For Pietro Triassi Montreal Canadiens are very much his life and he is the man who inspired me to follow the sport of ice hockey, and the local team. I have never had much love for American sports, they were always just a little bit too stop-start for my liking, yet as I was in Montreal it seemed a good idea to try and get a game in whilst I was there. I met Pietro at the game, he was in the seat next to me, and he gave me all the information that I needed about the NHL and about the Canadiens, I was hooked.
For any of your who are the same as I was with regards to US sports, here is why I reckon you’ll love ice hockey.
Brutal
Even though the NFL looks a bit savage, and to be honest I wouldn’t like to be on the receiving end of one of those challenges, there is something about ice hockey which just looks worse. The injuries that you see in this game are incredible and there is an active enthusiasm for fights to take place. Now I am not saying that I enjoy this sport because of the violence, not at all, what I am saying however is that the passion which is shown by both teams is clearly apparent, based on how tough they play.
So Many Games
As a fan of football it is tough to just watch one game played per week, that is something which is not a concern when watching ice hockey. During the regular season there are at least 3 games per week, more than enough for every fan to get their teeth stuck into. Quite how the players put in such a shift is beyond me.
Variety of Goals
I appreciate that most of the players have probably been skating since they were kids, but it never ceases to amaze me how agile those guys are on the ice. This, plus the sheer skill which so many of them have, is exactly why you see a wide variety of goals, and plenty of them. I haven’t seen a goalless game yet, in fact I’m not sure if there has ever been one. This leads to plenty of action and plenty of entertainment for the fans.
Continuous
There is so much action in the game and there is far less stop-start activity than there is in basketball or in American football. This means that as a fan you can really settle yourself in and enjoy the game, without having to get up every five seconds because it went to an ad break. There are still breaks of course, just enough to give you a chance to get to the fridge for another beer.
This is a brilliant sport which I am really enjoying learning more about, why not give it a try the next time that you see that there’s a game on?