Why Hockey???

With hockey season starting tomorrow, I’ve had so many people tell me they know I must be glad that hockey is back.  And then someone asked that all familiar question?  How did a Texas girl like you come to be such a big hockey fan?  For me, it was what I call “My Perfect Storm!”

If you have lived in Dallas long enough, you might remember that we had a hockey team way back in the day.  The Dallas Blackhawks.  When your mom is dating the weekend sports guy for Channel 8, you get to go to a lot of sports events, so we went to a few games.  I wasn’t really interested in the hockey…..just the organ music because it was Miss Inez that played!!!

I attended my first Dallas Stars game when I was pregnant with Tanner in the fall of 1995.  The game was against the San Jose Sharks and we had great seats.  I didn’t understand anything.  Then I ran into Sheree J. Wilson (April on Dallas and she was also on Walker Texas Ranger) in the ladies room.  I was so starstruck, hockey was just the sideshow!!!!

My husband is from the Northeast, so he likes to watch hockey.  He would watch from time to time, but I just couldn’t get into it.  Then came the 1998 Western Conference Finals.  Dallas vs. Detroit.  Steve was watching and I got interested.  So we watched.  Then Eddie Belfour slashed Martin Lapointe where a man does not want to be slashed.  I was shocked.  It was so violent, so bold, so unsportsmanlike.  I couldn’t believe someone would do that.    The game was fast, unpredictable, skillful, more than just fighting and slashing!  Each game was “sit on the edge of your seat” suspense.  The Stars the lost the series, but my interest was now more than just casual.

The next season, I was busy with life and kind of forgot about hockey.  And then the playoffs rolled around.  The Stars were the top team in the league.  The playoff games were captivating.  The players were becoming familiar and I was beginning to figure out the rules.  We watched and watched.  Not only were Steve and I watching, but a 6 year old Adam was too!  And then they won!!!!  The Stars won the Stanley Cup!  I took the boys to the parade to celebrate our newfound heroes!  We were now totally in…..true hockey fans….baby ones, but hockey fans!!!!

It is well known that Dallas is a bandwagon city.  Except for the Cowboys, if you aren’t winning, people aren’t going to your games.  So after the Stars won the cup, EVERYONE was a hockey fan.  I decided that summer, that I would commit to learning whatever I could about the team and the game.  I was not going to be a “bandwagon” fan.  I read the paper everyday.  I discovered the Bob and Dan show on the Ticket.  I often say, everything I learned about hockey, I learned from Bob Sturm.  I watched many games on TV.

But what was this perfect storm?  Well, in 1998 and 1999, we were figuring out that something wasn’t quite right with Tanner.  He wasn’t talking and playing in typical ways.  We started working with Early Childhood Intervention, started therapy and by Jan. 2000, he was diagnosed with autism.  Amidst all of the stuff I was learning about how to help Tanner, I needed a diversion.  And Adam did too.  Autism isn’t just hard for the parents.  It’s hard on the siblings as well.  Hockey provided the perfect diversion for Adam and me.  It was something that we could share and talk about that didn’t involve meltdowns, therapy and all the other things that came with autism.  Adam began to take skating lessons and then enrolled in the hockey initiation program.  We went to the Valley Ranch Stars center at least once a week,  which meant we might run into a Stars player from time to time.  Talk about starstruck!!!

And so it became a way of life for us.  Hockey practice and games for Adam, trips to Reunion and then the AAC for Stars games, watching the Stars practice, ice skating for both of us as I got my own hockey skates.  To this day, Adam and I still “speak hockey” often.  He knows more about the game than I do now.  He’s playing again in a men’s league and playing well.  Hockey is still “our “ thing…..something we bonded over – just he and I.

Hockey is a great sport……really, it’s more than just scoring a goal or the possible fight now and then.  It’s fast and powerful and these athletes are probably the best conditioned of all the sports.  Don’t think so?  Head to the nearest rink sometime if you can skate and see how quickly you get winded after skating quickly across the rink.  Then think about doing that with a stick in your hand and someone else’s stick chasing after you!!!  Hockey is full of regular guys……guys that just want to play the game and for the most part they stay out of trouble off the ice.  Most of them are family men and most are good role models.

When I get to go to a game, my favorite part is going down to the ice for the pre-game warmups.  The music is loud, the pucks slam fiercely against the glass, you can see the players up close.  My adrenaline gets going and it’s thrilling to be there. The crowd gets loud, the puck drops, they skate, they shoot, they score!!!  How could a Texas girl raised on football resist???