By Josh Zirkel
Ice Hockey is one of the Hardest sports to not only play and be good at, but to be able to understand and follow the flow and fundamentals of the game. Yet people don’t seem to grasp the fact that Ice Hockey not only is hard to play and learn, but to keep playing and learning.
Like any other sport it is constantly changing, whether that’s new rules being introduced or a new style of play coming out of nowhere. But because of the speed and velocity that Ice Hockey is played at (depending on the level of play you are in) it also makes it one of the most dangerous sports to play. The physical requirements to play this game are no joke, as are the mental and emotional aspects. But the emotional aspect seems to be the most important, and this is what makes it the most dangerous game in my opinion.
No matter what rink you play in, what type of hockey you’re playing (Ice, Roller, Dek) the emotional aspect of the game is the most obvious. Because of the amount of physical and mental stress that is put on your body during a game, your emotions hit you hard. Mentally; the constant need for balance in ice and roller, the muscle memory needed to stop when you get close to the boards, the actual know-how of the fundamentals and when to use them, makes it completely impossible to think about anything else going on in the world other than the game you are playing. Physically; is pretty self explanatory, you need to be able to be strong enough on the ice or surface you play on, strong enough to play the body when you need to and get aggressive on the puck or ball, you need stamina and endurance to be able to last a full hour (normal run times of games with stoppages and intermissions).
All these aspects have an outstanding effect on your emotions during the game. The labored breathing, the soreness, the pounds of gear you have on, it all makes you more emotional, whether that’s in a good way or a bad way depends on the player. Most of the times, it’s in a bad way, from what I have experienced myself.
These don’t seem like reasons for why Hockey is the best sport, but to us players, this is what makes it the best. I have played many sports throughout the years of my life and I still continue to play multiple to this day. But none have ever given me the adrenaline rush and excitement that hockey has. When I asked my good friend and longtime Teammate Peter Piekarski, since junior year of high school, this is what he had to say about it:
“There’s just nothing that compares to the rush you get when you throw a hit or the huddle with your teammates after you score a goal. Absolutely nothing compares.”
I completely agree with him on that. Nothing gets the blood pumping more than laying someone out open ice or scoring the winning goal for your team. I also asked one of my other close friends and teammates about the team aspect of the game, TJ Coyne who was the alternate captain and co-founder of the Ice Hockey team at Mount Saint Mary College along with me last year had this to say:
“When you become a team, you play more than one game together, you become a family. Every team I have played on has become a family right up until the last game you play with them, and if the bond is strong enough, after as well no matter if you continue to play with the same guys or not.”
I have also experienced this in my time with teams on and off the ice or dek. The sport brings people together in the most unexpected way possible. You could be fighting one second and then brothers the next.
Something a lot of people don't think about is the fans' interaction during the game as well. Fans together become like best friends when rooting for the same team. But when they are rooting against each other, they become mortal enemies. The fans also impact the players in the game as well. When you’re playing a game and you know your friends and/or family are in the stands watching it changes the way you play the game. I think what most people don’t understand about why Hockey is so special, Ice Hockey specifically, is that you very rarely can be walking in a park and see an Ice Hockey game going on. Which is why when there are fans in the stands watching, its because they are choosing to be there and watch. This fact makes it so much more fun to play when you can hear cheering or especially booing at you when you score. I would make an argument that when fans are booing me or trying to get into my head, it makes me play harder, definitely not smarter unfortunately…
In the 16 years I have been playing Hockey, I have been suspended 4 times and thrown out of a game 6 times. All 4 of those suspensions and 6 times being thrown out have happened in the past 3 years. Because of Covid not a lot of people had much to do, so we would be able to get a lot of fans out to games and that would make the game so much more intense and aggressive and it makes it so much more fun. It isn’t a side of us that we get to interact with very often anymore so it gives such an interesting aspect to the game.
These are just some of the reasons why my friends and I believe that our game is the best game out there, and it’s no contest. Also go Capitals!
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