Hockey's Back!

Hi, my name is Sarah, and I'm addicted to hockey.  I know what you're thinking, "It's just a sport, it's not like she's addicted to meth or booze or something serious."  Well let me tell you, it's a real problem! A real awesome problem, but a problem just the same.  For those of you who aren't avid hockey fans, here's a little about what I've been going through in recent months.

Normally, the hockey season starts in October.  When that happens, I'm a happy camper until the end of the Stanley Cup playoffs in June.  In the off season I take in some baseball games and catch up on the sleep I lost during hockey season.  It all works out perfectly for me.

Last year, my brother and I became season ticket holders for the Phoenix Coyotes.  We only had a partial package last year, so we went to around 20 games by the time our team was done with the playoffs.  I may freeze to my very core sitting at Jobing.com Arena, but that place is definitely one of my happy places.  So you can imagine my excitement, when we decided to upgrade our package to a full season.  I was going to get 40 games!  40 nights sitting in the arena watching men beat the crap out of each other.  At least 2,400 minutes of intense anxiety and nail biting.  It's amazing!

This year is a little different.  Like the other professional sports, the National Hockey League has a collective bargaining agreement between the league/owners and the players.  A set of guidelines and rules for everyone to follow.  A big part of the CBA is money related.  How much teams can spend on players, how much players can make and the max amount of years a player can sign a contract for.  That's a very broad overview and explanation, but you get the picture.  Something I think we can all agree on is that money can make things very difficult.  The CBA expired at the end of last season, which meant a new one needed to be agreed upon by both sides.  That didn't happen, so the league went into a lock out situation.  No hockey could be played until everyone decided to play nice and agree on some things.

Needless to say that didn't happen until about 2 weeks ago.  We lost half of the season, the Winter Classic Game and the All-Star Game.  Now, instead of 40 games, I get 24.  Don't get me wrong, I'll take what I can get and be stoked about it, but it was a rough few months without hockey.  I was okay for a while when college football was still being played.  I really enjoy college football, and didn't mind using it as my replacement sport.  After college football was over, I actually started paying attention to the NFL just to have a sport to watch.  I really don't like the NFL.  I never have.  This year I knew way more about it than I'm comfortable admitting.

It was rough.  Just ask my mom.  She would cringe anytime someone would bring up anything hockey related in my vicinity.  I was angry, and it wasn't pretty.  None of that matters now though, because HOCKEY IS BACK!  We had our first home game this past Sunday night.  The Coyotes upgraded our seats that night to the lower level.  We were 6 rows behind our goalie.  It didn't suck.  Now I'll be spending roughly three nights a week in section 207 at Jobing.com Arena watching our boys play and hoping for another run at the cup.

I am once again a happy camper, but being gone most nights at games may make blogging even more sporadic than it already is.  One of my goals for the year was to post more, so I'm going to try and get my life together this week and get back on track.  Have a fabulous weekend everyone!

Brother & I stoked to be back in the arena for a game

Our seats for Opening Night.  6 Rows behind the goal.  Very awesome.

 

Today Should Have Been Awesome

This is my hockey gear.  All of my t-shirts and rally towels.  The only things not in the stack are my Brooks Laich jersey and my hats.  Because my closet at my parents house is so small, and my hockey gear takes up so much room, it gets folded up and stacked in the top of the closet during the off-season. Today should have been like Christmas.  I should have been able to take all of this off the shelf in order to pick out the perfect outfit for tonight's first pre-season game.  Instead, I'm sitting here in the living room, watching baseball and writing this post.  My mother taught me that if you don't have anything nice to say, you shouldn't say anything at all, so this will be short and sweet.

This whole lockout mess is ridiculous.  If either side was fighting for anything other than money (player safety anyone?!) I might be able to justify it.  Unfortunately, this is a fight over money, and at the moment it would appear that neither side is willing to meet somewhere in the middle and compromise.  So both sides are being stubborn, and currently all pre-season games in September have been cancelled.  Considering today was the first day they've held meetings in two weeks, it's likely that there will be an announcement regarding October's games very soon.  

In the meantime, the fans are angry (pissed off season ticket holder, party of one....right over here!).  The last time the NHL had a lockout was the 2004-2005 season, and all of the games were cancelled that year.  They lost a lot of their fans after that, and they've just recently began to recover most of them.  Not only are the fans angry, but did anyone ever think about the arena employees who now don't have jobs until this is all over?  Or the businesses surrounding the arenas that thrive on game traffic?  It doesn't appear that they have.  So, for now, I'm just going to be an angry fan.  If you need me, I'll be in my room, staring at my closet, wishing I had a reason to put my hockey gear back in my wardrobe rotation.

U is for Unyielding Faith

Ok, so this won't be a bucket list post. It also won't be a post about religion like the title might lend you to believe. For 15 years my family has followed and supported the Phoenix Coyotes, and like all Arizona sports its been rather difficult to do at times (I like to refer to the Gretzky years as "the dark ages"). This year though, I knew we had something special. We have a great coach in Dave Tippett. We acquired a Vezina caliber goalie in Mike Smith. We have one of the classiest, hardest working captains in Dhane Doan, and a whole crew of hard working players to back all of them up. We dont have an owner. The NHL owns the team, and so far we've proven that you don't need an owner to win games. In all of franchise history, (even going back to the Winnepeg days) the team has never won their division. Until this year when they became the Pacific Division Champions. In all of franchise history, the team has never made it past the first round of the playoffs. Until last night. The Coyotes were matched up against the Chicago Blackhawks for round one. I was confident that we could beat them since our record against them was really good in the regular season. However, every hockey fan knows that once the race for the cup starts, all of that flies out the window. It wasn't easy to take down the Blackhawks. They're a very talented team, and The United Center is famous for being one of the toughest arenas to play in because of how intense their fans are. For whatever reason, the United Center didn't phase the Coyotes. After winning last night they were 5-0 in Chicago this season. The series went six games. The teams set a record when their first 5 games went to over time. It was a physical series. During game 2, Chicago's Andrew Shaw was suspended for 3 games after putting an illegal hit on Phoenix goalie Mike Smith. Luckily for the Coyotes their superstar goalie was not badly injured and was able to finish the game. Then in game 3 the Coyotes lost Raffi Torres after he put an illegal hit on Marion Hossa. It was pretty scary as Hossa wasn't as lucky as Smith. He had to be taken off the ice on a stretcher and was sent to the hospital at Northwestern almost immediately. He left the hospital that night, but is now out indefinitely with a head injury. Torres got a 25 game suspension, so he'll miss the rest of the post-season and part of next season. The Coyotes had a 3 games to 1 lead going into game 5. It was a home game, and my brother and I were really hoping they'd be able to put the series to bed at home where we could be there to see it happen live. It wasn't in the cards though. After going into overtime yet again, the Blackhwks were able to pull out the win. That brings us to last nights game 6. I actually missed watching the majority of the game due to a prior engagement, but from what I hear, it was a doosie! I did get home just in time to see time run out and the celebration that ensued. I got chills, and I also got a little teary-eyed. The team flies home tomorrow to prepare for round two against the Nashville Predators. They will likely arrive to a huge crowd of fans, and I wish I didn't have to work so that I could be there to help welcome them home. Regardless of what happens next, I will never forget all of the milestones that were achieved so far this year. However, I have faith that this tem has what it takes to go all the way. We'll just keep believing and playing "hockey the hard way" and it will all pay off in the end. Stay tuned, because you know I'll keep you updated and what happens next!

I is for Ice Skate

So this is something I have actually attempted once before.  I went with my friends my freshman year of high school and was awful at it!  Mostly because I think I was so scared, that I was never going to be able to do it.

Now that I'm not so afraid of a few bruises or breaking something, I think it's time to give it another go!  Plus, if I want to marry a hockey player, I feel like I should be able to skate.  It's only right.

I will gladly take tips from anyone who didn't grow up in a desert like I did and actually knows how to skate!

Blog Update 4/10/12, 11:11 AM: I should probably note that I'm not actually engaged to said hockey player.  That's mostly just wishful thinking...and I would hate for him to hate me before we even meet!  ;)

A is for Attend a Stanley Cup Final

I love hockey.  It is hands down my favorite sport.  The rest of my family is obsessed with baseball, and while I like it, it's just not enough action for this girl.  I love how fast hockey is.  I love that I get to sit in a cold rink to watch it.  I love that it's not only acceptable, but expected, that the players beat the crap out of each other.  I just can't find anything about the sport of hockey that I don't like (except for maybe the trapezoid, and the delay of game penalty, but I digress!).

I'm currently an avid follower of two teams.  My hometown team, The Phoenix Coyotes, will always be my #1 team, but after living in Washington, DC for a few years recently, I also fell in love with the Washington Capitals.  Unfortunately for me, both teams have a reputation of getting into the playoffs, but not making it past round two.  I have faith that one day they'll both make it to the end game.  I plan to be there for the final game when one of them does.