So I Have This Friend...

And this friend of mine is a huge hockey fan. He's a huge Blackhawks fan and continually gives me the business about not paying enough attention to the Hawks. Granted, I probably don't and I have said before that I may just adopt the Preds as my hockey team...being that I live in Nashville and all and of course, the Titans are never going to top the Packers.

So I was flipping last night and got to some hockey game. I watched a little of it, literally since there was all of two minutes left. While watching and preparing dinner I saw that the Blackhawks were playing the Avalanche, and the game was coming up next. Yes!

So I sit down to watch this hockey game, in HD, for the first time in who knows how long. Motivated and fired up to watch. Well.

The Hawks came out firing, and after about five minutes, it looked like they needed a nap. I couldn't get over how much smaller the ice looked. Have guys really gotten that big? I mean, probably, but still I couldn't believe it. I mean, that #88 guy is supposed to be really good, and he has his signs I suppose. Maybe he did something in the third period which I couldn't watch do to boredom and poor hockey.

Again, I don't know much about hockey. Being that I am from Chicago, I know more than anyone who has been raised in the South a few reasons: I have been to a hockey game at Chicago Stadium and seen fights in the stands, I have played hockey outside on a pond, and I have played at Burns Field. Not to mention, I have never lost in NHL '95. So all of these are pretty strong cases to be an expert, but still I don't claim to be. I can tell however when a team is tired. They check for about 4 minutes, then they let up. That's what the Hawks did last night. If I was Denis, I'd probably destroy everything in the locker room and throw on the 18 and get out there.

Moral of the story is that maybe there is in fact a reason that no one watches regular season hockey. The bad teams are, well, bad. And I mean terrible. I don't know if I can even come up with anything good to say, other than it was just one game. I will continue to give hockey a shot but keep in mind, I'm a pretty big sports guy who will watch curling over most things. I'm not a tough sell. America is. Best of luck to the NHL with this competition.