Whether you are a player, coach or fan of the game you know what I mean when I say walking into a hockey rink is home. It could be your local rink or a rink 500 miles away, but you know no matter which rink you step into you are home. It isn’t just home because you love playing or watching the game but its home because you were most likely raised on it and at times you feel like its the only thing you know. Being apart of a hockey family there are many roles.
First, you have hockey moms; they wash your gear, feed you and drive you across the universe to away games. As if driving a great distance wasn't enough torture, they do it with the smell of a dirty locker room in the back seat. Moms will also never miss a game, if that means having to breast feed your fourth born from the stands then so be it. They are truly one of a kind (unless they are the moms with cowbells, definitely stay away from those ones). Hockey dads, my personal favorite, think they were in the NHL at some point in their life when really more than half probably never stepped foot on the ice. There was nothing like going away on tournaments with the family knowing by the end of the second period your dad and crazy uncle were going to be thrown out for arguing over a bad call. Then you have your siblings, like me, who had to go on every tournament and had to suffer with eating dinner at the rinks snack shack three out of the seven days a week. As much as family time was always interrupted for hockey season, i loved every second of it.
The game of hockey itself is inspiring. It takes a hockey player to get on a sheet of glass with steel blades attached to the bottom of their feet all while trying to stick handle. Between the fast pace, slap shots and players flying into the boards the game will always keep you on your feet. There is never a dull moment watching a game. You can be in the third period with 30 seconds left down by one point but all of a sudden your team scores two more goals and you're up by one. Only in the game of hockey you will see a player receive a puck to the face, get 36 stitches and then get back on the ice right after to score the game winning goal (Matt Calvert you're a beauty). Only in hockey will you see someone receive a skate to the jugular vein, severing their carotid artery, losing an absurd amount of blood and return to the ice ten days later (Clint Malarchuk you're a legend). Only in hockey will you see all players STANDING before there flag, not kneeling (that's for injuries c’mon). If you have ever been to a professional game you know its even better than watching behind the t.v. Walking into the arena you can feel the energy, rivalry and my personal favorite, the chirps. And if you have ever been to a playoff game you know this is amplified by a thousand. Of course watching the pros is interesting but there is nothing better than actually being apart of the game. It could be beer league, junior, college, pick-up, pond, professional and youth hockey and you are all just playing for the love of the game (or thy lord Stanley). You could be having the worst day in the world but heading down to your local pond and fooling around with the boys or girls can make your day a whole lot better.
Hockey holds a very special place in not only my heart but many others. There is so much more behind the game of hockey, I wish more people could see it the way I do. There is a story behind every kid wearing that jersey and a die hard fan behind every television screen. Whether you're out on the ice or in bed watching, I know we all share the same love. After all hockey is where the heart is.
