For The Love Of The Game...

I was not born and raised a hockey fan. Far from it. I was raised on baseball and college hoops on Tobacco Road.

Youth hockey did not exist for me. And if it had, I nor the adults at the Eden Boy's Club, would not have known what to do with it (I remember being taught soccer by a coach who was reading out of a book at practice). It's hard to pinpoint exactly when I was first exposed to hockey and when I officially "became a fan". I vaguely remember the Montreal Canadians from the mid-seventies, and perhaps a little more clearly the Islanders run of 4 straight Cups in the late 70's (for some reason I cannot quite pinpoint now, I pulled against them every time). Then there was the Miracle on Ice at Lake Placid, where I vividly remember me and my Dad (who was never a hockey fan at all and now only holds a passing interest) cheering loudly in our living room as Al Michaels asked "Do you believe in miracles?" Yes! Perhaps that was the moment.

Or perhaps it came when some kids named Messier and Gretzky from a Canadian oil town finally vanquished the Isles and started an amazing dynastic run of their own? I remember that those Oilers teams were the first that I followed regularly and it was through them that I became a "fan". I also pulled for the Rangers because they were the hard-luck kids (similar to my beloved Red Sox), and because they were the Islander's rivals (again, I'm not sure what it was that turned me off about the Isles - maybe their brutish physical play, or just their run of dominance that turned me towards the underdogs). In college I would attend minor league games in Greensboro and Raleigh but did not have a team of "my own". But my fan hood grew and when Peter Karmanos came calling from Connecticut, I felt bad for the fans in Hartford, but ecstatic that I would finally have a team to call my own.

But through it all something was happening that was almost imperceptible. I was falling in love with the game. It was starting to tug at my allegiances that had always fallen solidly with baseball and basketball.

Today, I would have to say that I am a hockey fan above all else. When the Red Sox won the World Series, especially coming from behind to beat the Yankees in historic fashion it was an amazing feeling. But it was more a feeling of deliverance and relief. Like a weight being lifted. When they did it again last year it was almost like ho-hum. I was happy, but I was no longer emotionally invested. And in neither case did it come close to the feeling of Game 7 of the 2006 finals and watching Rod Brind A'mour lift that Cup above his head and jump around like a little kid.

I no longer get (as) upset when the Yankees beat the Red Sox or Duke loses to UNC. But the Hurricanes missing the playoffs can send me into a funk that lasts for weeks. I know it doesn't make any sense. But I know that it makes me a hockey fan. First and foremost.

And as a hockey fan tonight's EPIC Game 5 between the Red Wings and Penguins was absolutely amazing. I don't have a rooting interest. I'm not pulling for or against either team. I just want to see good hockey on TV for a little while longer. And it does not get much better than this.

I don't think anyone expected Pittsburgh to win this game. As talented as they are, Detroit has just been too good this playoff season. But the Pens jumped out to a two goal lead and suddenly things got interesting again. However, by the third period, the Wings were absolutely dominating the play and the Pens' lead quickly disappeared. The Cup was in the house and I fully expected it to be skated around the ice by the guys in Red. But then we were all reminded of how truly great this game can be.
It was a joy to watch - the skill, the stamina, the determination, the desperation.
And in the end the sheer jubilation of a Penguins team that after 5 1/2 periods of elimination hockey will live to fight at least one more day.

I'm sure the game will be analyzed and lionized by folks far more eloquent than I.
But all I know is that it's after 1am and I'm jubilant and exhausted. And I did not even have a dog in this fight. I can only imagine what the fans in Detroit and Pittsburgh are feeling.

And that's why we love this game.

-m