It’s Still A Great Game

On Monday night David Perron of the St. Louis Blues tweeted a link to a Canadian Tire commercial featuring a little boy getting a new pair of skates and going for his first skate with his Dad.

The commercial was very well done and got me thinking about all the good things in hockey, and how sometimes in the million dollar world of the NHL we can sometime lose sight of that.

(Unfortunately for the Canadian Tire marketing team I was not thinking about Canadian Tire or the Mastercraft Maximum Ratcheting Bolt Remover 2-Piece Set! Now 50% Off!!! )

It seems in the first three weeks of the season most of the big stories have been about issues that have nothing to do with the actual completion on the ice. From rude gestures and attacking fans to salary cap issues and instant replay.

Now I understand the NHL is a big business and that causes things to get more complicated and in the heat of a game people will do some stupid things.

But what the commercial got me thinking about was how the game is so great in its simplest form. Whether that form is playing shinny at 1 a.m. at the local rink, on a frozen pond before the next snow storm hits, or in the street after school.

What makes these games of shinny so much fun is there are few rules and it is policed by the players themselves. Games are played with two or 20 people. Every rink, pond, river, lake, street, or driveway has its own rules.

You keep score, but at the end of the day the score does not matter because you will be back soon enough to defend or regain your title. Every game is the seventh game of the Stanley Cup Final.

Players respect one another, no cheap shots. And on those occasions when a penalty is committed, a verdict is reached by the group, each side pleading their case.

Did the puck cross the goal line? While arguments may arise, it always seems a conclusion can be reached much quicker than it takes NHL replay officials. And you know what, if the goalie grabs the puck in mid-air half an inch cross the line then give him credit for a great save and move on. (Full disclosure, I played goal so I may be a little biased on this one.)

So what is the point of all of this since most of you reading this site already knew what I just discussed in the last four paragraphs. Well there are actually two points.

First, maybe it is time the NHL started thinking about making things simpler and players started treating each other with more respect. Go back to one referee, limit the use of instant replay, and go back to softer pads to make players feel less invincible.

Second, no matter how distracted everyone may get with head shots, economics, and some players (and the league) doing stupid things, the game is still great because it’s great at its core. And it will always be great as long as it has so many great people (who way outnumber the bad) in it.

So thank you to David Perron, one of the great people, for reminding us of it.

(Oh and Canadian Tire, you are welcome for the free plug. Maybe that was your marketing strategy all along.)