Upon the Absence of Hockey

Though I have never been a huge fan of hockey or the NHL, I must say that its absence from the sports landscape is glaring. The notion of "football, baseball, basketball, hockey" as the Big 4 of American professional team sports has held for as long as I have been a sports fan. With the lockout dragging onward, and no real end in sight, the future of American/Canadian professional hockey is in serious doubt.

Sports reporters and columnists have given sparing coverage to the absence of the NHL, and when it is mentioned, it is often in a joking manner. I have only been to one game in my life (Islanders at Nassau), and I find it hard to watch an entire game on television. However, hockey did play an important role in the sports fan's life. When the NFL slows and ends in late January/early February, and baseball's Spring Training is still a ways off, the NHL can supplement the NBA as a nightly source of competition. I often found myself catching several minutes of random hockey games on ESPN, as well as killing time with a local Rangers, Islanders or Devils games. The local rivalries merited watching because you were guaranteed at least one fight. The top-flight teams, and best players in the league were always worth tuning in for. One of my favorite parts of hockey was the condensed highlights. When they trim the fat of dumping the puck, icing, clock-control...etc, and focus on the goals, stick-handling, hits, saves, and fights, hockey is great to watch.

I also feel for the true fans of hockey. I was young during the baseball strike, and I hated the NBA lock-out. Being deprived of my favorite sports gave me an appreciation for what an NHL devotee must be going through. The difference is that you knew that MLB and NBA would be back. With the NHL, the future is anyone's guess.