So last week I went to my first NHL game last Wednesday and something felt overwhelmingly dirty about it. When I was a young fledgling sports addict, I watched a lot of New Jersey Devils hockey. The Devils were dominant in the late to early 90's. In 2001, they had an epic seven game series against the Colorado Avalanche. The Avalanche won the series led by the play of their Finals MVP goaltender Patrick Roy. 12 years later, largely removed from watching hockey, I've gotten back into it by watching and following the Colorado Avalanche. Then I lived in New York City, now I live in Colorado. Then, I didn't have any friends or associates who watched hockey so I had no one to talk about it with. Now, I have classmates who are really into it. Then, Patrick Roy was the goalie getting in the way of my team's victory. Now, Patrick Roy is the head coach of the team I'm rooting for. Things have changed.
Going to this game was my first time experiencing the Pepsi Center and the Pepsi Center crowd. The Pepsi Center is a nice arena, one where I fully intend on watching a few Nuggets and Avalanche games. Denver is a great sports town with a nice balance of hometown fans and people from other areas who bring their sports loyalties with them. The crowd was great the entire time. Looking up at the rafters, you see the Avalanche banners. You also can't be in the arena without noticing the amazing screen that the Pepsi Center hosts. The screen is currently the largest screen in the NBA or NHL. More on this later.
As far as the actual game. Patrick Roy got his first victory. The fans of the Avalanche were treated to an amazing game by their team, albeit a non-competitive one. The Ducks goaltender was abused the entire game. The rap on the Avalanche is that they are a strong offensive squad and a weak defensive one. (See generally, Denver Nuggets.) Their first game ending in a near shutout is promising.
While I don't know a ton about the nuances of what makes one good player better than other good players in hockey, I can look at number one pick Nathan MacKinnon and tell that he's really good. He was all over the ice and ended up with 2 points (both from assists) and a minor fight.
It was a great experience and I hope to do it again this season. Most of my hockey watching will come from watching the Avs on TV this year. It was a great crowd and a great game.
That was awesome:
Seth who? I was really excited to see Seth Jones (son of former NBA journeyman, Popeye Jones) on the Colorado Avalanche. He was projected to be the number one player in the draft. However, the Avs management decided to go with Nathan MacKinnon. So far, so good. MacKinnon was absolutely amazing.
That was disappointing:
The first game of the season was almost a 6-0 shutout but with less than 10 seconds to go, the Ducks scored. Also, the second game against Seth Jones's Nashville Predators wasn't on Altitude (Colorado's local sports station for the Avs and Nuggets) because of technical difficulties.
That was a n00b move, kid:
http://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/271/Quebec_Nordiques/1976/Secondary_Logo
I saw the fleur-de-lis logo on a hat in the team store and called it a "(New Orleans) Saints" logo. Apparently, it's the secondary logo of the Quebec Nordiques, which was what the Avalanche franchise was before it moved to Colorado. France is not well represented in the NBA or NFL outside of the teams that play in New Orleans. The NHL's placement in Canada gives them a french connection outside of Louisiana, especially for teams that play in Quebec where French is an official language.
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