Hockey is Amazing!

I’ve been watching hockey for a very long time.

I’ve been begging others to watch hockey for just about as long now.

And the reason why I’ve been pleading with so many for so long… was summed up in this year’s Stanley Cup Finals.

There are few sports that combine skill, chance, tension and excitement as well as hockey does.

The pace is frantic at times, graceful at others. 

In many cases, particularly in the playoffs, the tension is insane — regardless of which team you call your own.

The athleticism, toughness and endurance of these athletes is unrivaled. 

The best players can standout, but so can unlikely heroes.

It’s simple really — it’s a great game.

My hope is that since Edmonton’s Connor McDavid (whom I wrote about last week) was showcased in this year’s finals, the game got a little more attention than normal.

My hope is that since this year’s final saw a 3-0 near comeback, the game got a little more attention than normal.

My hope is that all of this will blend together beautifully and bring more people into the game, and, subsequently into the hockey hobby.

Hockey will never be basketball, I know that. The ease of entry into hoops for folks all around the world makes it standout above all the rest. This is not going to change anytime soon.

That said, hockey is not a game that belongs a distant fourth behind baseball and football in the hobby.

Young potential superstars such as Connor Bedard, Logan Cooley, Lucas Raymond and others are all over the league, and should be on the wish lists of collectors.

Upper Deck, the sole NHL hockey card licensee, has done a very good job diversifying product, promoting players and the league, and getting product out to the consumer at all price points.

The league is doing its part as well — landing contracts with ESPN, ABC and others in an effort to bring the game to more people’s living rooms nightly.

Do they need to do more, do better with promoting the actual players? 

Absolutely. 

They need to steal a chapter from the NBA’s playbook back in the 1980s here, and create a culture of hockey that showcases standouts such as McDavid, Sidney Crosby and others. 

That will take a concerted effort on the league’s part, and I hope, especially now that they have a legit up-and-coming superstar in Bedard right in one of the world’s biggest markets, Chicago, they will start to undertake that effort.

I’m sounding like a broken record here, I know, but it’s a great game — give it, and the hockey hobby, a real chance here between now and the start of the new season in October. 

Please, I’m begging you again.