npkQlbPOJbM
2. Salt Lake City Olympics: It was the first hockey I remember watching. I thought that icing was the ice that sprayed up when players stopped and that Joe Sakic's last name was LeSakic until my parents corrected me. I was not even a fan and I loved it. I read "A Loonie for Luck" about the loonie at centre ice and learned about ice making. I am that nerdy. It also brought the song "Canadian Man-Hockey Version" by Paul Brandt. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gYbKz3NZoE
1. The Vancouver Olympics and the Golden Goal: This has to be number one. From the low point of Parise scoring a goal with 24 seconds to go after Luongo failed to glove the puck to Sidney Crosby scoring the goal in overtime through Ryan Miller’s five hole. Drew Doughty was skating around the ice with the massive flag and all of Canada was ready to party. And this video came from the whole mess of happiness; IGGY! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tvesS328vI
I hope you enjoyed this and will add what you love (or hate) about hockey in the comments or as a fan post. Hope you have an excellent Hockey Day in Canada!
