If you’re a NHL fan, now is the time of year you’re either depressed because you know your team isn’t going to make the playoffs, destroying your fingernails through biting them hoping your team makes it or it’s the time where you’re trash talking saying your team will win it all because they’ve already clinched.
If you’re in the first group, I have a little pick-me-up for you. Trust me, as a Capitals fan, I know what it feels like to need something to cheer me up.
Sometimes in anger, it’s easy for one to forget how truly amazing the world of hockey is, but never fear. I have just the thing if you’re down and have the hockey blues.
Recently, Kings’ goaltender Jonathan Quick made a surprise visit to one of his biggest fans, Daniel Clark Bouchard on The Ellen Show. The 14-year-old piano prodigy is a huge Quick fan so Ellen, being the awesome person she is, invited the former Stanley Cup goaltender to the show. Quick presented Bouchard with a signed stick and jersey. Dawwww. Melts our little hearts.
In 2014, the NHL became the first professional sports league in which every team supported gay rights. This news was huge and showed how hockey really is a family, no matter your sexual orientation. It was definitely a step in the right direction for the league. If you can play, you can play.
How incredible was the career of Mike Modano? He will always be known as one of, if not the BEST American hockey player ever. On March 8, the Stars raised the banner for Modano’s jersey retirement. WATER WORKS! At first, it’s because you’re sad that Modano will never play again, but then it’s happy tears because you think back on how EPIC his career was. Seeing Modano himself shedding tears definitely didn’t help the tears not come out. Whew. All you can think is – respect!
The San Jose Sharks did the AMAZING March 19. They signed Sam Tageson to the Sharks’ roster for a day. Tageson is a 17-year-old who was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, and a true Sharks fan. It just so happened that the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the San Jose Sharks made it possible for Tageson to spend a day surrounded by the players, team and arena that he loves. The video doesn’t even need an introduction, just a warning. GRAB TISSUES.
Now, these are just a few videos to show you why no matter how the season ends up for your team, hockey is still the best sport in the world. What moment do you think was the most inspiring this NHL season?
