That what 5+ years in Alberta will do to you. Oh well, you gotta to love the underdog, especially when they knocked off the top team in the league. Not since the days of The Great One has Edmonton had a chance to hoist Lord Stanley's Cup.
Don't have a clue what I'm talking about? Then let me introduce you to the fastest game in the world as played on the best ice in the world. Warning: video contains atrocious Canadian hoser rock.
Learn more about the Edmonton Oilers trip to the Stanley Cup Finals.
I have always found it interesting that hockey seems to be the only sport that has no apparent rules about the players fighting in the middle of a match. In most sports, fights are immediately broken up by the referees or the coaches and other playes (excpet in the major brawls in which everyone gets involved). These fights would also result in immediate ejection and suspension from the next several matches.
ReplyDeleteI've often joked that hockey referees are trained to know both the rules of hockey and of boxing, so that they are then qualified to call the boxing matches that inevitably break out mid-match.
Hence the joke: I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out.
ReplyDeletePlayers who fight in hockey do get penalized, but if they both fight it usually means a 4 on 4. I think the reason it's tolerated is that you can't throw a really hard punch from ice skates. The refs just wait until the players fall to the ice and then break it up.
I've also learned from real hockey fans (which I am not) that the fighting is there to enforce justice for players. It's their own way of "leveling things off." If a star player is mistreated by one of the opposing players, that the "enforcer" or equalizer(the fighter or goon) will seek revenge and pick a fight. The alternative, if there's no fighting, would be worse - slashes, high sticking, etc. That'd be ugly.
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