So three more NHL playoff games were played yesterday, and as seems to be the norm thus far in the playoffs, more suspensions are coming. I have never seen anything like what has happened during this first week of playoff games. It seems like every day, multiple players are being suspended. Yesterday, Raffi Torres hit Marian Hossa so hard that Hossa had to be taken off the ice on a stretcher. Some of the other players suspended have been Arron Asham, James Neal, Carl Hagelin, Andrew Shaw, Nicklas Backstrom, the list goes on and on.
It's a shame that all of this negativity has overshadowed the playoffs. The NHL playoffs are full of great drama and action. Teams go on unbelievable runs, goaltenders make fantastic saves, but still, all we have been hearing about is suspensions.
I never understood why hockey is not as popular in this country as the other major sports. Sure there are fanatics in Maine, Minnesota, North Dakota, and other cold places, but for the majority of the country, hockey is not relevant. The country is fascinated by the NFL. Anything with the letters "NFL" on it is consumed en masse. TV ratings surpass all of the other sports, attendance at games has never been better (unless of course, you are a Jacksonville Jaguars fan), memoribilia flies off the shelves, it is clearly the most popular sport in the country. There are many reasons the NFL is so popular, one of which is the physical nature of the game. People like watching athletes get hit and two giant men squaring off, face to face, to see who comes out on top.
If hockey were played in a gymnasium, it would still require its athletes to be in great condition, it would still be fast-paced and exciting, and it would still involve all the physicality that the average American sports fan craves. The fact that it has all these things and also is played on an ice rink makes it even harder and more exciting to play. Going to see a hockey game live and in person is by far the best experience of the four major sports. I recently went to a New York Knicks game and it seemed as though we spent more time watching the Knicks dancers shoot t-shirts into the stands than actually watching the game. Baseball is comparatively boring and monotonous in the eyes of most people, and football games are fun to go to, but it is really a sport that is made for television. I go to one Giants game each year, and watch the rest at home on a big TV on a nice comfortable couch. Going to see a hockey game live is an incredibly exciting experience. I was never too big of a hockey fan until I went to Madison Square Garden and saw the Rangers play the Devils in person. It made me truly understand and appreciate the speed at which the game is played. Seeing non-stop action with guys changing lines and skating up and down the ice is incredible to watch. Yet, the NHL is not nearly as popular as the NFL, NBA, or Major League Baseball.
One of the main reasons, in my opinion, is that the game is full of "goons" who are out there to do nothing but fight. Guys that play only a few minutes each game and spend the entire time they are on the ice trying to fight or take out the best player on the opposing team. The enforcer comes out, knocks out the star of the other team, the #1 goon on the star's team comes to fight the enforcer, and we get scrums and melees and suspensions. What is worse is that these guys do not have short memories, and this is especially evident in the playoffs. If Team A has a star taken out by Team B, two months later the teams might play again, and the first thing that happens is the enforcers of Team A and Team B fight. There were multiple games this season where the puck was dropped to start the game, and immediately everyone on the ice dropped their gloves and started fighting with members of the other team. Then the coaches of each team start yelling at one another as if it was the other guy's fault that the fights happened. They know why their opponent starts the game with his "goon line" on the ice. Then they put their "goon line" on the ice and there just happens to be a huge fight two seconds into the game. Come on, no one in their right mind can say it was the fault of the other. The two coaches knew what they were doing the minute they sent all their fighters on the ice.
It's a shame that buffoonery like this can get in the way of such a brilliant sport. Right now should be the best time of the year for the NHL. They have nationally televised games involving their best teams going on every night. Instead, all we hear about is how many new suspensions are announced each day. Instead of buying tickets or watching games, people are being turned off because they look at the sport as the WWF on ice skates. With football season still a while from getting into full swing, and with baseball season still in its infancy stages, there is no better time than ever for the NHL to shine the spotlight on its game. And the spotlight is shining on the NHL, but it is for all the wrong reasons. Until the NHL cleans up its image, its popularity will never have a chance to get close to any other sports. Unless of course, John Cena and Vince McMahon have time to watch in between their next WWF show.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: Last night was disappointing in more ways than one. First of all, Ian Kennedy was not at his best, and the Pirates used a late RBI from Andrew McCutchen to get a 5-4 win. What could be worse though is the fact that Justin Upton was not in the lineup due to a thumb injury that seems to be more serious than it originally seemed. Chris Young made a brilliant catch in center field but ran into the wall in doing so and is now on the disabled list after flying out of the gate. Not good news all around. At least a nice matinee game just got underway today so I won't have to stay up late to watch. Daniel Hudson squares off against James McDonald in the rubber game of the series.
Daily Rangers Update: Game 4 is tonight in Ottawa. A win would put us in command of the series heading back home, and if Henrik Lundqvist plays as well as he did in Game 3, there is a very good possibility of that happening. Let's Go Rangers!
Daily Giants Update: The draft is getting closer each day, as is Eli Manning's appearance as the host of Saturday Night Live. All is well in the land of the reigning Super Bowl champions.
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