Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Hockey Orphan

Imagine, if you will, a whole new hockey world. All of your bitter memories of third period collapses, heartbreaking multiple overtime losses and cheap, career-ruining hits evaporate into the sky. Those July days of hoping your team will land that year's top free agent and those tense trade deadline deals burn into the atmosphere like smoke.

To bring it further, put yourself into the shoes of a brand new hockey fan with no NHL franchise nearby. Maybe this person lives in Kansas City but could never love a St. Louis team. Maybe they live in Nebraska or Wyoming or some other godforsaken hellhole.

Whatever the case may be, my goal is to explore the question: "If everything started all over again ... if everything was completely even ... which team would you follow and/or root for?"

Is there a true answer? My gut instinct is to say, "no" but that does not necessarily make it so. But it should be a fun journey into what makes us hockey fans.

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