In 2003, I moved to Houston, TX from Southern Illinois. In the North, it’s quite easy to be a hockey fan. One has several different teams of which to be a fan, and people talk about Hockey on a regular basis. In Houston, there is an AHL team, the Houston Aeros. I love the Houston Aeros, but they are a minor league team. People just don’t find a love for hockey here the way that people in the north do. If you combine the above with my waning interest after the strike in 2004-2005, this perfect storm almost killed my interest in hockey altogether.
Fast forward to 2010. For some reason, I have become a rabid fan again. The NHL seems to have what it takes to start bringing fans back to the games, the TV, and all of the hockey-related gossip and drama. The games I have watched this year have been exciting, and the players are dynamic and are working hard to entertain. Add to that some new-found hockey-loving friends, and I am now a reborn hockey fan ready to consume as many games as is humanly possible.
I may be biased being from the Saint Louis area, but I think the Blues are a team to watch this year. In the past two days, they have defeated the 2009 and 2010 Stanley Cup winners, and their team is showing the skill, agility, and grit needed to go all the way. Halak and Conklin have been amazing in the goal. Backes and Oshie have also been showing some true offensive and defensive prowess. I believe the Blues have been reborn, and we’ll see them have a very successful season, as well as a great showing in the playoffs. I’m not quite ready to call them Stanley Cup winners, but it wouldn’t surprise me a bit if they did.
Other teams to watch this year are, as always, the Penguins and Blackhawks. I also think the New Jersey Devils have a shot if they can get past what appears to be some locker room drama between their coach and their newest acquisition, Ilya Kovalchuck.
If you have never given hockey a shot, please do so this year. Join me in celebrating an awesome, brutal, and exciting sport that almost saw death 5 years ago.