At first, I didn’t understand why my husband spent so much time watching hockey. Then he told me something profound: sports are soap operas for men.
The National Hockey League (NHL) announced rosters for the 2019 All-Star tournament starting on January 26. Fans voted for star players from each team to make up four All-Star teams: Pacific, Central, Atlantic, and Metropolitan. They will compete in a three-on-three single-elimination tournament.
Ladies, here is why you should watch the NHL All-Star game this weekend: the players are cute, the pace of the game is fast and exciting, and the players are cute (I know I am repeating myself, but check it out). I initially got into watching hockey because of my husband. I didn’t understand why he spent so much time watching it. Then he told me something profound: sports are soap operas for men. Once I got into the game, I realized he was right.
There are dramas, conflicts, disappointments, heartbreaks, betrayal, possible Russian interference, inspiration, and triumph. All are wrapped in hockey on and off the ice.
I will start with my hometown team, the Colorado Avalanche. 2017 was a tough year for the Avs. They were the worst team in the NHL. Our star player and the highest-paid Av, Matt Duchene, wanted to move to a better team that could earn him a Stanley Cup ring.
Rumors swirled for a long time about what was going to happen. The lack of focus and team cohesiveness was obvious on ice. The Avs suffered one humiliating loss after another, and Avs games became painful to watch.
Then on November 5,2017, General Manager Joe Sakic pulled the trigger. Duchene was pulled from the ice in the middle of a game against the New York Islanders. Avs fans didn’t know what had happened and awaited his return to ice. Avs management waited until intermission to report that they completed a three-way trade with the Nashville Predators and the Ottawa Senators. Duchene was traded to the Senators and a Senator player, Kyle Turris, to the Predators. In return, the Avs got seven new players.
At the time of the trade, the Senators was a much better team than the Avs and the Predators. But what a difference a year makes. These three teams’ fortune turned different ways after the trade. The Avs made a historic comeback in 2018, and played against the Predators in the first round of the playoffs. Now the Avs boast the best line in the NHL: Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Gabriel Landeskog. All three players will appear in the All-Star game.
The Senators, on the other hand, finished the 2018 season as the second-worst team in the league.
