Season Has Started...almost

I know it hasn't "officially" started, but the fact that training camps have opened makes me feel like it has. I'm very excited. For those who don't know my "hockey story" let me just give you a little background. I did not become a hockey fan until these past Winter Olympics. It's mainly a geographical issue...I grew up in a very rural farming community in west-central Illinois, and there was NO hockey to be found. We had baseball, football and basketball (and volleyball and softball for the girls.) That's it. I did play softball, basketball and volleyball all through school. But there was no hockey around. I don't even think I knew what hockey was until I was in high school. ;o) Maybe not quite that long, but I'm serious when I say I grew up in the hockey wasteland.

When I went to college, there were some hockey fans, because there were a lot of Chicago kids that went to school there. So I saw lots of Backhawks shirts all over the place, but I was still clueless. I watched NFL religiously (big Cowboys fan here), but that was it. When you don't grow up with something, it's just not something you think much about.

So it wasn't until the Olympics this year that I really realized how cool hockey is. I happened to watch a game that was on, and I got hooked. Seriously, that quickly, I was hooked. I guess I was just at the right point in my life to get into hockey or something? Anyway, I've been a fan ever since.

And the first players I took note of were the goalies. At first it was the masks...I noticed some of the really cool masks (Halak's mask with Vladimir Dzurilla on the side was the first one that caught my eye.) So I went online to see who was on that mask and I started looking up all sorts of things on goalies and the NHL, etc. I'm a librarian, so I am a hunter and gatherer of information. So I gathered as much information about hockey, the NHL, and NHL goalies as possible. By the end of the Olmypics I was hooked.

I was intrigued by Lundqvist when they were talking about his record of shutout minutes, and when I saw him hit the puck with his head twice. So he was my first favorite.

So I followed the NHL season after the Olympics were over, and my favorite goalie has now become José Théodore (followed in 2nd place by Henrik.) I must say it was at first the fact that I was intrigued by José's sad situation and how he handled it, and the Masterton Trophy and all that. But overall I just really like the guy.

I honestly don't have a favorite team right now...I'm still trying to suss that situation out. I can't really call myself a Rangers fan, even though I like Lundqvist, because it goes against my grain to root for NY teams (no offense to anyone from NY here, I'm just from the Midwest, and I can't do that.) But since I'm from downstate Illinois, I kind of dislike all Chicago teams as well, so I can't be a Hawks fan. When I followed MLB I was a St. Louis Cards fan, so maybe I could be a Blues fan. I do like Halak...and he's there now.

I thought I would see who signed José and root for them, but that didn't happen this summer. He's still an unsigned free agent. But I still have hopes that he will be signed at some point this season, so I will give that team some serious thought, whoever it ends up being. Right now I'm just enjoying the hockey experience as a whole.

And I ordered tickets to the January 8th game between the Blues and the Rangers. Since St. Louis is in driving distance, and my brother can drive me I thought that would be cool. My husband will probably go too, so I got 3 tickets. I'll be excited to see Lundqvist face Halak (I really hope they both play.)

Edit: After José was signed by the Minnesota Wild, I ordered tickets to the February 11th Blues/Wild game in St. Louis. I'll be trying to sell the Rangers tickets. As much as I'd like to see Hank play, I'd like to see Theo more.