At the risk of being disowned by my family and some friends, I’ll go on the record right now and admit that I’m a fickle hockey fan.
I’m the bandwagon-jumping kind of fan that true aficionados of the sport detest.
I’ll don my, dare I say this in this west coast paper, my Toronto Maple Leafs paraphernalia come playoff time and cheer on my team as though it’s a do or die situation, as though all my happiness depended on them winning. But, I’m never really totally crushed when, without fail, someone else takes home the glory of the Stanley Cup yet another year and I have to put away all things blue and white for yet another season.
Still, the idea of dedicating a whole season of Saturday nights on the couch before it starts getting close to the playoff games, though it makes sense to many people, makes me a little blue.
Quite honestly I can think of better things to do on any given Saturday night than sitting around watching hockey on TV.
There, I said it. And I could very well be an outcast in Canadian society from here on in, enjoying a variety of activities other than Hockey Night in Canada on my Saturday nights alone, by myself, without another soul to keep me company.
As the NHL strike left many bereft on Saturday nights this season, I by comparison gained a whole new social life with hockey fans in despair. We played poker, a game whose 2005 renaissance I attribute in part to hockey’s demise. When not playing poker I’ve had a few Saturday "date" nights, curled up together with a good movie, usually on the CBC, which has been showing some great films to attempt make up for the hockey season. And to be perfectly honest, I can’t actually remember now how I spent many of those Saturday nights but had it not been for the strike I most likely would have been watching hockey on TV.
Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I hate televised hockey per say.
But let’s put it this way – if someone offered me tickets to watch a local Junior A hockey team play on a Saturday night, I would grab them in an instant.
What better way to spend a Saturday night? Because watching a local team live is not just about hockey, it’s about the whole experience of going to a game and cheering on your team.
I compare it to the feeling I had at my first B.C. Lions game. I know as much about Canadian football as I know about the red line rule in hockey, which is absolutely nothing.
But I prepared myself to approach the CFL with an open mind. It turns out I was pleasantly surprised.
As the four of us walked into the arena that fall evening, the stage unfolded and the night began. It was truly a performance, more about entertaining the fans at times than watching the game itself.
There were crowds jostling us to our seats, there were the big lights shining on the field, the anticipation of kick off, the singing of the national anthem, and the sound of the fans. It gets your spine a-tinglin’.
And that’s just the beginning. Next there’s a round of beer, an animated discussion with my girlfriend over the cutest players of the team, much to the dismay of our boyfriends. A critique of the Lions’ cheerleaders, complete with an analysis of their moves and their outfits.
A little later on, hoarse from all the cheering for my new favourite team, the B.C. Lions, and it’s time for another beverage, along with a pretzel. Not something I would eat regularly but the most delicious thing you can eat in a big loud stadium with a beer in your other hand.
And then of course, a little later, a few more beers into the night and the "wave" begins. How can you turn down doing the wave? It’s impossible. There’s something about it that pulls you up out of your seat, hands above the head, scanning around the arena as you wait until it comes back to you. Then up again. Ah, the wave.
By the end of the night I was convinced I wanted season’s passes to the Lions. It was so much fun.
Still, as much as I now love the Lions, I would never watch a game on TV, gripping the couch in expectation, belting out the national anthem, swilling beer and eating pretzels.
Because it’s not so much the football itself but the whole football game experience that I fell in love with.
That’s how I feel about hockey too.
The news this week that points to the distinct possibility of the Chilliwack Chiefs or even another Junior A hockey team moving to Squamish certainly piqued my interest. What a way to spend a Saturday night in the corridor when you just can’t face another night of bar hopping – my days of which are long over for the most part – or sitting around wondering what to do.
Imagine watching a good live hockey game. Imagine getting to know and love a team, cheer them on, suffer through the bad streaks, celebrate their victories in the good streaks.
Imagine going for a night out with friends, away from the bar scene, more exciting than another night watching a movie. Instead there’s the up and down thrill of a hockey game.
Dare I say that watching a local hockey game live at the Junior A level could even be better than watching a NHL game on the tube. Maybe.
I’m looking forward to finding out.
