I must be getting old…….
There was a time when the start of a new NHL season elevated my heart rate and led to me to devour the sports pages of the papers and the season preview editions of the major hockey publications with eager anticipation of opening night.
A time when I sat around for hours with other ball-cap wearing dudes over a box of beer and a few pizzas and made my much-thought out picks at the annual hockey pool gathering. A time when I cut out the NHL schedule from the Toronto Star and taped it on the fridge….circling all the Habs games. A time when I could yak ad nauseum with the guy two keyboards down from me at work about whether the Bruins’ defense was any match for the vaunted Flying Frenchmen.
And there was a time when the Stevie Downie hit on an Ottawa Senators’ player this week would have launched me into a tirade one way or the other, defending or attacking him depending on how much of a Downie and/or Flyers and/or Senators fan I was. (For the record, I am a Montreal Canadiens fan).
But like so many fans who still love the game, but who have grown weary at the time-consuming prospect of following the travails of all 30 NHL teams….or who simply don’t have it in them to care if a 20-year old, extremely well-paid pro hockey player gets 3 games or 30 for the big hit……I simply reacted to the Downie thing with a lukewarm…..”whatever.”
Now when Sittler slashed Lafleur in ‘78….I mean come on……that was vicious….uncalled for…..unprovoked…..can you believe it…..why the nerve….cuz like Lafleur rules, man!
Ah the passion of youth.