Last night, while Los Angeles’ pro basketball teams took a rare night off in their respective quests for relevant post-seasons, and as UCLA’s women’s basketball team joined their male counterparts in their respective Sweet Sixteens before a half-empty Pauley Pavilion, hockey got a rare chance for the spotlight. And if you’re among the many in … Read more
I was destined to become a sports fan. My father was a passionate baseball fan, so much so than when his beloved Brooklyn Dodgers blew the 1951 pennant to the New York Giants, yes, that famous (to Dodger fans, infamous) walk-off three-run homer by Bobby Thomson off Ralph Branca, he hurled his desktop radio out … Read more
If the Miami Heat are the definition of South Beach, Dade County and multicultural largesse, then the Florida Panthers are the definition of Broward County. Both exciting, exceptionally attractive and a lifestyle and location that the overwhelming majority of fans around the country wish they had access to, particularly yesterday. (I mean, if you were … Read more
I thought I knew a lot about Bobby Hull, the hockey legend who passed away yesterday at age 84. I knew he was called The Golden Jet, I knew he scored more than 600 goals, and I knew fans of a certain vintage who rooted for him as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks considered … Read more
Ivan Provorov was up until this past week an obscure defenseman for the Philadelphia Flyers, in his seventh season with a team that’s only made the NHL playoffs twice in his career and, based upon their current last place standing in the Metropolitan Division, seem destined to miss out again. A far cry from their … Read more
When the NHL finally decided to add new teams for the first time since a late 90s explosion bloated the league tota to 30, there was great desire for the league to add teams in Canada, where the sport is most prominent and its fan bases ever loyal. Expansion teams traditonally don’t win often, and … Read more
We’re at roughly the halfway point of the NHL season, and with the weather atypically horrible in Southern California and weekday evenings finally back to football-less norms, last night was a rare chance to focus on the local teams. Both the Kings and Ducks were at home, competing head-to-head on local TV, and both were … Read more
In a city as sports-crazed as Boston, a winning team produces a passion and love not otherwise seen in most cities. Boston hockey fans are particularly rabid, and I’ve known it for a looooong time. I had the pleasure of seeing a game in the old Gahden, the ancient escalator-less, climate-uncontrolled barn that the team … Read more
Alex Ovechkin has been playing hockey in the United States–indeed, in its capital city–since 2005. He has largely been known best among fans and within the Beltway among its rabid core of fans who have learned to appreciate his talent, zeal and prowess in the same manner that Ted Williams achieved in Boston and Michael … Read more
Very, very quietly, the NHL season has reached the quarter pole, and without question one of the surprise stories of the year to date has been the New Jersey Devils. After a 7th place finish in the Metropolitan Division last season which followed three consecutive seasons in the cellar of wherever they were placed, the … Read more