The Good Ol' Hockey Game

It takes no arm twisting from me to state that I know precious little about the rules of hockey. I enjoy watching the game and have attended many games of the Milwaukee Admirals over the past few years but the specific rules elude me. I certainly I know what tripping is, and high sticking takes little brain-power to interpret but offsides? What counts as offsides? No matter.

I also avoid taking games seriously. Afterall, they are just games. Of what benefit is it when the team I cheer for wins? Do I get a prize? Payment? Merely a good feeling. If that team should lose, of what benefit is it to me to wallow in pain? Enjoy the wins and forget about the rest. Enjoy the experience. I try to take this attitude even when I'm a participant but it's not as easy. Watch me on bowling league night to see me enjoy myself but be frustrated at my lack of skill at the same time.

With all that said, the hockey game I went to last night was awesome and awful at the same time. The referees seemed bound and determined to ignore a number of blatant violations from the opposing Wolves. Again, I may not know much, but when someone is shoved in the chest so that he falls to the ice, isn't that a problem? Especially when this happens directly in front of the referee. Or the crease, the blue semi-circle where the goalie hangs out. It's my limited understanding that this area is meant for the goalie alone. Certainly others may stumble into it on occasion but they're not meant to linger. When an opposing player camps out in the crease, drawing a defender with him, and then uses said defender to block the goalie in one corner of the net so that he can't chase the puck, well, that doesn't seem right to me. If it was, I'd have seen it before, it would happen all the time, right? Not only was it allowed, but a goal was scored because of it. This didn't go over well with the home crowd.

Considering the frustrating way that the Wolves were playing, I was surprised that only one fight broke out, and it was straight away in the first period. After a incredibly nasty check into the boards, the Admiral in question got up and got some hot-fired temper blazing revenge on the Wolf in question. I've noticed that hockey refs really only break up the fight if they can stop it immediately or once it goes to the ice. Once the Admiral took a couple punches, he got the upper hand and seemed to be making sure they stayed upright so he could express his displeasure with fists, to the point where he grabbed a handful of hair to keep things going (a picture of which made the local rag today).

In the end, the forces of good came out on top. Our declarations that the opposing goalie was incapable proved true as he let back-to-back goals go through in the space of 37 seconds near the end of the third period. He then threw a hissy fit, breaking his stick. Waah, waah, waah.

I was pretty hot tempered and into the game myself. Considering my throat was just starting to feel better, doing all that yelling was probably not a good choice (my favorite line, one that I was disappointed I didn't get a laugh with, was 'Hey ref! I'll chip in for the Lasek!'). I seem okay today, not over my cold, but certainly still getting better.

Which is nice.