The NHL Is Awesome Reason #8...Hockey Dads

Today I logged onto Twitter and saw this post by Jeff Marek of CBC Sports: @JeffMarek Here ya go, folks. The debut of TJ Marek-Robinson, draft class 2028. Scouts say he shows promise.... http://tweetphoto.com/29683508

Marek's job is to be obsessed with hockey, and he's very geuine about it, so it's no surprise his baby is less than a day old and he's already envisioning the kid's draft day in 18 years. Obviously the tweet was supposed to be humerous, but hockey dads like Marek take their kids' hockey careers very seriously.

Most of them never make it past the very beginning levels of hockey, but that doesn't stop dads from dreaming. And for some, pee wee games at six in the morning on a Saturday eventually turn into nationally televised games on NBC.

At the draft this weekend, the Rangers took Christian Thomas, son of former NHLer Steve Thomas, in the second round. Steve stood by Christian's side, beaming with pride.

For men who've followed the game passionately their entire lives, raising a boy who shares the same interest in the game has to be an incredible experience. Even if the talent isn't present, the love of the game can form an intimate bond. Or so I'm told, cause I'm only 21. But one day...

The NHL Is Awesome Reason #7...The Draft

Tomorrow night, 30 teenagers will see their dreams come true when they are chosen in the first round of the NHL draft. The next day over 180 more NHL-hopefuls will be picked by NHL clubs in rounds two through seven.

There's nothing quite like watching a jubilant kid here his name called by a crusty old NHL exec and hug all his family members before nervously making his way to the stage. It's a feeling none but those who experience it can imagine, try as we might. Whether you're watching it on TV, heading to LA, or going to a draft party, the draft is always an enjoyable time for hockey fans.

It's truly an amazing event for a number of reasons:

- It provides us with a glimpse of the adolescents who will one day be the stars of our favorite teams

- The wheeling and dealing on the trade front during draft weekend is second only to the trade deadline, and the rumor mill works overtime

- A lot of us played hockey growing up and envisioned our own draft day thousands of times. An old teammate of mine once said "I always thought I was going to get drafted until my 18th birthday when I was sitting at home on the couch eating cheese doodles and saw a kid younger than me get taken first." While his dream was obviously unrealistic, there's something romantic about the idea of waiting, and knowing that you are going to be drafted; and then reality sets in and it doesn't happen


As a Rangers fan, I've learned the hard way that there's no subsititue for good drafting. Signing free agents and trading is simply not an effective way to build a winner in the NHL. Teams must build from within, and for that reason the draft has never been more important. But as serious as it an be, the draft is really a ton of fun for everyone involved. It's a celebration of the accomplishments and hard work of these young men, and a taste of hope for the future of every NHL franchise.

The NHL Is Awesome Reason #6...The Award Show

Tonight was the NHL Award Show in Las Vegas to reveal the winners of the league's hardware. The usual names took home some trophies, but it was good to see the media reward Henrik Sedin with the Hart Trophy for his incredible play this season, even though the other candidates for the MVP were named Crosby and Ovechkin. The show was much more entertaining this year, with decent comedic value from host Jay Mohr and musical performances by the Goo Goo Dolls and Shinedown. But this sketch, featuring Ryan Getzlaf and Bobby Ryan of the Anaheim Ducks stole the show.




As I've written before, the NHL truly has some gifted commercial-makers and video producers. While the league gets a ton of heat for supposed poor marketing, I haven't seen anything nearly this funny by any of the other professional leagues. Ryan and Getzlaf were fantastic, and this video will be watched by hockey fans around the world thousands of times in the next 24 hours.