By 
BWo here, and I am so excited because tonight is the first playoff game for the Chicago Blackhawks! A lot of people don’t understand much about hockey beyond the Mighty Ducks movies and I want to inspire you to find the fun in hockey, especially the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Basics: Hockey is a fast-paced and tough sport that requires speed, agility, and the drive to do whatever it takes to get the puck into the opposing team’s goal. The Chicago Blackhawks are one of the Original Six teams in the NHL and they have some of the most exciting players in hockey. Here’s a little preview of how they play:
Handsome Fellas: The Blackhawks aren’t all just scoring and hitting. They also have some of the most handsome fellas in sports on the team.
Patrick Sharp and Brent Seabrook (pictured bashful with lady) keep things smooth on and off the ice.
Nicknames: The Blackhawks have all sorts of fun names Jonathon “Taser” Toews, Dustin “Big Buff”
Soupy gives a Detroit player his own Red Wing.
Byfuglien, Antti “The Finnish Wall” Niemi, and (my favorite) Brian “Soupy” Campbell.
Fighting: Ok, so you might be wondering “Why is fighting allowed in hockey?” Fighting is generally allowed because hockey is such a physical sport with all of the different types of hits a player can deliver to another. Fighting is used to deter other types of rough play and it creates solidarity in a team when one of their own is getting roughed up and a teammate steps forward to defend his friend. There is an etiquette to it: both parties must agree to a fight or else a harsher penalty is given to the instigator and a fair fight must occur, no equipment can be used as a weapon. Fighting is also used to amp up the crowd and players as a section of hockey fans come just for the fights.
Adam Burrish is one of the Blackhawks fighters (known as a “Goon” or “Enforcer”) the following is a video of Burrish’s first game of the 2010 season. Take a guess at what happens during his first shift.
Penalties and Power Plays: In hockey, if a penalty is committed such as rough, tripping, slashing, misconduct, too many men on the ice, boarding, etc… then the offending player must go to the penalty box (usually for 2 minutes) and then their team must play a man down. Normally there are 5 players and a goalie, so during a power play there can be 5 on 4, but if multiple penalties are committed then there can be any number of players on the ice 4 on 2, 3 on 2, or whatever is appropriate. Here is a clip from what ESPN has called “The Greatest Sports Movie of All Time” Slapshot (starring Paul Newman) that explains penalties better than I can:
In conclusion, hockey is fun, the Blackhawks are great and will be for a while due to a great young core of players, and I hope you all can get excited about this team and great sport.
