Girls Can Now Create Characters in NHL ’12

Posted: September 13, 2011 in Uncategorized
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[For those who  missed it, read the article  from Yahoo! Sports.]

Typically, my interest in hockey lies in REAL hockey–the kind played by athletes on real ice, with real sticks, real pucks, and real stakes.  But this particular article caught my eye and I’ll tell you why.

You see, I have an 11 year old daughter who loves hockey and wants to play hockey.  She wants to be a goalie.  Unfortunately, we live in southern Arizona, where even mentioning hockey as a sport causes people to look down their noses at you.  We simply don’t “do” ice here.     If I could, I would move to Phoenix so she could play ice hockey.  If I could, I would make it really cold here–so cold that our backyard would stay iced over–and I would build her an outdoor rink just like Gretzy’s dad did.  But I can’t.  So my daughter does what she can to live some part of her dream–she dons her inline skates and practices her moves on my back patio.    Sometimes it makes me smile, because I think of Sidney Crosby and his dryer stories.  After all, if concrete was good enough for Sid, then maybe it’s good enough for my little girl.  But most of the time, it just makes me sad.

How does this little story about my daughter relate to the story of a videogame?  It’s simple, really.  Young girls (and women) can’t always live out their dreams in real life.  Sometimes, they have to make do with what the world offers them.   This 14 year old girl named Lexi plays hockey, both real and in a videogame.  But while her brother was able to create a character that looked just like him when he played NHL, Lexi could not.  So she wrote a letter to EA Sports and asked to be given the ability to enjoy the game as a girl.

EA Sports responded to Lexi’s request and the new edition, NHL 12, now offers the option of creating female characters.  I say “hooray!”  However, I noticed a lot of negative commentary, particularly from men, but surprisingly from a number of women.  So now I’m wondering, why is it so wrong for our daughters to want validation of the importance of their gender??  Does the fact that women are not afforded opportunities to play in the NHL also mean that we don’t deserve to be represented in anything related to hockey? 

Opinions anyone?

 

 

Coyotes Rookie Camp–Day One

Posted: September 11, 2011 in Uncategorized
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After a particularly long, hot Arizona summer I am really feeling the need for some hockey.  I have my tickets for the first home game October 15 against the Winnipeg Jets (ironic, huh?) and I am literally counting down the days.  So I KNOW that the season is coming.  But I have seriously been jonesing since….well, pretty much since the last second of the last game of the Stanley Cup series.   My withdrawal has been so bad, in fact, that I actually made the three hour trip from my home to Jobing.com arena for the sole purpose of watching the Coyotes rookies practice.   And you know what?  I’m really glad I made the trip.

As soon as the doors opened at the arena, I smelled it.  Cold air.  Really cold air.  The kind of cold air that makes normal  people want to turn away from it.  It smelled like hockey!  (I should clarify:  smelling like hockey and smelling like a hockey dressing room are two VERY different things! )

In the distance, I heard some of my favorite sounds:  pucks skipping off the boards and bouncing off the posts, ice being shaved as players pull up short at the net, that clacking sound  hockey sticks make when they hit the puck.  I don’t think you could have smacked the smile off my face.   It was like that first drag off a bummed cigarette–relaxing, intense, and so damn NEEDED! 

The plan had been to stay just long enough to see what the rookies were up to and then head across the street to shop at Cabela’s (there isn’t one anywhere in southern Arizona).  But when I sat down to watch I couldn’t leave.  Actually, it wasn’t that I couldn’t but that I just didn’t want to.  Besides the Coyotes Carnival two years ago, this was the first time I had ever been to the arena to see the team outside of a scheduled game.  And it was nice.  No annoying fans for the OTHER team to deal with, nobody constantly getting out of their seats in the middle of the game to go get another beer, and no pressure to win anything.  Just me and the guys.  And a number of other fans, but this isn’t really about them. =)

The practice itself wasn’t terribly exciting.  The jerseys didn’t have names on them, so even if you had a player you wanted to follow you couldn’t.  Except for one– Andy Miele.  At 5’9″, Andy was noticeably shorter than pretty much every other guy on the ice.  Which isn’t to say that he wasn’t also one of the fastest and most skilled.  But it was easy to pick him out of the group!

Of all the rookies there that day, I would’ve been interested in following Chris Summers around the most.   I’ve seen a number of his interviews and he just has such an engaging personality that I am rooting for him.  I’m sure he’s doing well with the San Antonio Rampage, but yeah…I’d like to see him get his chance up in the NHL.

All in all, it looked like the rookies were getting some good practice in and I did notice Dave Tippett making some notes on his clipboard.  Maybe that’s good news for some lucky rookie?  Regardless, hockey season is just about here and thanks to my little trip up north I might actually make it until then! 

Oh, the one thing that could’ve made the trip even better?  If Tyson Nash would’ve been there.  He rocks.  lol

I have some pictures that I will post later.  ‘Cause I know everyone is biting their nails in anticipation.  ;)

A Horrible Summer Comes to a Close

Posted: September 9, 2011 in Uncategorized
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As the first official post on The Hockey Hub, I would like to extend my sincere condolences to the friends and families of those who lost their lives in Wednesday’s plane crash, as well as to those left behind by Rick Rypien, Derek Boogaard, and Wade Belak.  It has truly been a horrible summer for the hockey family. 

May their legacies live on….