NHL PLAYOFFS
As a lifelong hockey fan, I have always known hockey was one of the toughest sports (no disrespect to football.) I have also known that Playoff hockey is some of the most intense, crazy, over the top shows of will and desire.
Now, I think everyone else is catching on.
This past year the rise of hockey fandom has gone up ten fold. The large California market is seeing its second coming from the Gretzky Era, with an outdoor game, an Anaheim Ducks team that finished Second in the entire NHL and First in the West for a second year, and an underdog Kings cup. The San Jose Sharks have been doing their rounds like the Dun Uh sound from Jaws.
Young players, born in the social media era, are making their mark in the big leagues and bringing their Twitter followers with them and creating more fans than television can reach.
T.J. Oshie's Winter Olympics comment, "The American heroes are wearing camo, that's not me." after scoring the game winning goal against the tough Russian squad gained him over 45, 000 followers on Twitter overnight, but really, it gained 45, 000 followers for hockey.
Poor LeBron James is taking a beating in the Meme world, after Jonathan Toews won the cup he never used the word "I" in his speech. See below:
And then again when Peverly's heart stopped and demanded to go back in the game after regaining consciousness:
I have nothing against the NBA or LeBron, and I'm pretty sure LeBron is a tough guy and could beat a lot of people's asses, but I think what people are taking away from hockey is that hockey and its players, while violent and arrogant and aggressive, contain a lot of qualities that we wish to emulate in our own lives, mental toughness, team over individual, sacrifice. And with the speed of social media, hockey is speeding with it.
If you're on the fence about being a hockey fan, catch literally any playoff hockey game and you might see some stuff you enjoy. Literally any one, they are all battles.
-Johnny Guns
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