Carolina skated away with the cup last night, after an amazing series with Edmonton. Edmonton battled back from a 3-1 disadvantage to force a game seven Stanley Cup Final, by far and away the single most exciting event in sports. What a playoff series for both teams. And what an ending. I was rooting for Edmonton, but I really liked the Carolina squad. Brind’Amour, Recchi, Staal, Cam Ward!, to name just a few, holy cow, what a great team, what incredible grit and character.

But while all this went on, most Americans snoozed trhough baseball games or some stinkin’ golf tournament. Tennis anyone? (Don’t get me wrong, I went to a baseball game Friday night and had a fine time. But in what other sport can you gaze out upon 9 guys standing stock still for extended periods of time?) So in the face of jokes like those told by Jay Leno (“The Stanley Cup finals on NBC in prime time last night got a two. Not a two rating. Two people watched.”), herewith my list of reasons hockey doesn’t suck:

1. The final event is a series, not a single game. The Cup can be awarded on any of four nights.
2. It’s all about the game, not the TV commercials, the pre-game show, or any of that nonsense. It’s about the game. Period.
3. Hockey fans are some of the most passionate people on the planet. I was really impressed by the noise of 20,000 Carolina fans, until the series went to Edmonton. Those 16,000 at Rexall Place tore the roof off. Unbelievable energy. Then back to Raleigh for game seven. Wow, dem redneck fans are something. NASCAR? Nah, the ‘Canes are playing!
4. Cheerleaders? Dancers? Nah. (Well, you’re seeing more of that these days, but not on the ice, that’s for sure.) See #2.
5. End-to-end action all night long. Fast, hard-hitting, non-stop.

Now I’m off to the rink for stick time. Sabre’s center Paul Gaustad is running a youth camp there this week. Wacky Mommy may be making excuses to show up at the rink while he’s there. (As if she’s got any interest in seeing me skate! “Like watching paint dry,” seein’ us old farts play pick-up, she says.)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 20th, 2006 at 10:37 am and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.