After a very hard-fought series, the Florida Panthers will be meeting the Houston Oilers in the Stanley Cup finals beginning on June 8th. Yes, ice hockey is still being played in June, and that's part of the reason why I love ice hockey as much as I do. The hits are hard, the game is intense and filled with action, and the season isn't this mini-season of approximately three months like you get with American football. No. The ice hockey season stretches across autumn and winter, spring and if a team is lucky and talented, into summer. It's a long season, it's a LOT of games, and the physical punishment that these players undergo several times a week isn't for the weak of heart or body. It's fast action, it's finesse, and it's fast. I love American football too, but hockey is a deep love since I was introduced to the game when I moved up to Minnesota - "The State of Hockey".
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Minnesota is known as the "State of Hockey", not just because of our love of the sport, but because we embrace it, showcase it, live and breathe it, and we're the home to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Eveleth, Minnesota. |
When our Minnesota team was still the North Stars, not the Wild, and we were playing at Met Center, not in downtown St Paul, DH and I had season tickets for several years - maybe up to a decade, maybe slightly shorter. When the team left the Met, we left the seasons behind us. Getting in and out of the Met Center might have been a bit slow, but it was outside parking and the exhaust from hundreds of cars being funneled into a few slots to exit the large lot and exit onto the freeway didn't mean breathing in the fumes from hundreds of other cars. The lot cleared quickly.
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The US Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Eveleth, Minnesota - in the northern part of the state. The other Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Canada. |
In downtown St Paul, the traffic is a nightmare, and parking is only in a variety of pay lots scattered around the hockey stadium. The stadium itself is gorgeous - it probably needs an update now, it's been open since the end of September, 2000, so it's 24 years old. They are talking about giving the arena a serious update in the off-season, but I'm not sure if that will happen. What is a fact, however, is that I don't want to deal with downtown St Paul traffic before or after a game, so we're not season ticket holders for the Wild. Still, we never miss a game if they are televised, and if they are only available on radio, DH is usually plugged into earphones and listening. We're fans, even if we don't choke on exhaust fumes.
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The new trophy for the WPHL is gorgeous. There's a TON of symbolism in this - a lot of thought went into this trophy. If you are interested in finding out more about this trophy, here's a link for you. https://www.thepwhl.com/en/professional-womens-hockey-league-pwhl-introduces-the-walter-cup-as-its-championship-trophy |
So we're now going to be heading into the final stage for Men's professional hockey. But I couldn't let this opportunity pass to congratulate Minnesota for winning the first EVER season of the Professional Women's Hockey League. The PWHL is new this year, with six teams, all known by their location - Boston, Minnesota, Montreal,, New York, Ottawa, and Toronto. Their trophy is GORGEOUS - 35 pounds of sterling silver - and Minnesota will be the very first name engraved on it. I'm so very proud of them - very well fought and played. So, I'm running late and have to get moving. Have an excellent weekend and I'll be back on Monday. Slava Ukraini.
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