Turns out I can really care about hockey.
There have been signs pointing to this all year. On New Year’s Day I turned on the Winter Classic from Fenway Park and saw the Bruins score two goals in the last five minutes to win the game. Then I watched a couple Olympic games including the very exciting US-Canada final. I tuned in for the post Savard concussion Penguins-Bruins matchup (disappointing and boring), and Game 6 of the Bruins first round playoffs (appointing and interesting).
So that’s five games in four months, or roughly three games more than any four month period in the past 15 years.
So maybe my momentum was headed in the right direction when I heard that the 8 seed Canadiens were ahead of the 1 seed Capitals after two periods. I started searching my cable system to see the final period, finally realizing it was on some channel called VS. By time I could find the channel there were 13 minutes left in the game.
And it was riveting. I don’t really know why, but my heart was pounding as I watched Montreal try to hang on. I had a rooting interest since the Bruins would have a much easier opponent in the next round if the Canadiens were to win, but still, my attachment was way out of proportion. It may have been the most vested I’ve been in any sporting event in the past year, including Red Sox/Celtics/Bruins/Patriots playoff games.
And that showed me: hockey is a great sport. Well, at least playoff hockey is. When it is a game 7, and the whistles are few and far between, and the players are not mucking around and posturing for the next fight, it is incredibly captivating. I even knew 2 players on the ice: Ovechkin, who kept making breathtaking end to end runs, and Hal Gill, a former Bruin who made a handful of great plays to propel the Canadiens to victory. I saw two goals, and desperation play that you just don’t see in the constantly interrupted games of baseball, football, and basketball.
So now the Bruins play the Flyers. And I can name more players from the 1975 Flyers than I can for the 2010 Bruins. But I’m now up to six games watched in the past four months, and I have a feeling by the end of next week I’ll be praising and cursing a whole host of Bruins and Flyers by name.
Clarke, Leach, McLeish, Schultz, Parent, Van Impe.....if the Bruins get the trophy in the front row in this picture, I'll need to learn at least seven of their names
You should know Canadiens and former Bruins
Glen Metropolit and former BC star Brian Gionta (national champion). I can’t believe I have to watch hockey after I wrote to the NHL disciplinarian and told him I would not watch another game.
If Montreal beats Pittsburgh and the Bruins win their series there are a number of interesting subplots.
Original 6 teams, a 6 seed getting home ice advantage. The fact that I could be in Ethiopia for the first time the Bruins make the Cup Finals in 20 years and the fact that the Kostitsyn brothers become the most hated brother pair since the Stasnys.
I totally agree, except maybe you should say watching the last 10 minutes of playoff hockey is exciting. I almost called Teddy when the Bruins won the other night.
Mike Knuble has been a big part of the Caps this year– was he a Bruin more recently than Gill?