State of...Showdown!

Dear Non-Hockey Fans,

I understand your frustrations with the sport of hockey; fighting is allowed (and even encouraged), it’s hard to follow the puck (a black puck on white ice certainly blends in), you don’t understand the rules, you don’t identify with the players (I mean honestly, who understands Canadians?!), there’s not enough scoring, and so on and so on. We all have our favourite sports and you either get hockey or you don’t. There is rarely a “casual” hockey fan. We’re either rabid about it or we don’t care. Thankfully, I am rabid about the sport and as such, I feel the need to demonstrate its greatness.

For those of you who have either never watched a game, or who have tuned in only to check it out rather than watching another re-run of Saved By The Bell…PLEASE watch the game 7 finale tomorrow night in Washington. The Washington Capitals will host the Pittsburgh Penguins. To date this series has been back and forth like a tennis match. Washington jumped out to a 2 game lead only to have Pittsburgh jump back into it by winning 3 straight. Washington won in overtime on Monday night to force an exciting winner-take-all game.

Not only has this series been exciting from start to finish, it features the top three leading scorers in the league. It also happens to be a match-up of Superstars. Alexander “The Great” Ovechkin versus Sidney “The Next One” Crosby. The NHL has spent millions of dollars promoting these two players with Crosby clearly the darling of the NHL. He’s a good ol’ Canadian boy who’s made good on the promise he showed as a youngster. Ovechkin on the other hand is a flamboyant high-flying Russian with an attitude. Both players are the cream of the NHL crop and will should lead the league in scoring for the next 10+ years.















Regardless of the outcome of this game, it WILL be exciting. Every time one of these two players touches the puck they can do magical things. Try entering Ovechkin into YouTube.com and see some of his highlight reel goals. He has incredible skills and can score from anywhere on the ice (including on his backside). Crosby can cut through a defense like a hot knife through butter. It’s uncanny what these guys can do at full speed. Through six games Ovechkin and Crosby have 13 and 10 points respectively. They will have at least two breath taking rushes each during this game.
















If you’ve ever considered watching a hockey game, or wondered what all the fuss was about (okay, there’s not much fuss – but surely you know a hockey fan who talks about it non-stop to the point of being annoying), this is the game to watch. Check it out and let me know what you think. And be sure to stick around after the game for the post series handshake lineup – the best tradition in all of sports.

The game goes off at 7pm on Wednesday night (probably on Versus in the US and good ol’ CBC in Canada).

Thanks for your consideration and let me know what you think!

Cheers,

LW