Land of the free… Homer of the Jaye.

As most people know, I am a very passionate hockey fanatic.  Only for one team of course, the Philadelphia Flyers.  They are actually playing this afternoon, and I plan to DVR the entire game and watch it later tonight, at the expense of removing a bunch of recorded movies I haven’t watched yet to make room to for the game.  At least you know where my priorities are.

Anyways, I got a chance today to check the NHL standings and was surprised to see that the team that sits in the basement of the league sits only 5 games under .500.  Are you kidding me?  All the games an individual team in the NHL plays during the year, and the standings are THAT tight?  I usully expect to see at least a few teams at this point in the season with such a bad record, that they start allowing the zamboni driver and the ice girls to play a few shifts to keep fans in the seats.  But what is really sad about all of this is that hockey still sits in the basement of professional sports here in the United States, even though this season has had the closest playoff race in league history.

Why?  Most say its due to the commissioner (That will be another blog topic for a later rant), some say it is due to the recent changes in the game to make it more ‘exciting’ for the casual fan, which has pissed off the people really keeping the game alive.  I honestly don’t know what it is.  When you truly love something, you do in spite of their faults.  Such is the same with this game for me.  Granted, I absolutely HATE the shootouts.  Hate I don’t think is a strong enough word.  I loathe them.  What a way to destroy an already exciting game. 

In no other sport today do you have the level of athleticism that is found in the NHL today.  On top of all that, these guys play on a sheet of ICE!  ICE!   Bottom line, I see a sport that is in a lot of trouble.  Soccer is slowly making inroads in the US, and will start taking away those fans from hockey.  The NHL continues to alienate its “true” fans, those who had no issues with ties, those who thought a penalty shot was the most exciting event in sports, and those that still think fighting is a part of hockey.  It’s a violent game, and people get pissed off once in a while. 

There are little gleaming beams of light from professional hockey every now and then, one of them being the outdoor game on new year’s day…  But sadly these highlights are few and far in between.  Last year’s Stanley Cup finals was one of the best series I have ever watched, but attained the high honor of the least watched finals in the history of the game.

Maybe the NHL can hire Tagliabue.  Hell, I’d even take David Stern…  Yes, the real one.

Guffaw!