Why Do You Love The NHL?

I've been posting reasons why I love the NHL, so I decided it was time to go out and get some other opinions. I asked the SU Roller Hockey team why they love hockey.

The NHL Is Awesome Reason #5...Teeth

If you've heard the famous phrase "I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out" then you probably think of hockey as a game of hooligans. Perhaps one of the most common misconceptions about hockey is that it is barbaric. Granted it is a physical sport, but football is far more violent. Hitting and physicality are a very important part of defense in hockey. But brutal hits are actually very uncommon.

I'm not making excuses though, because when those hits do occur, it's awesome. It's always unfortunate to see someone get hurt. But the speed and size of the players today makes for some pretty insane collisions.

And one thing that results in with great frequency is missing teeth. Hockey players have the coolest smiles on the planet as far as I'm concerned. Losing teeth may be a problem for super models, but for hockey players, its a badge of honor. Players don't even miss game time when their often not so pearly whites are lost in battle. Hockey is a game of toughness and intimidation. Skill is important, but if you're not tough in hockey, you won't succeed. From the looks of it, these guys probably did.

The NHL Is Awesome Reason #4...Parity

One of the beautiful things about the NHL is that every team always seems to have pieces. In other sports like baseball and football, teams can be stuck in the cellar for years. In the NFL, swinging and missing on draft picks is a recipe for long-term failure. The Raiders have been awful for years largely because of awful drafting and a failure to identify a viable starting quarterback. In Major League Baseball, monetary concerns keep some teams from competing with the big market teams year after year. Teams like the Pirates can’t hope to compete with the Yankees who hand out contracts bigger than the Pirates whole payroll. The NBA has a combination of both of these problems.

But in the National Hockey League, every team slowly stockpiles pieces. Free agency, the draft, foreign leagues, and a complex minor league system combine to give every team avenues to success. Obviously some teams have mastered the art of staying atop the league for long periods as the Red Wings have. But even the league’s worst teams can always see a sunny future. The Islanders are widely considered to be the league’s worst team, but they have the best prospect in the game, John Tavares, and will continue to add top-notch prospects with high draft choices. The Avalanche are the worst team in the Western Conference, but they too added a top offensive prospect in Matt Duchene (above) who like Tavares, will begin the year in the NHL. Duchene and the return of young star Paul Stastny gives the Avalanche a very legitimate offensive foundation.

In the NHL it never seems like a team is that far away from competing. Granted it can take a couple years, but development always seems evident. Parity is something every sport claims to strive for. But year after year the same teams dwell in the depths of the standings in the other major sports. In hockey, no team is without hope. Even if a team doesn’t have money to sign free agents, and even if it makes a few mistakes in the draft, there are other options. Players can simply be signed from overseas; as was the case with the Maple Leafs and Jonas Gustavsson this summer (he’s starting in net tonight). What’s more, draft picks are swapped far more frequently in the NHL than in any other league, making them a valuable currency. If a team can’t draft on its own and can’t lure free agents, well it can package a bundle of picks for a ready-made superstar like Phil Kessel as the Leafs did this summer.

No other sport can claim to give fans as much legitimate hope as the NHL does. Some teams have mastered longevity, but for most the standings really do shuffle every year. One lottery win net the Penguins Sidney Crosby, and they’ve made two Stanley Cup Finals in a row. The Blackhawks returned to relevance rapidly last year. So what team will emerge this year?

The NHL Is Awesome Reason #3...Commercials

Since the lockout the NHL has made a major effort to increase its fanbase through intense marketing. I always thought the late 90's promo for "The Coolest Game on Earth" was cool enough. But the league has really stepped up its game in recent years. Check out some of the best.

Ovechkin Orders Room Service for Crosby


Is This The Year?


Fantasy Role Playing



And for good measure...one of my favorite old ones (sorry for the bad quality)

The NHL Is Awesome Reason #2...Nicknames

Even a fool can see that hockey is a game of creativity. But it extends far past the game on the ice, and nowhere is that more evident than in nicknames.

Nicknames have been around since the beginning of time. And NHL players and followers are quite fond of them. In the locker room players usually refer to each other with short, affectionate versions of their names, often with an "ey" sound at the end. For example Eric Staal of the Hurricanes is called "Staalsy" and Brandon Dubinsky of the Rangers is called "Dubi."

Cute, I guess, but the real gem nicknames are created by fans and the media. They've created nicknames for players, line combinations, teams, and physical pieces of the game. Here are some of my favorites.

Best Nickname, Period: The penalty box. Obviously players don't want to have to visit it. And there are plenty of nicknames for it as a result. The best are The Chateau Bow Wow and The Sin Bin.


Players:
Wayne Gretzky a.k.a The Great One
Dominik Hasek a.k.a. The Dominator
Stu Grimson a.k.a. The Grim Reaper
Pavel Bure a.k.a. The Russian Rocket
Ray "Chicken Parm" Ferraro

Best line nickname: The Legion of Doom (Eric Lindros, John Leclair, Mikael Renberg"

What are your favorites?

The NHL Is Awesome Reason #1...Rookie Success

Since the drafting of Gretzky heir-apparent Sidney Crosby in 2005, the NHL Draft has become a bit of a circus. The expectations surrounding the top prospects every year are ridiculous. But the amazing thing is that every year the top players in the class have delivered from day one.

This year the top four picks in order were John Tavares, Victor Hedman, Matt Duchene, and Evander Kane. In their first games, Tavares had a goal and an assist, Hedman had an assist, Duchene had an assist, and Kane had an assist.

Tavares 1st NHL goal

Points are one thing, but all four players were extremely impressive throughout their first games. Duchene in particular was all over the ice for the Avalanche.

Every sport has highly-touted prospects. But there isn’t another sport that has rookies consistently come in and dominate like the NHL. In football, quarterbacks typically take several years to develop into top statistical performers. In baseball, draftees take years to see the majors. And in basketball, top picks turn out to be busts far more often than they succeed.

But starting in 2005 with Crosby the top picks in the NHL draft every year have had instant impacts. It’s so exciting for fans of terrible teams to realize that they’ll have a sparkling new superstar at the end of the season.

There’s almost more incentive for a mediocre team to tank and end up with a player like Tavares. Crosby single-handedly saved the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Tavares is entrusted with the task of keeping the Islanders on Long Island.

That’s a lot for kids younger than me to handle. But year after year they’ve done it. That’s pretty awesome.

Welcome to The NHL Is Awesome

Welcome to my new blog all about why hockey is the best sport in the world!

Hockey is always referred to as the ultimate "niche" sport. The NHL has a rabid core fan base but struggles to expand its reach to casual fans. I'm here because that's beyond my comprehension.

I hope that big time hockey fans will read my posts and agree with many of the things I think are so great about hockey. But I also hope that a casual sports fan or two might take a look at some of these and realize that there's plenty of reasons people love hockey.

Maybe they'll discover unique and great aspects of the NHL that will convince them to tune into a game. And I'm pretty confident if they tune in, they'll love it as much as I do (that might be a stretch). But maybe they'll give hockey a shot.

If you're a hockey fan already, please feel free to comment on anything you agree with. And send me any ideas about things you love about hockey.

If you're not, read a post or two and see if it interests you. There's a reason that the people that like hockey, love hockey. It's the greatest game in the world. Hockey is an art form. It is about speed, creativity, vision, power, physicality, teamwork, leadership, emotions, and glory.

The list goes on. If you haven't figured it out by now, I think the NHL Is Pretty Awesome.

Join me if you do too. And if you don't yet, maybe I can change your mind.

Thanks for reading this, and I'll be back soon with Reason #1

Hockey Rules
Kevin