Ice Hockey fans?

[bluetoe]

Ice hockey might actually be the coolest team sport, providing one knows basically how it's played.
The athletic ability required is greater than in other sports, considering that everything they do is done on skates.

Having grown up near Detroit (many years ago), I have been a hockey fan for a really long time. Just having an NHL hockey team in Raleigh is improbable and fantastic, although at one time we had a minor league team, the 'Ice Caps' ('Caps' because 'Capitol', get it?). They played in Dorton Arena, and attending those games was an absolute blast.

Anyway, our Canes are sitting pretty in this first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, holding a three games to one lead in the best of seven series, and returning home for game five. We are phenomenally good at home. Anyone who has never bothered to try to get interested but loves sports are missing out.

 

[gteeitup]

Ice hockey might actually be the coolest team sport, providing one knows basically how it's played.
The athletic ability required is greater than in other sports, considering that everything they do is done on skates.

Having grown up near Detroit (many years ago), I have been a hockey fan for a really long time. Just having an NHL hockey team in Raleigh is improbable and fantastic, although at one time we had a minor league team, the 'Ice Caps' ('Caps' because 'Capitol', get it?). They played in Dorton Arena, and attending those games was an absolute blast.

Anyway, our Canes are sitting pretty in this first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, holding a three games to one lead in the best of seven series, and returning home for game five. We are phenomenally good at home. Anyone who has never bothered to try to get interested but loves sports are missing out.

love hockey…my team stinks right now so i’m watching parts of each series without much rooting interest.

there’s nothing like a game 7 in the playoffs and i could argue they care more about their sport and performance than most professional athletes…i did watch the four nations cup and thought it was incredible…while canada is still the benchmark, team usa is right there.

 

[ohio tarheels]

Playoff Hockey is incredible!!! I think it’s fantastic that these guys beat up on each other for 4-7 games depending on the series then after the series is over they shake hands with the other team like nothing ever happened!!!


Like @gteeitup my 🐧 aren’t in it again this year but just watching whatever series when I get a chance

 

[bluetoe]

love hockey…my team stinks right now so i’m watching parts of each series without much rooting interest.

there’s nothing like a game 7 in the playoffs and i could argue they care more about their sport and performance than most professional athletes…i did watch the four nations cup and thought it was incredible…while canada is still the benchmark, team usa is right there.

what is your team?

 

[bluetoe]

Playoff Hockey is incredible!!! I think it’s fantastic that these guys beat up on each other for 4-7 games depending on the series then after the series is over they shake hands with the other team like nothing ever happened!!!


Like @gteeitup my 🐧 aren’t in it again this year but just watching whatever series when I get a chance

the rough stuff is built into the fabric of the sport, and it is actually much tamer now than in times past...but it's pretty enjoyable to see the officials separate two players who are throwing punches at each other and nobody necessarily gets sent to the penalty box.

The traditions are awesome as well....hats thrown on the ice when someone scores a hat trick, freaking octopuses thrown out in Detroit during the playoffs, etc. I love it all.

Hopefully the Canes take round 1 from NJ here in just a little while.

 

[gteeitup]

what is your team?

blackhawks…my college roommate was from pittsburgh and a huge penguins fan and when they were in the finals in 92 i adopted chicago…i have been hooked since.

the chicago/detroit rivalry with bob probert on both teams was worth the price.

 

[bluetoe]

Playoff Hockey is incredible!!! I think it’s fantastic that these guys beat up on each other for 4-7 games depending on the series then after the series is over they shake hands with the other team like nothing ever happened!!!


Like @gteeitup my 🐧 aren’t in it again this year but just watching whatever series when I get a chance

and who is your team?

It was a helluva Hurricanes game this evening, and I was thinking of your comment as they shook hands. It's a sign of physical and mental toughness when you bang against the other team for 'x' number of games for 60 hard minutes and then graciously offer...and just as graciously accept...a sincere congrats.

It's really a fantastic sport.

 

[pooponduke]

and who is your team?

It was a helluva Hurricanes game this evening, and I was thinking of your comment as they shook hands. It's a sign of physical and mental toughness when you bang against the other team for 'x' number of games for 60 hard minutes and then graciously offer...and just as graciously accept...a sincere congrats.

It's really a fantastic sport.

Not Ohio, but that looks like a Penguin he used to me.

I am not a "hockey guy". Have always loved going to games and the energy within the arenas, etc. However, it has just always felt like a sport that didn't translate to watching on tv. Perhaps if I gave it more time and got into the subtleties it would stick. At this point, my wife might lose it if I started watching yet another sport.

 

[bluetoe]

Not Ohio, but that looks like a Penguin he used to me.

I am not a "hockey guy". Have always loved going to games and the energy within the arenas, etc. However, it has just always felt like a sport that didn't translate to watching on tv. Perhaps if I gave it more time and got into the subtleties it would stick. At this point, my wife might lose it if I started watching yet another sport.

thanks, I really couldn't make it out at all.

Hockey is a sport that isn't as easy to pick up on if you didn't grow up with it. But it's apparent that it can be done, as witnessed by the Hurricanes home arena being about the rowdiest in the NHL,... here in Raleigh, N.C., of all places..


" At this point, my wife might lose it if I started watching yet another sport. "
And when a wife 'loses it', she usually makes sure it's not only she that 'loses it'. I'm hearing you loud and clear on that one.

 

[pooponduke]

Hockey is a sport that isn't as easy to pick up on if you didn't grow up with it. But it's apparent that it can be done, as witnessed by the Hurricanes home arena being about the rowdiest in the NHL,... here in Raleigh, N.C., of all places..

Like I said, attending games has always been a blast, just not so much watching on tv. And, like all things, you have to really learn it to truly enjoy it. To fully appreciate football, for example, you've got to stop focusing on the ball and watch other things like line play. Growing up going to school in MD and then attending post HS in Balto., naturally, I was an O's fan. But baseball was just the next sport to watch as the season came in and there were events to be enjoyed. Eventually, I became a season ticketholder, had really good seats and attended a buttload of games each year (there was little else to enjoy since the Bullets had gone to DC and the Colts moved in the middle of the night, not counting minor league hockey and the Blast, lol). When not attending, I watched a bunch of baseball on tv or listened on the radio as I drove. It's a game where you can drop in and out at will without needing to see the flow of things like some others. Each new pitcher and at bat is a "new" game not dependent on what happened in the first quarter or whatever. My enjoyment of the game grew exponentially as I watched things like how players moved two steps one direction or the other depending on the pitch count, runners, and so on. I imagine if I "got into" hockey, it would be much the same.

One side story I have to share that I heard the other day. You may or may not remember a guy named Ben McDonald who was a pitcher, a phenom at LSU, won gold in the Olympics and the O's drafted him as the first pick in one of the late 80's drafts. He quickly made it to the majors and the starting rotation. The O's also had a young catcher at the time that McDonald couldn't exactly rely on for that veteran guidance of what do in any given situation in terms of pitch selection. But you'd think that a guy with McDonald's pedigree would know what he was doing, right? Well, per McDonald, pretty quickly into that season, it became clear to Cal Jr. that they had no idea what to do and he approached McDonald about it. Thereafter, for the rest of the season, Cal called the pitches for pitcher and catcher by some sort of signal. No one knew about it so it never got leaked to other teams.

 

[bluetoe]

Like I said, attending games has always been a blast, just not so much watching on tv. And, like all things, you have to really learn it to truly enjoy it. To fully appreciate football, for example, you've got to stop focusing on the ball and watch other things like line play. Growing up going to school in MD and then attending post HS in Balto., naturally, I was an O's fan. But baseball was just the next sport to watch as the season came in and there were events to be enjoyed. Eventually, I became a season ticketholder, had really good seats and attended a buttload of games each year (there was little else to enjoy since the Bullets had gone to DC and the Colts moved in the middle of the night, not counting minor league hockey and the Blast, lol). When not attending, I watched a bunch of baseball on tv or listened on the radio as I drove. It's a game where you can drop in and out at will without needing to see the flow of things like some others. Each new pitcher and at bat is a "new" game not dependent on what happened in the first quarter or whatever. My enjoyment of the game grew exponentially as I watched things like how players moved two steps one direction or the other depending on the pitch count, runners, and so on. I imagine if I "got into" hockey, it would be much the same.

One side story I have to share that I heard the other day. You may or may not remember a guy named Ben McDonald who was a pitcher, a phenom at LSU, won gold in the Olympics and the O's drafted him as the first pick in one of the late 80's drafts. He quickly made it to the majors and the starting rotation. The O's also had a young catcher at the time that McDonald couldn't exactly rely on for that veteran guidance of what do in any given situation in terms of pitch selection. But you'd think that a guy with McDonald's pedigree would know what he was doing, right? Well, per McDonald, pretty quickly into that season, it became clear to Cal Jr. that they had no idea what to do and he approached McDonald about it. Thereafter, for the rest of the season, Cal called the pitches for pitcher and catcher by some sort of signal. No one knew about it so it never got leaked to other teams.

wow, that is a fantastic story. I never got into baseball like I did so fanatically with other sports, but I knew about Cal Ripken and admired him.

My dad was a diehard Tigers fan, and I would try to get interested because of that. So I followed the standings but never really got into the game of baseball itself, other than watching highlights...which I could do all day long and still can. But much later in life a guy who worked for me was a baseball guy and one day in a long discussion, he introduced me to the unseen part of the game, the strategy. I was fascinated and now I have an appreciation for the game and the pace of the game, which I never cared much for before..

Your story made me think of the movie 'Bull Durham' (which I'm in, as an unrecognizable extra, a fan in the stands). Similar plot, they bring in Keven Costner as a veteran catcher to nurse the new pitching phenom along. Great movie.

 

[bluetoe]

Like I said, attending games has always been a blast, just not so much watching on tv. And, like all things, you have to really learn it to truly enjoy it. To fully appreciate football, for example, you've got to stop focusing on the ball and watch other things like line play.

you are spot on about this. I have had to force myself to watch off the ball play in both basketball and football. Not as much with hockey though.

I once saw ECU play State (can't remember why) at the Panthers stadium, and our seats were high above one end zone, which I thought were the boonies until they started playing. It was fantastic to watch each play unfold all across the line and up and down the field, a perspective you just don't get from those primo fifty yard line seats.

It helps if you understand the rules and why things are done the way they are. You need to watch some hockey games with someone who knows the game and feels a strong urge to share his knowledge with you. Yeah, you know...THAT guy. Just grin and bear it.

 

[heelmanwilm]

Like I said, attending games has always been a blast, just not so much watching on tv. And, like all things, you have to really learn it to truly enjoy it. To fully appreciate football, for example, you've got to stop focusing on the ball and watch other things like line play. Growing up going to school in MD and then attending post HS in Balto., naturally, I was an O's fan. But baseball was just the next sport to watch as the season came in and there were events to be enjoyed. Eventually, I became a season ticketholder, had really good seats and attended a buttload of games each year (there was little else to enjoy since the Bullets had gone to DC and the Colts moved in the middle of the night, not counting minor league hockey and the Blast, lol). When not attending, I watched a bunch of baseball on tv or listened on the radio as I drove. It's a game where you can drop in and out at will without needing to see the flow of things like some others. Each new pitcher and at bat is a "new" game not dependent on what happened in the first quarter or whatever. My enjoyment of the game grew exponentially as I watched things like how players moved two steps one direction or the other depending on the pitch count, runners, and so on. I imagine if I "got into" hockey, it would be much the same.

One side story I have to share that I heard the other day. You may or may not remember a guy named Ben McDonald who was a pitcher, a phenom at LSU, won gold in the Olympics and the O's drafted him as the first pick in one of the late 80's drafts. He quickly made it to the majors and the starting rotation. The O's also had a young catcher at the time that McDonald couldn't exactly rely on for that veteran guidance of what do in any given situation in terms of pitch selection. But you'd think that a guy with McDonald's pedigree would know what he was doing, right? Well, per McDonald, pretty quickly into that season, it became clear to Cal Jr. that they had no idea what to do and he approached McDonald about it. Thereafter, for the rest of the season, Cal called the pitches for pitcher and catcher by some sort of signal. No one knew about it so it never got leaked to other teams.

ripkens dad managed the Asheville O’s in the oriole farm system when I was a kid. Living in Asheville cal played little league ball in the same league and division that I did. He was a man among boys. His feats were legendary and maybe exxagerated some but against us several times I remember multiple home runs and an incredible arm pitching.

 

[heelmanwilm]

I love playoff hockey. Reg season I never watch. I’ve never bought the claim that fighting is a necessary aspect of the sport. I’ve admittedly never played it so it’s fair to dismiss my opinion I reckon. Just seems stupid and looks ridiculous. But anyway playoff hockey doesn’t have the fighting reg season does. Prob cause they can’t risk sitting the next game.

 

[bluetoe]

ripkens dad managed the Asheville O’s in the oriole farm system when I was a kid. Living in Asheville cal played little league ball in the same league and division that I did. He was a man among boys. His feats were legendary and maybe exxagerated some but against us several times I remember multiple home runs and an incredible arm pitching.

sorry, but we used to have a poster with the exact same handle. Then he just went away.

But good story.

 

[bluetoe]

I love playoff hockey. Reg season I never watch. I’ve never bought the claim that fighting is a necessary aspect of the sport. I’ve admittedly never played it so it’s fair to dismiss my opinion I reckon. Just seems stupid and looks ridiculous. But anyway playoff hockey doesn’t have the fighting reg season does. Prob cause they can’t risk sitting the next game.

the fighting wasn't exactly necessary, but it was somewhat promoted when the league started expanding...and it was crap. As long as it is allowed to be what it naturally is, a sincere consequence of aggressive physical play that is kept under control by the officials, it adds a little flavor to the game that says 'this is hockey'. Because rough play is a distinct part of hockey and always has been.


Good seeing you back, BTW. Don't leave again without prior authorization.

 

[pooponduke]

ripkens dad managed the Asheville O’s in the oriole farm system when I was a kid. Living in Asheville cal played little league ball in the same league and division that I did. He was a man among boys. His feats were legendary and maybe exxagerated some but against us several times I remember multiple home runs and an incredible arm pitching.

That's great. I don't think people realize just how really good those that are great really are, even when they are young and in youth leagues. I never got to know Cal, but was connected with Billy after his playing days and they were developing their business side of baseball. He lived backyard diagonal from a good friend with whom I played in a bunch of bball leagues at different places over the years. Next thing you know, Billy was playing with us as a regular member of our team. He was funny as hell, loved to attend the after game stuff at the local watering hole and you could always see the pro athlete in him when he played. As in baseball, Cal was the better bball player (was bigger and just all around better), but you could still see the athlete with Billy. His quickness and lateral movement to get around somebody was phenomenal, and then he blow the shot, lol. Like I said, funny guy. He was walking out one night headed home and said, "boys, if you learn one and only one thing from me, don't ever get into a golf bet with a starting pitcher unless he's on your team" and out the door he went.