Certified hockey nut
CultureMap I-Team investigation: We've found the only NHL fan in Houston
The NHL playoffs are in midstream ( the Phoenix Coyotes just forced a Game 7!) and I’m in hockey heaven. Now I’m not going to be one of those people that try to convince you that the hockey playoffs are the greatest sporting event ever (although they are).
The Winter Olympics provided some great hockey this year, but Vancouver can’t hold a flame (sorry, bad pun) to what takes place during the NHL playoffs every year.
With that in mind, here’s a little Hockey 101 for those of you who still think it's all a Canadian ice plot to introduce socialism to America.
45 stitches? No problem, Coach — Nashville Predator Jordin Tootoo needed 45 stitches and help from a plastic surgeon after being struck by a puck shot by his own teammate. Tootoo told his coach he was fine and was in the lineup for the Predators very next game.
And you thought football players were tough?
Great Vocab — What other sport can you use terms like “Putting the puck where Grandma hides the Jack Daniels” (scoring by shooting into the top part of the net), “Butt Ending” (which surprising doesn't involve Ben Roethlisberger, meaning jamming the butt of your stick into your opponent) or “Getting Squared” (wishing you had never been born).
Shaking hands at the end of a series — Imagine playing your heart out, sometimes dropping the stick and gloves to fight an opponent and then when it’s all said and done — when one team is absolutely devastated— forming a line where every single player shakes hands? It’s one of the great traditions in sports.
Can you imagine the NBA trying to get all its players to stay on the floor to shake hands after getting bounced out? I can’t either. Sometimes, LeBron James is wrong.
The Stanley Cup Trophy — Here’s a little factoid for you. The Stanley Cup is the oldest trophy that’s played for in North America. It was first awarded in 1892 and unlike the other trophies awarded by the NFL, NBA and MLB, a new one is not made each year; Cup winners get to keep it until a new champion is crowned. It is unusual among trophies, in that it has the name of the winning players, coaches, management, and club staff engraved on it.
Penalties — Other sports penalize players by awarding fouls, or moving the placement of the ball. Boring. Hockey makes the offending player sit in the “Sin Bin” (penalty box) for a minimum of two minutes allowing the other team a man advantage. Picture MLB making a team play with only two outfielders during an at-bat as punishment.
Might make baseball a little more interesting don’t you think?
Playoff beards — This is another great hockey tradition. Players in the playoffs stop shaving till they’re eliminated. Some guys don’t look half bad, while others end up looking like Grizzly Adams. Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks can’t grow a beard, so he chooses to wear a mullet, which is also acceptable.
Surely, you're a hockey fan now. Don't worry. You'll get used to Don Cherry.
