How I Became a Hockey Fan
During the Winter Olympics nothing was more compelling to watch than the hockey tournament. When it came down to Team USA and Team Canada in the gold medal game, I sent off an email to the LA Kings and asked to cover them. Surprisingly I didn’t have to haggle very much to get them to agree.
Having been a casual viewer at best prior to this I not only had to learn how to watch the game but how to write about it. And with the Kings making the postseason for the first time since 2002 last year, I got to witness the Stanley Cup Playoffs just four months after starting to cover the game.
This season I started from the very beginning and now as the Kings season is over, I just can’t get enough hockey. It’s a very fast paced game filled with the brutality to make football players cry and the finesse to make soccer players gape in astonishment. Blood is spilled, sweat permeating everything in the ice cold rink and there I am in the press box taking it all in.
So here I am at home watching the NHL Network and Versus to get in as much playoff hockey as possible. I really can’t be bothered with the NBA playoffs despite the Lakers still in it. I can’t bear to watch the Dodgers and all of the drama that surrounds them. If I could I would be sitting in the Bell Centre tonight catching the Montreal Canadiens try to stave off elimination against the Boston Bruins. Or up in Vancouver seeing the Canucks try to prevent an epic playoff collapse against the Chicago Black Hawks.
But I know come late October I will once again walk through the halls of STAPLES Center waiting for the puck to drop for the Kings. And knowing that will help the baseball season go just a bit faster.