Hockey, Canada's Number 1 Pastime, or, If it Works for Soccer, Why Not a Sport I Actually Follow?

I love Hockey. 

It is my second favorite sport to watch.  I know, it makes no sense, and maybe I would like watching the intensity of playoff baseball, but when the Pirates get there.....well that's just never happening. 

But growing up with Lemieux and Jagar, then Kovalev, my dad just raised me on his beloved Pittsburgh Penguins.  My first language class was Spanish, and when it came time to choose your new 'Spanish' name, I took Mario, after Mario Lemieux.

OK, Mario in that case is French, but I was in second grade, and It was the first sports biography I ever read.  It was awesome, Hockey had the hitting of football, but without the sitting around parts, constant back and forth movement, and easy to understand scoring (for an elementary schooler).  Just as the Penguins collapsed as a relevant team, the worst thing hit hockey (for its current act): the lockout.

To this day I still have friends from cities with better other sports teams that haven't seriously watched a hockey game since the lost 2004-05 season.  Its a shame, albeit hockey has reignited a fan base now larger than pre-lockout proportions with amazing stars like Ovechkin, Stamkos, and of course, America's least favorite Canadian of all time, Pittsburgh's own Sidney Crosby. 

The changes from the lockout made the sport even better than before.  Its faster paced, more teams are relevant, parity is better in a league with so many playoff spots, and the fights are less frequent, but better timed.  No longer do goons just try to start something at the end of the games, but, now a well timed fight in a playoff hockey game can start a comeback (two words for Flyers fans: Maxime Talbot, player who started a fight with the Pens down 3-0 which triggered a comeback to win the series).

Overall, with the new rule changes, why not hockey? Soccer gained a lot of well deserved publicity and growth in the American market, I respect the game a lot more than I did, for one.  Hockey is a fun sport to watch, players can settle things on the ice, and there is more scoring than your typical soccer game.  Plus, there is none of that rolling on the ground after getting hit crap like some soccer players embellish (Ronaldo).

I encourage anyone who can enjoy a good well played game in any sport, to check out the NHL this season, and appreciate something I have loved since childhood. 

And if you are from Pittsburgh, you have no excuse come January.  What are you going to do? Watch the non-existent basketball team? Hope the Pirates manage a winning season? Not happening.  Get into Hockey, its worth it.

-W.T. Sherman