Hockey, equipment, and skills

 Before the arrival of Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, the Chicago Blackhawks had a very grim future. Fans would not go to the games and their games would not even be broadcasted because of how bad the team was. The owners were on the verge of selling the team. In 2006, Jonathan Toews was selected third overall, and in 2007 Patrick Kane was selected first overall. Chicago won the draft lottery to acquire Patrick Kane. What if these generational talents were not drafted by the Blackhawks? I can say right now if we did not draft them, Chicago would be the laughing stock of the National Hockey League. The Blackhawks would not have won any Stanley Cups like they did in 2010, 2013, and 2015. Their attendance and viewership would have remained so low, Chicago would have probably had to move the Blackhawks to a thriving hockey market like Seattle. Nobody would even consider going to a Blackhawks game for fun, they would be classified as a joke. There is a possibility they would have chan...

 Since 2004 there have been mainly two players that have been considered the best of their generation. Those two players are Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin. Both of these players are prolific talents that every franchise would love to have playing for them. In 2004, the Washington Capitals selected Alexander Ovechkin with the first overall pick. The following year in 2005, the Pittsburgh Penguins selected Sidney Crosby with the first overall pick. The question is, who is a better player? To me, the answer is simple. It's Sidney Crosby. This is not a knock on Alex, but Crosby has just had a better career. Sidney has led the Penguins to three Stanley Cups, while Alex has only won one with the Capitals. Sidney has proven to be an elite leader and excels in all aspects on the ice. Alex is a tremendous player, but to me he is just too one dimensional. For example, Alex has 273 more goals than Crosby, but Sidney has 286 more assists than Ovechkin. Alex is the best goal scorer in NH...

 Knowing how to control the puck on the ice can put you at a competitive advantage on the ice. Having silky hands can lead to having elite stick handling. One player that has elite stick handling in The National Hockey League is Patrick Kane. The way he can deceive defenders with the way he controls the puck is second to none. Players across The National Hockey League have even voted that he is the best stick handler in the league. An article by LauraGSpeaks titled "The Best Hockey Stick Handling Drill" provided some insights to how you can improve your stick handling. "To do the drill, the player should stand with his knees slightly bent, the same way he would on the ice, the left hand should be on top of the stick and the right hand about 12-14 inches down so the hands are shoulder width apart" (Speaks) This should be vice versa if you shoot the other way. " The key is to practice the way you would play on the ice. Practice touching the hockey ball back and f...

 Around the world, there are some pretty gorgeous sports trophies like the Commissioner's Trophy in the MLB, The Lombardi Trophy in the NFL, the World Cup trophy for soccer, and the Larry O'Brien won in the NBA. While all these are nice, nothing compares to The Stanley Cup in the National Hockey league. It is the only trophy in the world that is not made every year for the winner to keep. Once a team wins it, they have to give it back before the next season starts. I was reading an article named "The Stanley Cup: Oldest Trophy in Professional Sports in North America" By Fran Rooks, and she had some fun information in her article. She went into the history of the cup, and stated "Stanley then purchased a decorative punch bowl made in Sheffield, England, for 10 guineas, equal to $50 US dollars." (Rooks) It is crazy that the best sports trophy in modern history started out as a fancy punch bowl. What makes The Stanley Cup so unique is that it is the largest tro...

 I was browsing the internet just casually and I came across this article on hockey skates I thought was very insightful. The article is called "Hockey Skates With a Special Purpose Just for You" by William Yule. Yule goes into detail talking about how each hockey skate is constructed differently, what material is used, and how understanding this will help you make the best purchasing decision for your skates. A quote from the article is "The durability and safety features of each skate are the most important things that goes into the making of each one." (Yule) While looking for skates, it is great to understand which ones will fit you the best while offering you the best protection for your feet. Skates are expensive, they should be able to withstand years of blocking shots. Finding durable skates is a great thing to point out. While finding the right durability in skates, finding the right price is important as well. " We want to make sure that if you have o...

 In the year 2016 when I played high school hockey, my team was in a unique situation. The team only had enough players for either a junior varsity or a varsity team, not both. Most high school teams gather enough players to have two teams, even sometimes three. With the situation being assessed, our organization decided to label the team as a varsity team. This means our season would be an uphill battle from the start. The league that we were in was a very competitive one, and all the teams wanted to win badly. Our season got off to a rocky start as we won one game out of our first four, and the three games that we lost were blowouts. This trend continued of us losing a lot of games followed up by a win or two. The season was looking bleak and disappointing. Our team never gave up and battled every game like it was our last. Come time of the playoffs, surprisingly we did not finish with the worst record. Anything can happen in the playoffs and that was our team's mindset headed in...