Hockey lovers do not be afraid! This Friday the 13th portends the best of luck with the inaugural home game of the Missouri Mavericks, at the Independence Events Center. Once a game of frozen tundras, it is played in leagues around the U.S. What do you know about professional hockey?
True or false
1. Canada produces the most professional players.
2. Goalies wear about 30 pounds of equipment.
3. Pucks hurt.
The Pla-Mors were Kansas City’s first professional hockey team established in 1927. They were followed by several other teams, most recently the Kansas City Blades. Despite the stops and starts of professional hockey in Kansas City, there has been a growing community of ‘rink rats’ and youth hockey teams. With the IEP, they now have another practice and game facility. The Mid America High School Hockey League (www.mahshl.org), formed from teams across four states, will begin play at the IEP later this Fall. For skaters looking for great exercise, the community rink will surely be a draw.
When the Mavs take the ice on Friday night they will be greeted by 5,800 new fans in a sparkling venue.
The fans will get a large dose of hockey Canadian-style. Of the 19 players on the Mavs roster, 15 hail from the birthplace of the NHL, Canada, including coach Scott Hillman. Canada is hockey madness, a crazed society which produces more professional players than any other country. Forget Monday Night Football. The national pastime north of the border is Hockey Night In Canada, or Hockey Night or Saturday Night Hockey-“Are you ready for some…hockey?” Yes we are!
Rodney Dangerfield said, “I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out!” At once beautiful and brutal, it is a game of speed, power and athleticism. The puck is 5.5-6 ounces of vulcanized rubber, 1 inch thick and 3 inches in diameter. Hit by a pro, it can travel over 110 miles per hour. This was not lost on the four dentists famed in, “Four out of five dentists recommend hockey!” In 1959, goalie Jacques Plante was the first to regularly don a mask after a wicked facial laceration left him looking like Frankenstein. He was ridiculed and his manhood questioned, even by his own coach! However, his wisdom prevailed and now professional goalies wear over 50 pounds of protective equipment.
In the north, March begins the fight to the Frozen Four, the national championship showcase for NCAA Division I hockey. For those of us nestled between Lawrence and Columbia, March means a different madness –basketball. If we are Friday-the-13th lucky, March will see our Mavs in the hunt for a playoff spot. Spring in Big 12 country just got even more interesting.
Answers
1. T 2. F 3. T
