NHL 2009/10: My First Full Season

While most of us are caught up in the football currently taking place in South Africa, I wanted to look back and reflect on what has been my first full season of NHL ice hockey.

As someone who is British, hockey joins the many not-so-well-known sports that are overshadowed by the likes of our nation’s more traditional sports such as football, snooker and cricket. Few people follow the country’s national league - EIHL (Elite Ice Hockey League) where the performance of the league’s top teams are equivalent to those at the lower end of the ECHL and AFL leagues (there’s a reason why we’re the lowest ranked country in the IIHF!). Many of these EIHL teams rely on players from other countries and professional leagues (these are referred to as ‘imports’, of which there is a restriction of 10 per EIHL roster, the rest must consist of British nationals) in order to put on a decent game for the fans.

My initial interest in hockey started when I was around 6 years of age. At the time, my local team (the Sheffield Steelers) happened to be the highest ranked team in the league and my dad’s [old] office was next door to the team’s. It was here he befriended the team’s manager and bagged the family a bunch of season tickets (it is worth noting that these tickets are worth a fraction of the price of an NHL season ticket, considering that EIHL games cost no more than £10/$14 per person and never attract a crowd large enough to fill even half of an arena). As a family we managed to attend most of Sheffield’s games and watched as they went on to win the championships that year, a title they would hold for many seasons to come.

After that year, we moved home to a completely different area and I haven’t attended a single hockey game in person since. It would be 13 years later before my interest was sparked once again.

Towards the end of July and the beginning of August last year, I had the privilege of meeting two of the most awesome people on Tumblr (Sam and KG) who reintroduced me to the sport with their passion for their local team who had just won the Stanley Cup that year (the Pittsburgh Penguins of course). As I got to know the two, the differences between our countries was often a popular topic (it still is!) in our conversations and our differences in national sports is no exception. With persuasion from Sam and KG, along with many pre-season hockey posts from the likes of Justin, Alex and Dana to which I all owe my thanks (if any of you are reading this, you guys are awesome), I decided to give NHL a try and watch a few games featuring my friend’s local team: the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Actually watching the sport was a problem from the get-go however, as hockey is a sport that is simply not broadcast on British television due to the sport’s small following of people (at the time, ESPN was only available on satellite television and not with Top Up TV via Freeview - my current method of subscription). Instead, I’d resort to watching live streams (something I found completely impossible at the start) or downloading and watching them 1 or 2 days after the broadcast. Since I found my eyes struggling to watch live streams at the start of the season, I opted for the latter which led me to discover an awesome UK NHL community (which I shall not publicly name due to debatable legal reasons) featuring members that would rip all standard and HD hockey broadcasts from Canadian and American TV, cut out the commercial breaks and upload the video file for the rest of the community to download. After watching the first game of the season (New York Rangers @ Pittsburgh Penguins) with a bunch of mates (who also surprisingly enjoy the game) I was instantly hooked. The level of performance that the sport is played at was way beyond anything I had ever seen. From the quality of passing, checking and shooting to the drop of the gloves and fights that occur thereafter, I asked myself “What isn’t there to love about this sport?”.

Adjusting my eyes to the sport took some time. On many occasions my eyes would lose the puck and would take several seconds before I’d find it again. The NHL rules and terminology is another subject I would fail to grasp on occasion, some of which I was able to pick up as I went along. The rest such as icing calls, the hockey definition of offside, rink markings I would either learn from the likes of Wikipedia or through playing NHL 10 for the PlayStation 3 which I purchased on impulse two weeks into watching hockey.

Well, fast forward to the end of the season and the NHL folder on my computer now looks something like this:

I have to admit it was disappointing and surprisingly heartbreaking to see Pittsburgh lose to Montreal in the Eastern Conference finals, especially after watching every single game they had played this season, something that even long time fans of the sport fail to accomplish.

Looking back, I’m amazed to see how much I have grown to the sport within the space of a year. Although this is only just the beginning for me as I still have much to learn that you can only learn through experience, knowledge such as the history and rosters of NHL teams, historic games and players and so on. Still, to go from knowing very little about the sport to becoming a fan who has downloaded every game, frequently played the NHL 10 video game, [eventually] becoming an ESPN subscriber at the start of the playoffs and even having to constantly adjust my sleep pattern to be able to stay up till 4am so I could watch the live broadcasts, I am proud to say ice hockey has become a part of my life. The only thing I’m now lacking is a Pens jersey to show my support.

Perhaps I’ll pick one up when I visit the US in August!

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Thanks for taking the time to read this. If you have any questions or you’re unfamiliar with the sport or you’re interested in following ice hockey, feel free to send me a message and I’ll be more than happy to respond.

Winter Classic

whatwhatwhat:

joledo:

whatwhatwhat:

justinleon:

joledo:

Attention Winter Classic Viewers: Contrary to your popular bandwagon belief there are 1,229 NHL games played in a season that are not the Winter Classic nor the Stanley Cup finals. I realize our shitty TV deal would have you believe otherwise. There are also more than 6 teams and there is more than likely one in your market as well so please stop claiming you’ve been a Pittsburgh fan since “back in the day,” because unless you are refering to when they won the cup in the early 90s then you’ve probably just liked the most recent champion.

Resume watching now, I’ll rant again in the post-season when you remember why Hockey is the best sport unlike that womens sport that plays once a week over Sunday brunch and cry everytime they get hit trying to throw a “ball.”

AMEN!

Mmmm, just because I’m watching the Winter Classic doesn’t mean I don’t know any of this. As for the part in bold, that’s true…unless you grew up in Pittsburgh, and weren’t born until ‘89 so you can hardly be punished for not enjoying hockey before you could properly speak, read, write, and talk. I love the Pens partly out of hometown allegiance and mostly because I always have, however they’re not my only team and I’m not so deluded as to think there’s no hockey outside of them. Living in Indianapolis where hockey is basically non-existent, I take whatever game TV will give me without question and I enjoy it. Because I love hockey. And this can bite me. I’m sorry I am grumpy.

My grudge was obviously aimed towards the people that only watch this game along with the Stanley Cup Finals. Given the context that I laid out my rant in, you should have picked up on this and I am sorry that you are grumpy and if this offended you.

I was born and raised just outside of Detroit and have been a life-long Detroit fan even with my move to New Jersey, a team that I watched crush the Wings in 1995. If you were born and raised a fan of a team where you are from or even a team that your Father or Grandfather liked, I have no problem with that - why would I?

The key term here was “bandwagon” pointing out the people that only pay attention to the hockey community 1 day a year. I do realize that with any sport the most recent champions always gain new fans and sell a shitload of merchandise, it’s just a shame that it took the Penguins winning the lottery to save their franchise from relocating. In the season prior to “drafting” Crosby (let’s face it, he wasn’t drafted - he was awarded to the team that won the lottery and any hockey fan would love to have him despite claiming he “sucks.” He is a genius at playing the sport.) … anyways, prior to drafting Crosby average attendance in Pittsburgh was 11,877. The team does need an arena that sits more than 17,000 people, but still - nobody can argue that Sidney Crosby saved hockey in Pittsburgh. The team upstairs did a great job drafting in the years prior to and after his arrival as well.

I don’t think anyone shouldn’t watch the Winter Classic, I just wish the TV Coverage, Hype, and Press it is getting could convert more people to actually actively following the sport itself be it on any level. ECHL, USHL, QMJHL, AHL, OHL, KHL, NHL, NCAA…

The Indianapolis Ice won the Clark Cup Championship last season in the USHL. It’s not the most exciting level of hockey to watch, but if you’re jonsing for a game check one out.

Again, I have no grudge against you personally, you obviously love the sport enough to defend your stance on it. Just don’t think I’m attacking everyone watching it in general.

No man, I realized this after I had already reblogged because in my hockey haze I did not read carefully enough. Mainly it’s because as a Pens fan I’ve had to stay on constant edge the last year or so just to defend why I like a team, which to me seems utterly ridiculous. Like who you like, it’s half of the fun. But I get where you’re coming from and I’m glad you weren’t personally offended because it WASN’T my intent, and really, I wasn’t offended either…trust me, it takes a lot to get me to that point. I just get a little feisty when I’m already cranky and speak(type?) before I think. But oh sweet merciful baby jesus, thank you for the Indianapolis tip. I had no time during school last semester to really search for any hockey and this makes me very, very happy.

As someone who is new to the sport this season (after befriending a bunch of hockey fans) I am in no position to comment on your argument about mainstream media coverage, it’s tough enough for me as it is trying to keep up with watching every single Pens match game (my friends are supporters, hence I chose to follow the team) this season. I also try to watch odd games featuring other teams in other leagues to get a broader feel of the sport (though my own nation’s EIHL is mediocre to say the least).

Anyway, I hear a lot of people complain about NHL coverage on TV, but being a Brit who downloads all his games from the Internet (pretty much all of them are HD recordings from a channel named FSN), coverage is something that is never an issue. Is FSN some kind of premium sports channel or is only available in certain regions or something?

You mention Justin that hockey is never shown in public places such as hotels and bars too. Is hockey an underdog sport in comparison to other big national sports such as football, basketball and baseball? I’ve also noticed that the broadcasts I’ve watched are always biased towards a team (the broadcasting city’s team). Is this broadcasting bias found in other American sports also?

Sorry for all the questions, just wanting to know a bit more about the coverage of the sport I have only been watching for a few months now.

Hope you’re all enjoying (or have enjoyed) today’s game. Looking forward to watching it myself. Good thing I have PDC Darts and more NHL games to watch in the meantime.

Like…a douche-bomb or something?

whatwhatwhat:

I would like to make it clear that the only reason I am watching the Winter Classic is for my love of hockey and just in case the Bruins and the Flyers just annihilate each other in some freak accident on the ice so I never have to deal with either of them again.

I have last 2008’s Winter Classic (Pens vs Sabres) downloaded and it was awesome. Hence I shall be watching this year’s game too regardless of the competing teams.

Just a word of warning everyone, no spoilers ‘til tomorrow please!