Coach is telling me to keep my head and stay out of the box, but I find myself unable to skate away from Adam, after he has given me a friendly facial amid the rink-rat scrum. So allow me to chirp a moment, before I get back to the games.
I am definitely too young to remember the Montagnards, but I’m afraid I’m old enough to know about the Russians. I grew up revering those Red Army teams, and rooting for them, actually, in their games against the Canadian All-Stars, because of their elegant, wheeling approach to the game, and the way my father said their names, as if they were secrets. It was only during the Olympics, in 1980, that the Russians became the bad guys, because the opponent this time was a bunch of college boys from the States—not a thug among them. One theory has it that the N.H.L.ers’ encounters with the Russians in those Cold War years brought some of the latter’s creativity and flair to the North American game, in advance of the eventual appearance of Russians in the league. You could say they undid some of what the McGill swells apparently did to ruin the beautiful game of proto-hockey.
Adam’s work on the sociological origins of the game is fascinating—who’d-a-thunk it was the rich kids who made it so rough. I’d always heard/thought it was the mining-camp/prairie-pond hard guys who had made it so. But favoring the Montagnard strain over the mutt blend that came to be played, during the next hundred years, is a little like complaining that English was a better language before the arrival of the Normans, or to privilege Scott Joplin over John Coltrane.
Sure, hockey wasn’t always rough. Hockey wasn’t always even hockey. But hockey, as it has been played in North America for many decades—the hockey that my generation, and our fathers’, and even theirs’, grew up playing, coaching, and watching, the hockey of Eddie Shore, Gordie Howe, and Bobby Orr, or of Dino Ciccarelli and Zarley Zalapski, or of Boris Mikhailov and Slava Fetisov, or of pee-wee teammates and high-school heroes—has always been a contest of time and space. Both are hard to come by on a crowded, bounded ice sheet. The game is essentially a battle for it; you try to acquire time and space for yourself and your teammates, and take both away from your opponents, by means of speed, guile, strength, teamwork, and force. This occasionally, and I say necessarily, involves collisions and physical battles (say it Canadian), which will occasionally result in injuries: gushing blood, broken bones, missing teeth, and, yes, concussions. It will also result in occasional spasms of excess, be they vicious or clownish. All this makes hockey that much more compelling—operatic, funny, hard. It’s a battle out there. It takes courage to play it. And if you’re up for that, it is fun as hell.
In European hockey—hockey played in Europe, not hockey played by Europeans when they come here—the ice surface is larger. They don’t hit nearly as much. They can fool around with the puck and avoid contact. It’s also relatively boring. It’s worth noting that the M.V.P. in 2010 of the K.H.L., the Russian pro league and second-best league in the world, is now playing in the N.H.L. playoffs, for the Nashville Predators, and he is embarrassing himself by not competing hard enough—and staying out late at the Scottsdale bars.
In Omsk or Zurich, the players can make nifty plays, and the fans have great club songs, and you don’t have to put up with Nickelback, but in order to see the wolverine fury of world-class athletes trying to win on the biggest stage, there is only one league, and that is the N.H.L.
As a passionate enthusiast with a profound understanding of hockey, particularly its historical and sociological aspects, let me establish my credibility by delving into the concepts mentioned in the provided article.
First and foremost, the article touches on the coach's advice to stay out of the box and keep the head cool during a game. This is a reference to the penalty box in hockey, where players are sent for rule violations. Staying disciplined and avoiding penalties is crucial for a player's effectiveness on the ice.
The mention of a "friendly facial amid the rink-rat scrum" implies a playful or lighthearted encounter between players during a chaotic situation on the ice. Understanding the dynamics of on-ice interactions and the informal language used by players is essential in decoding such expressions.
The reference to the Montagnards and Russians reflects a historical perspective on the evolution of hockey. The Montagnards, associated with a particular strain of play, and the Russians, known for their elegant and creative approach to the game, highlight the diverse influences that have shaped hockey over time.
The article delves into the sociological origins of the game, suggesting that it was the rich kids who made the game rough, contrary to the common belief that hard individuals from mining camps and prairie ponds were responsible. This insight challenges preconceived notions about the roots of the physicality in hockey.
A significant historical event mentioned is the 1980 Olympics when the Russian team faced a bunch of college boys from the United States. This marked a shift in the perception of the Russians from admired opponents to the "bad guys" due to Cold War tensions.
The mention of names like Eddie Shore, Gordie Howe, Bobby Orr, Dino Ciccarelli, Zarley Zalapski, Boris Mikhailov, and Slava Fetisov underscores a deep knowledge of hockey history, spanning generations and players from different eras.
The comparison of North American hockey, with its emphasis on time and space as contested elements on a crowded ice sheet, to European hockey, which features a larger ice surface and less physicality, showcases an understanding of the stylistic differences between these two hockey cultures.
The critique of European hockey being "relatively boring" compared to the intense and physical nature of North American hockey expresses a personal viewpoint on the excitement and allure of the sport played in different regions.
In summary, my expertise in hockey extends beyond the rules and gameplay to encompass the rich history, sociological influences, and nuanced dynamics of the sport, as evidenced by the detailed analysis of the concepts embedded in the provided article.
