This happened in Game 1, but this is the idea.
Seriously, by the time June 9 hits, still having NHL hockey going is beyond ridiculous. Hockey is played on ice. Ice is long gone in most parts of Canada by mid-June. So maintaining the season this late feels surreal, watching games in short sleeves instead of parkas and drinking margaritas instead of beer. But, given Bettman’s penchant for expanding the hockey league in to sunbelt cities where the only ice they know is in drinks and not on the ground, I guess he prefers it that way. It didn’t help that the NHL inexplicably dragged out the final series, delaying Game 1 by 5 days, delaying Game 6 by 4. Even A 7 game series could have been done a week ago had the games been scheduled normally. Instead, we all sit around and look awkwardly at each other when we realize, there’s a game on tonight? Still?
To be fair, I stopped caring a whole lot about hockey after Montreal was eliminated by Philly. That sweetheart season was over and I rejoiced the ability to regain control over the remote. But I did tune in for the end last night, and there were a few moments that put a smile on my cynical (if sleepy) face.
Moment One: Wunderkind Jonathan Toews, 22, Olympic Champion, World Champion, Conn Smythe winner and now Stanley Cup Champion, hoisting the cup in front of his ecstatic parents. I used to believe this trend of giving Captaincies to kids who can’t even grow a beard was just a way to mollycoddle this new generation of Precious Snowflakes. Then I started to follow Toews, who is cut from a different cloth than other punk Captains. He just plays. Works hard. Doesn’t seek the limelight, doesn’t whine, just .. plays. And wins Stanley Cups. That’s a kid who deserves to be a role model. That’s a kid who has a long career ahead of him. That’s a kid I like.
Then, Moment Two: Seeing Toews hand the cup directly over to no-longer-cursed Marian Hossa, the player I’ve been all crushy on since he joined the Senators back in the mists of antiquity, the player who’s been in the Cup final three years in a row, the player who took so much flack last year for jumping to Detroit only to see them lose to his former team.
Marian Hossa with the Stanley Cup
He faced lots of accusations of being a Cup Chaser – as if he somehow predicted that Detroit and Pittsburgh would meet in the final two years in a row – but given that he’s signed with Chicago for the next 11 years, he seems to have been rewarded for his loyalty.
And finally, Moment Three: Putting the 2009-2010 season to bed, already. Hockey in June might bring an occasional tear to my eye, but mostly, it makes me wonder what the hell the NHL is thinking. I’m Canadian. I love hockey. And by June, even I don’t care.
That said, sincere congratulations to the Blackhawks and the people of Chicago, who I’m sure will joyfully sweat their way through Friday’s victory parade. It’s finally summertime, hockey people.
Shannon is an Ottawa blogger who writes about politics, parenting, sports and the environment (among other things) at ThreeSeven and EcoChick. She is @zchamu on Twitter.
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GO HAWKS!!!!
It really was fun, though…