“I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out.”
It’s an old saying. Judging by what I observed last night at The Saddledome in Calgary, it’s also inaccurate.
I’m not talking about on the ice – where the Flames scored three goals in the third period to beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-2. There was actually one little skirmish on our end in the first period.
I’m talking about hockey fans.
I get it now. I didn’t get hockey before.
If Scottish golf fans appreciate and respect the game like no others, then surely the same must be true of Canadian hockey fans.
While there was wild cheering for the Flames, I heard no profanity.
When the Red Wings scored their second goal, my host – Professor Puck – didn’t boo. He turned to me and said, “that was a great goal.”
There was no pushing or shoving in lines during the intermissions.
People were – without exception – polite.
No one looked at their phones during play. Everyone was focused on the action.
Those late to their seats after one of the three periods had begun waited until play stopped to go to their seats so they wouldn’t interrupt others watching the ice. In the second period, this didn’t happen until about ten minutes into play. They waited.
Tell me the last time you saw that at an NFL, NBA, college or even high school game.
No. Seriously. Tell me. Because what I witnessed tonight – the class and respect for both the game and their fellow fans – left me with a profound new sense of appreciate for the sport of hockey.
And I’m thinking right now if we could take those lessons I observed last night and apply them to not just American sports but also our society, we’d do our own society a favor.
Patience. Courtesy. Respect. Focus. Selflessness. National pride (except, evidently, for the Canucks).
So, hockey? I’m in. Game on.
Thanks, Flames fans.
Thank you for this article. So very true. Your article explains the essence of the game and it’s fans better than any article I have ever read.
I grew up in a non-hockey area and found the game silly, until a hockey person took me to a Blues game. It instantly became the most exciting sporting event I’d ever seen live, and it wasn’t even a big playoff game or anything like that. I can only imagine what seeing one in Canada is like.
Good one.
Tim, one day I hope you get to witness the fan frenzy at a Winnipeg Jets game. And we are still exactly as you described. It’s a Canadian thing. And I’m damn proud to be one!! Thanks for sharing your experience.
Tim, I’m not sure if that is a Canada thing or simply a hockey thing. I have seen the exact same behavior in Hockeytown – yes, the ravaged, impoverished, (war-torn?), beat-down city of Detroit.