(I would like to start here by making a comment as to how funny it is what we come up with in our minds as to what to put in our personal blogs. There are a handful of things I have always wanted to wax rhapsodic about here, on this forum, but my horrible self awareness and martyr complex, iced with a sugary layer of low self esteem always seems to trump my devil-may-care narcissistic side, resulting in boring posts about boring things. For instance, I have an entire post laid out in my head which details my theory that the musical career of Opeth can be studied as if it were an Enlglish Football club, another -- a series, actually -- that discusses all of the bands I have been obsessed with or loved dearly in my lifetime and why, and a few others that border on the way too personal -- but I don't care. So, it is with great pleasure that I push aside my fears of being called out for being a pointless overly personal blogger who rants about nothing worth caring about, and bring you a discussion on... Wait for it... Hockey! Zing!)
Last night I had the rare pleasure of watching the ENTIRE 6 and a half period Game 6 between the Dallas Stars and the San Jose Sharks. For those who know that I grew up in (so-called) Hockeytown (I am sure there is a registered trademark on that contraction) -- that is to say, Detroit -- it may seem weird that I would even care about either team. Well, wrong. In fact, I consider myself a Stars fan. And -- while he may be playing in Sweden now, and took a turn at Toronto and Florida before heading overseas -- it's all thanks to Eddie Belfour.
Eddie? Really? Yeah. Eddie. See, back in the summer of 1995, I was living off campus in my own apartment (with roommates, of course -- this was college) and spending evenings re-discovering my enjoyment of watching sports (Mind you, I've never come back around to getting into basketball or baseball on television.) and actually caring about it. It was the Western Conference Finals, Chicago Blackhawks against the Detroit Red Wings. Now, back then, I wasn't very versed in hockey, be it regarding rules, or players, or styles, or anything. I knew some big names, like Jagr, Hextall, and Messier, but for the most part all I really knew was that the closest team to me was always an almost-ran, stalling in the playoffs, and led by Steve Yzerman. Oh, and they had Sergei Federov. But, for some reason, perhaps the influence of Smitty (my roommate and friend) I got addicted to hockey during that series. The games were stressing us both out. We were rooting for the Wings, and amazed at the overtime heroics of Ed Belfour, who played in goal for Chicago. Watching him play the way he did solidified it. I was a hockey fan, but most importantly, I was an Ed Belfour fan. (And, at the time, I was a Red Wings supporter all the way.)
Eddie would move to San Jose, and then to Dallas. At Dallas, Belfour joined a team that was definitely a contender, albeit an outside chance at best -- especially with Detroit in the midst of their most dominating period in a LONG time -- with stars like Zubov and Modano (a Detroit-area guy, I have to add). So, along with some personal shit that went down in 1998, I became a Stars fan. I had to leave the Wings behind. Why? They were my local team, a winner, and had a great pedigree! Original Six! Dallas? Hockey in Texas? They moved the team from Minnesota, for god's sake! Well, let's just say that the decision to start hating the Wings was rooted in the personal upheavals that year, in addition to my distaste for perennial winners. It's a big part of why I can't stand Manchester United. Seriously.
Anyway, Dallas made it through to the Western Conference Championships in 1998. And I got to go to one of the games at Joe Louis. Thanks to Pops for making that happen. My only regret (Yes, Dallas lost, but I got to see Eddie play 'live' and it was a good game overall) was that I didn't wear my Stars (official, tie down and all) jersey to the game. 14th or so row, black Stars jersey! What a chance I blew. Probably could have gotten on TV. I digress. So, the Wings went on to repeat that year against Washington, and I couldn't care less.
The following year, I was lucky enough to have a friend let me watch the Cup winning overtime game against Buffalo that won the Stars the Championship. I sat inches in front of the TV in that empty apartment stressed out, loving every second of it all. I think that's part of the magic of games like football and hockey. It's that unease and tension that keeps you from going passive about the competition until the very end. It's like a drug.
Perhaps it was the discovery of cycling the following year, or just some undetermined changes, or perhaps caring way too much about football from then on out, hockey and the Stars kind of faded from my radar. Belfour left Dallas, eventually, but I -- for some damn reason -- kept caring about them, and always looking to see how they were doing each season before looking or caring about any other team, even Torono, where Eddie had gone. I was stuck in Dallas. Ironic that I would eventually live close enough (In Texas, three hours away from a place is close.) to excuse and qualify my support for the Stars.
But, I still focused on other things. It's not easy to get into hockey when you don't get CBC coverage, and it's 90 degrees in April.
And then, this year happened. For some damn reason, I started watching the playoffs. I'm damn sure it wasn't the coverage of Versus (although I do like the fact that they show TSN coverage from time to time), but I do know that the relative lack of recently added teams to the league helped. While the Stars may go out, I'm perfectly okay with either the Flyers, Penguins, or Wings winning the Cup. Anaheim? Tampa Bay? Sheesh. Whatever.
So, there I was last night, watching -- all anxious and stressed out in my Stars jersey -- more than two hockey games in one, more than a hundred blocked and saved shots in a 2-1 victory -- and series capper -- for the Stars. Now, they face the Wings in the Conference Championships. And with Marty Turco and his performance last night, it might just be a good series. (I'll save my opinions on the styles of play and how they might measure against one another until after the series starts.) I guess I don't really have a point at the end of all of this, I could say something poetic or dramatic, but I won't go down that road.
I will say this: I'm glad that I'm hooked on hockey this year. It may not last, and I may not care next year. But, it's been nice to be interested in something that I once loved wholly, that I let get tainted by outside crap. Now it's clean. It's my little thing this month, and when it's over, it will still be mine. And then, I'll get all worked up and stressed (not as much without f-in England not playing) watching the European Championships instead of getting work done.
Go Stars!
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