real hockey fans
Hockey: the best game
I became a hockey fan in 1963. I watched my first game at a friend’s house when I was a freshman in high school. He was a fan of the Chicago Black Hawks. I was always an avid fan of baseball and football, but hockey was different. It was like a tug of war. Sometimes the urge would change from minute to minute. Other times, one team would control the other and dominate them for entire periods. The players had different combinations of talent and toughness.
Like other sports of the time, many players were on the same team for their entire careers. Just name the player and the image of him will come to mind in his team’s uniform. This was the old NHL team of six. The Chicago Black Hawks, the New York Rangers, the Detroit Red Wings, the Boston Bruins, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens. I became a fan of Toronto. The Maple Leafs were the focal point of the Hockey Night In Canada telecasts. All the teams had proud and long traditions. Each had star players, better goalkeepers, great defenders, and at least one enforcer.
My favorite player was Frank Mahovlich. I loved watching him skate right over the blue line, finishing with a hit and throwing the puck as if he’d been shot out of a cannon past the goalie. I thought wow so many gamers go through all that dipsy doodle and here this guy just blows that thing. The Leafs got into a contract dispute with The Big M and the Chicago Black Hawks offered the Leafs a million dollars for Mahovlich. The Leafs first agreed and then refused. A year after the Leafs won their last Stanley Cup in 1967, they traded him to the Red Wings. That’s why I think the Leafs (who haven’t won a Cup since) are under “The Frank Mahovlich Curse.” Of course I became a Red Wings fan instantly and then in 1971 a Montreal Canadiens fan like Big M was traded again. Mahovlich won six Stanley Cups. Bobby Hull of the Black Hawks was more similar to Mahovlich with the slap shot and of course Boom Boom Geoffrion of the Canadiens perfected the slap shot and was only the second player in NHL history to score 50 goals in one season. .
In 1968, the NHL added the Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, St. Louis Blues, Minnesota North Stars, Los Angeles Kings, and Oakland Seals. In 1970, dreams came true here in Buffalo, New York when the Buffalo Sabers became a member of the NHL. In 1974, the Philadelphia Flyers became the first expansion team to win the Stanley Cup. The Montreal Canadiens then went on to win four Stanley Cups in a row just to prove who was really boss. The Canada Cup Series and the Olympic Games created some of the greatest games in history.
Today hockey has 30 teams. The lack of a major television contract prevents the sport from gaining the popularity it deserves. Three teams are in California, two teams are in Florida, and one each is in Georgia, Texas, Carolina, and Arizona. The sport is beginning to cross racial barriers and global popularity is booming. They have a lot of great players and stars led by Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby.
I say that if the sport were presented in its original form, it would flourish in the United States. Get rid of the fight instigator penalty. Hockey superstars were protected in the old NHL by one, two or three players on each team who would blow your brains out if you landed a cheap hit, cut, spear or punch on one of the team’s best skaters. It added to the drama of the game. Today, “legal” open ice checks are causing more concussions and race-ending injuries than ever before. If someone handed over one of these “legal” checks in the old NHL, he would pay dearly for it by getting hit multiple times. Goalkeepers can skate and pass everywhere. I say if you come out of the crease with the puck, you’re fair game. I like the two lane passing rule.
Breakaways are fun to watch. Get rid of that crazy gunfight. Let them go 5 minutes with 4v4 and then 3v3. A draw after that would not be a sin and should be allowed. I get NHL leadership is listening to soccer moms instead of hockey moms. Stop the presentation of the track addressed to the children. Your marketing people are ruining the game. The light shows are great, but the music is terrible. Make old organ music compulsory. Let the fans start with the applause. Don’t produce them over and over again with pre-recorded garbage. If your fans can’t generate their own team cheers, send them to a soccer game. Check out a Sabers-Leafs, Oilers-Flames, or Rangers-Islanders game. They don’t need all that fake stuff to generate excitement.
One last note. If TV fans can’t see the puck it’s because they have no idea what’s going on in the game. It is not the visibility of the rapidly moving puck. Real hockey fans know where the damn puck is, and usually where it’s going to go next. Let’s break out the hammers and hit the team bus. Let’s bring the best game where it belongs: to true hockey fans.