Hockey fans, the wait is over.
The puck drops today, 15 times to be exact, as every team in the National Hockey League takes to the ice to reintroduce the sport to a country that could not have given a hoot that it was absent last year.
Well guess what? I gave a hoot. Hockey's absence was torture. After March Madness this past spring I nearly went insane.
If you are not like me, a diehard fan who has been participating in fantasy hockey and maxing out credit cards to order Sidney Crosby apparel, then there is no better time to become a fan of hockey. Regardless of your interest level, this will be - by far - one of the most interesting NHL seasons in recent memory. With the newly induced salary cap, player talent has spread far and wide across the league, allowing small market teams to land big names.
A year off also let the league change a few rules - rules that favor offense and an even more fast-paced action. I thought hockey was exciting before; now I may have to find a way to calm myself before catching any games.
Shootouts instead of kissing-your-sister ties? Be still my beating heart.
The NHL also returns with a LeBron James of its own in Crosby, a player who is expected to be the next Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux rolled into one. With a multimillion dollar deal already closed with Reebok - that's right, Reebok and hockey - I am starting to believe the sporting world knows this kid is worth the hype.
Hockey fans will have to get used to a new, strange world where goalies cannot venture into the corner to play pucks during power plays and Gretzky is inspiring players as a coach, even though he is not inspiring children with awe and wonder with his abilities on the ice. I, for one, am ready and willing to accept those changes so I can get on with my life.
Of course, there will still be a few people out there - you know who you are - that are just drooling to find me on the street and put me in my place with a witty, Hockey sucks
loser! kind of quip.
My mother always taught me that bullies are simple, jealous and lowbrow types of people. Just because baseball can be long and tedious, football is packed with too much start-and-stop action and basketball showcases too many prima donnas and not enough defense, does not mean that hockey is the scapegoat for your insecurities.
Why hockey has never found a home here in the United States is a thought that has kept me up tossing in my bed during more than one night of my life. After all, hockey was the medium through which the greatest - argue all you want, it is the greatest - moment in the history of American sports was produced. Do you believe in miracles?
Right now, I would accept the miracle that hockey will find its way back onto ESPN without the words, Who really even missed it? being used. A miracle would be some kind of following arising in the United States or if Berry Melrose finally decides to change his hairstyle. For all the hockey fans out there, I will make the plea to the university's administration for you. Can we get the Canadian Broadcasting Channel here at Ohio University so I can catch Saturday doubleheaders?
Thankfully, hockey has taught me to believe in miracles.
- Mark Shugar is a junior journalism major and sports editor for The Post. He would like to thank the Ohio club hockey team for getting him pumped up even more for the NHL season. Send him an e-mail at ms314803@ohiou.edu. 17
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Mark Shugar
