Free Hockey

Seriously, not even going to discuss my absence here of late.  LIFE, let's just leave it at that.  All is well, just busy with life.  My life includes hockey so let's get going with -

How about that OT game on Wednesday night, folks!!  Talk about getting your dollar's worth of entertainment, huh?  The first time my good friend and neighbor, Wendy, caught overtime in a hockey game, she turned to me and excitedly said; "oh, it's free!"  Huh?  She explained; "At the Brave's games when it's extra innings, that's free baseball - you only paid for 9 innings." 

She's right, y'all.  Free Hockey.  In The Cup Final.  Eat It Up. 

When all is said and done, the Cup hoisted by the winner, *cough, Bruins, cough*, we're gonna be jonesing for the game.  We'll be counting down the weeks, days and hours till it starts back up again. 

Let's take some time to appreciate all the things that go along with playoff hockey.

"Doc" Emrick
Mike "Doc" Emrick is the NHL's in-game Commentator Supreme High Commander In Chief.  He's the shit, plain and simple.  He's been doing it for so long and while I'm honestly tired of him by the time we get to the Cup Final round, I wouldn't want anyone else calling the games.  It's gotta be hard coming up with new exciting words and catch phrases each season to sell the game on tv.  He's trying to educate new viewers while not insulting us hard core fans' intelligence.  He succeeds, mostly, doing so while having to put up with the likes of Pierre McGuire and Mike Milbury.  So, how can the man who's been calling NHL games for 40 years get on my nerves, you ask?  I'll tell you in just a minute...first, let's just listen to Doc call a game. 
You will have chills and you will find yourself completely transported.  It's why he's the best. 



Hockey Drinking Game
This is not exclusive to the playoffs, or just the NHL.  Not by any means.  It just happens to be one of my favorite things in life, for a very good reason: I'm a Wild fan.  Every season there's a player on the Wild who catches my attention by delighting me or irritating me to no end.  It's typically someone who's name embodies the game (Spurge!) or his manner of playing (Skoula!) or perhaps it's something he does off the ice (Konopka!).  The rule of the drinking game is simple: everytime the chosen player hits the ice, makes his signature play - good or bad, you take a shot.  This game has gotten me through many a torturous Wild performance over the years. 

Doc Emrick Playoff Hockey Drinking Game
Doc tends to pick a couple of key words each post season and then uses the bejesus out of them - driving me to distraction and many a rant via text messaging to my NHL friends across the country.  This season his chosen favorites are: 
1. Peel
2. Drift
3. Drag (as in toe drag)
Go ahead, I dare you.  In fact, pick just one of them and take a shot every time Doc utters it during Saturday night's game.  I guarantee you'll be dead of alcohol poisoning before the end of the second period.  You will not live to see the Cup hoisted this year. 

The 25 Stages of Playoff OT Hockey
Credit to Sean McIndoe who can be found blogging on the Triangle page of the the Grantland and is also known as @downgoesbrown on twitter. 

Truer words have rarely been transcribed: The 25 Stages of Playoff OT Hockey

Andrew Shaw's Reaction To Scoring The OT Winner
My family here in GA and I have been trading our own made up NHL headlines to describe the outcomes of the playoff games.  Wednesday night, make that Thursday morning's game ending prompted me to send this text:
Operation Shaw and Awe - Hawks Take Game One in Triple OT

Here's Andrew Shaw of the Hawks, who just happened to be mic'd up for that fateful period  


And his interview afterwards



I have to toddle off to work now my fellow hockey fans.  Yep, life getting in the way of watching Game Two.  I know my phone will be buzzing all night with updates and fun messages from hockey family members so it's all good.  I hope to write again before Game Three.  In the meantime remember that this is just a game, these are just grown men playing a game for a living and that they do it  BECAUSE IT'S THE CUP