So tonight, all of Canada will be tuned into a hockey game. Yeah, I know - not surprising. Cliché, even. It's also not surprising that of the Canadians I've spoken to – whatever part of that country they live in and whichever team they ordinarily root for – nearly all of them are rooting for the Vancouver Canucks. Of course, here in the States, pretty much all of New England will be tuning in as well, only they'll be rooting for the Boston Bruins. Hockey is important in both places, and in both places tonight is the most important hockey night in nearly 40 years.
But what about the rest of us, who are neither Canuck fans nor Bruin fans? Or maybe not really even hockey fans at all? Why should we care who wins the Stanley Cup?
I will admit, there's a certain level of apathy for someone like me, whose beloved team, the New York Rangers, last won the coveted Cup exactly 17 years and 1 day ago, and this season got knocked out of the playoffs in the first round. It pains me that it's not my team playing for the ultimate prize, because I remember that feeling of overwhelming joy, when the clock finally ran out and my team was on top of the world for the first time in 54 years, and I want nothing more than to feel that again. Also, there are other teams who were knocked out of this year's playoffs, from the first round through the 3rd, that I would have preferred to see in the Finals if the Rangers couldn't be there. And our local team, the Colorado Avalanche, didn't even make it to the postseason this year (although I believe that given a little time to grow, the Avs will soon be contenders again). But there are reasons even for the uninvested – myself included – to root both for and against each competitor. This particular Stanley Cup Final is still interesting to me, not as a fan of the Rangers (as die-hard as I must confess to being), the Avalanche (whom I have, in spite of myself, developed an affection for in my time in Colorado) or any particular team, but as a hockey fan and, more importantly, a sports fan. Because whichever team wins this critical Game 7, it will be a momentous event for that organization and its fans. The Vancouver Canucks are chasing their first-ever Stanley Cup in the franchise's 41 years in the NHL. The Boston Bruins – one of the league's famed "Original Six" – seek their first championship since 1972. Both Vancouver and Boston are key hockey cities in North America despite the 3,000 miles that separate them. Also, this has thus far been a series overloaded with both passion and controversy, and I have no reason to believe that Game 7 will be any different. Everything each of these teams did during that long regular season and throughout the grueling playoff run - considered by many to be the toughest playoff run in professional sports; four best-of-seven series in one of the toughest, most physically demanding games on the planet - comes down to one last game. Two top-tier goalies, Roberto Luongo and Tim Thomas - both Vezina Trophy finalists – face off for the last time this season. One city, on one coast, will be in rapture, while the other will find its hopes crushed, its emotional investment bankrupt. If you're not a fan of either team, you may just have it best - because then you get to sit back and enjoy the spectacle, the excitement, and the passion, that is NHL playoff hockey, without any emotional baggage getting in the way. One last time, before the leaves change and a new beginning arrives for each of the 30 teams in the NHL. (Including, thankfully, both my New York Rangers and our Colorado Avalanche.)
Of course, you could decide to tune in to some reality show, or a replay of some movie you've seen a hundred times, instead. But you'd be missing out on one of the greatest spectacles in sports and, if you're not a hockey fan, an opportunity to find out firsthand just why those of us who are, are some of the most passionate (OK, some might say "crazy", but I'm sticking with "passionate") sports fans in the world. Not to mention a chance to learn that hockey is not mere brutality and bloodsport, but a game of great skill, strategy, and of course, passion. If you opt for Game 7 instead of that reality show or tired old movie, you just might end up joining the cult of hockey... and you'll thank me for it.
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