If you have been reading our articles you have probably noticed that we like to make analogies about what we write about, more specifically you probably noticed that most of those analogies have used examples from the NBA and occasionally the NFL and never the NHL. The reason for this is that, well, none of the writers here follow the NHL that much. Obviously we are aware of who won last year (Boston) and who the important players are (Crosby, Ovechkin, the Sedin twins etc.) but when you compare our NHL knowledge to our NBA, NFL, and even soccer knowledge we are far behind. We are the types of people who will flip over and watch a hockey game when we are chilling together, and even get together at a bar and watch the occasional playoff game, but beyond that nothing. This year is different, this year I will make a concentrated effort to follow the NHL, and the team I have chosen to be a fan of is the Toronto Maple Leafs! Why? I live in Toronto, so there is that plus I tend to cheer for 'cursed' teams (Sacramento Kings, San Francisco 49ers, Liverpool) so the Leafs are a fitting choice, apparently I love heartbreaking losses.
So why now? Why the sudden decision to do this? Well, there were multiple factors, one being the ongoing NBA labor dispute (I cant even type about this, lets just move on) and the other was one of the games I watched with some friends last year which was Game 7 between Montreal and Boston.
I don't blame you if you did not watch the full clip, but to understand where I'm coming from just look at it from 14:16 and on. We have Kerry Price going into God mode for several saves including the audacious one at the 15:38, followed by some great saves by Tim Thomas and then all of it culminates with the tying shot, an absolute snipe by Subban at around 14:44. We know what happened next, Boston eliminated the Habs and that was it but the seed was planted. I never had more fun (or gotten more excited) about a hockey game before and when Subban almost ripped the net (silencing the chilly 'lets go Boston!' chant in the process) a part of me knew that I could grow to like this sport.
So essentially what I'm going to do is dive head-first into hockey and write about the experience of following a new sport. I have no idea if this will stick or how often I'll write or even what the hell I'm going to write about; but what I do know is that I am excited to do this and would regret not recording the experience in some way. Hopefully some of you will find my 'Odyssey' interesting and hopefully I will be satisfied at the end of the journey, but in this case, the journey may be the funnest part.
If you liked this, or any other articles, leave a comment and follow me on twitter @Daki_4
