Well this has been a long time. And by long, I mean loooooooooooooooooooong. Basically, I think I have been spending the last two years getting over a rough break up with my favorite hockey team. However, since sometime in December, we've reconnected, we're going to therapy (i.e. the Stanley Cup Playoffs), and I think this time we'll make it through. After all, it is considered a truth universally acknowledged that hockey is a relationship status.
Unfortunately for my serious writing ambitions, I have missed out on the call to write this sort of stuff and get paid for it. Apparently, if I wanted to do that, I need less sass and more stats. Yeah, that's just not me. That's not what sports are to me. I'm not a numbers sort of girl. This does not mean that I am not completely capable of telling you what my favorite players goals per game average is (not the best he's ever done at 0.75, but I feel a change in fortune for the better on the horizon). Instead, it means that I watch and follow sports with my heart. As an INTJ, that particular organ might be a little under utilized, but not at this time of year. In fact, it's been stressed since December...relationships can do that to you.
My love of hockey goes back to my childhood when my dad would get tickets to our local AHL team, and I'd get super excited about fights. Flash forward fifteen years, and if not for the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs, my best friend and I might not still be friends. Foolishly, I made a bargain that should the Penguins come back from an 0-2 series deficit to the Detroit Red Wings, I would not murmur a complaint about the bridesmaid dress (melon orange with watermelon pink sash and bow) until after the big day. On a plus side, my passion for hockey was rekindled to a fever pitch that simply hasn't abated in the last seven years. Granted, after the whole dust up that saw Dan Bylsma fired (which I largely attribute to one too many egos in a locker room and a bit of a temper tantrum by my team's captain), and a loss of cable, my relationship hit the skids. Because of my unabating love for a certain Russian, helped by my affection for a Finn and a goofy Canadian goalie, I never fully broke up. Not to say it wasn't a bit of a toxic relationship, if a bit one sided. I even made the drastic move last play off season to remove the Pens App from my front page on my phone.
I am certain I am not the only Pens fan to fall on hard times. Just about every single person in the organization has been the chosen whipping boy for the team. Some blame players, owners, and/or coaches. In the end, it was the coach who paid.
Fast forward again, and I think we can all safely say that it was the right time, and the right man has come in for the job. There is resiliency to this team that has been sorely lacking since we blew that series lead against Tampa all the way back in 2011. Not this time, I tell myself, never again. I am with my Penguins, to the end of the line. Forget that, I'm with them until death do us part.
Now, if you want stats, feel free to go read Dejan Kovacevic. I know when I want a more logical fix on the game, that's where I head. If you want to, instead, be amused by what might come next from me, then wait around. There's another therapy session scheduled for tomorrow night.
