OK, so baseball season is over! It was great; it was exciting, but it's over. What do you do next? I decided to go to a hockey game. As popular as the Patriots are, I am not a football fan! Also, hockey is much more available for watching than football. Who wants to drive to Foxborough when you can go to Manchester, Lowell, Worcester or Boston to see a hockey game. Besides, there is just something about skating!
My love affair with ice skates started with double runners and icy fields when I was very little. When I got older, I practiced figure eights and spins while dodging hockey pucks on our local pond. Every winter the assistant principal had to go out on the ice first. If he didn't fall through, we knew it was safe for everybody! In college, we had to share ice time with the hockey team. I practiced my leaps and spins while trying to ignore the blood frozen into the ice and dodging the deep ruts made by hockey skates. My personal love affair with ice skates ended in college when my head hit the ice instead of my skates. The resulting concussion left me with a profound fear of figure skating!
My interest in hockey continued. I've written about websites for baseball fans, so I went looking for websites for hockey fans. The United States has a Hockey Hall of Fame which has been in existence since 1973. It has pictures of Hall of Fame inductees and information about US Olympic hockey teams. With its location in Eveleth, Minnesota, it's kind of a long drive to visit. Judging from the website, it's not all that exciting either. The Official Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario - another long drive. This Hall of Fame looks like it would be worth the trip! If you can't get there, get to the website!
This is another sports website filled with fun facts, trivia, and statistics. The time capsule will take you back in time to the 60s and 70s. Not only do you get interesting facts, but comparisons as well with present day hockey. Did you know the NHL consisted of 6 teams in 1960 and 30 teams in 2006? Did you know that the average NHL player made $18,000 a year in 1970 and $1.4 million in 2006? The Photo Galleries are not to be missed. In the photo Archives gallery is a section called When I was young. You see a picture of a young hockey player and get a clue to help you identify him. Make a guess, click on the arrow and you get his name and a picture of the way he looks now or at least the way he looked when he last played hockey.
This is a great website for occupying some of these long dark hours now that the time has changed. Spring training is a LONG way away. Plenty of time for hockey!