by Alaina Toledo

Created on: April 16, 2009

A question for the ages. Why is hockey less popular than other sports?

It's the most beautiful of the four Majors, the most aesthetically pleasing to watch. All grace, and fire, and passion. Where skill and talent meet Will and determination, and bodies go flying as a result.

The breathless anticipation of the breakaway. The jaw-dropping finality of the perfectly executed hip-check. The artistry of the dangle, as the opposing goaltender, along with 20,000 fans, wonder together: "How'd he DO that?" And the glove save....Ohhh, the glove save! Eyes cast skyward...."Robbed. Robbed!" as the goaltender quietly, humbly goes on about his business without celebration, without fanfare. Because he knows that that save was not only a testament to his skill, but also a nod from the Hockey Gods, and the Hockey Gods will not be mocked. When they nod in your direction, you acknowledge it with gratitude and humility, because you know that there will come a time when the Game is on the line, and your glove is not as quick, and the only thing between you and that red light and blasting goal horn is the clang off the post, or the ping off the crossbar.

The skillset required is, without a doubt, enviable in the extreme. Speed and flexibility. Grace and brute strength. Stamina. Balance. Coordination. A preternatural "sense" of the play developing around you. Football? Baseball? Basketball? Please. Try doing it on skates. And then....on ice.

And then there's the Arena experience. Second to none. The damp, almost musty smell that screams "hockey arena". The intimacy of being packed into a closed building with 20,000 "friends", the momentum of the play on the ice manipulating the crowd, every groan and cheer magnified a thousandfold as it lifts up into the rafters and, unable to escape through the roof, comes cascading back down on the crowd in a rain of pure emotion. The sounds from the ice surface: the steely scrape of sharp blades carving ice, the meaty thud of large bodies colliding at high rates of speed, the "thwack" of a small bit of frozen vulcanized rubber being shot into a pane of plexiglass at speeds sometimes reaching 100 mph. The ping (groan), the Horn, (CHEER!). The grunts of effort, the groans of disappointment, the cheers of triumph. The shouts and curses of the Players as they live and die on the ice. The shouts and curses of the fans as they do the same in the stands.

And, of course, the Players. Professional hockey Players are the toughest athletes in sports. They play

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>