First Time Hockey Fan 2.0

Wow! Where has this sport been all my life?

I waited all day Tuesday for this game to get going and it did not disappoint. I gotta say, I was not very open minded going into this game considering, the only hockey I’ve ever seen was at a college in Alaska and there was zero excitement in that game. The game last night however, was the complete opposite and I was eager to write this blog this morning.

Within the first three minutes of the game there were three fights and a ton of penalty time. After the first fight however, I was hooked. I mean, who doesn’t want watch hockey players drop their gloves mid-game and throw em? Each fight did not last long in my opinion, but, they all ended with a player cut up and you can see the crowd was loving it.

With the fights came plenty of goals for the Predators as they won this one at home six to two, bringing them to forty wins at the top of the Wildcard. I told my lady during the game, “wouldn’t it be cool if the Predators won this game against the hottest team in the league and even more cool, if they made the playoffs the first season I started watching this awesome sport?” I quickly realized this sport is definitely for me.

Hockey rules are like soccer rules except much more physical. From what I learned last night, there is plenty of hits, fights, and intensity to keep you intrigued the entire game. This is definitely one of those manly man sports, so, if you don’t enjoy that kind of thing then I don’t recommend it. However, it was by far one of the greatest sports events I’ve ever watched on television and I am not exaggerating.

The game stopped with just over six seconds remaining after Ryan Johansen completed his first career hat-trick. The crowd tossed hats all over the ice and that was something I’ve never seen before. You could see how much Johansen and company appreciated the fan’s love as the team piled on Johansen to celebrate their victory and his big game. Johansen was not the only player with a big game. Roman Josi had two solid assists and Juuse Saros blocked a new career high 47 shots.

So, it is safe to say I am officially a big hockey fan and I will be rooting for my boys in yellow to have a solid playoff run this season for this first time hockey fan.

(All photos shared from Google photos)