Why Not Us?

Throwback to 2010.
(Photo by Sabrina Thurlow)

I am a hockey fan.

Given that I am Canadian, and even more that I am my father's daughter, this is probably not a surprise. I think it also has to do with the fact that I've played ringette for years, and though they're very different sports they also have a lot of similarities.

My dad has been a fan of the Chicago Blackhawks since he was a kid. (His favourite player was Stan Mikita.) Here in Nova Scotia it was hard to find Hawks goodies to give him as gifts. Somehow we managed to find stuff though, and when he was working his office was full of Blackhawks memorabilia. He even had a Blackhawks tie. (I bought that on Ebay.) For a long time Dad took a lot of flack for being a Hawks fan. When they won the Stanley Cup in 2010 I cried, I was that excited for my Dad. I think that's when I really adopted them as "my" team too. (Yup, I'm a bandwagon jumper.) When they won again in 2013 we were all ridiculously excited.


My dad with the Stanley Cup in 2013.
Isn't he the cutest?


My brother is a lot of things, but a sports fan isn't one of them. So when Dad discovered J was a hockey fan he was pretty excited. Even if J's favourite team is the Colarado Avalanche. After Dad retired he started his own small business selling sports cards. (Primarily hockey.) Every year he gives J a couple Joe Sakic hockey cards for Christmas. And a couple years ago for Christmas he gave him a Sakic jersey. J was so excited when he opened that gift!

 

J has taken some flack for his choice of NHL team too. The Avalanche weren't a very popular team around here either. It was even harder to find Colarado memorabilia to give him as gifts. That all changed when Nathan MacKinnon, a local boy, was drafted first overall by the Avalanche in the last NHL draft. Now I can't find any memorabilia because it's all sold out!

 

Tonight I'm sitting on the couch watching the Avalanche take on the Minnesota Wild in the Stanley Cup play-offs and I couldn't be more excited. For the first time in a long time my husband's team has a chance to go all the way. He's like a little kid, and I love it. I think, for the rest of this season, I'll be an Avs fan too. (And it's not just because my Hawks are losing...)

 

Are you watching the Stanley Cup play-offs? Who are you rooting for?

 

xo,

Sara