I used to have a friend who told me he played hockey for Harvard and was in the hockey scenes from Love Story (for those of you under 40, that’s a movie). I thought he was pulling my leg and told him so. He asked me why I thought it wasn’t true. “Because you have all of your teeth!” He laughed and pulled out a partial plate, then regaled me with hockey tales the rest of the evening.
Hockey can be a violent sport. But so can football, soccer, and even badminton. There’s a lot more to it than checks and fights. It involves a lot of strategy and an athleticism of the highest caliber. Those are a couple of the reasons that hockey gains in popularity every year in the US. Where it once was a sport mostly confined to the Northeast, commercial rinks have given rise to teams in such hotspots (literally) as Anaheim, CA and Houston, TX.
Most people are familiar with the National Hockey League and such names as Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzsky, Bobby Orr, and Gordie Howe. But do you know who Andrew Raycroft, Sidney Grosby, or Tony Amonte is? These are the Gretzskys of tomorrow, currently playing in the AHL. The AHL (American Hockey League) feeds to the NHL.
For a limited time, RBK Hockey is offering two free tickets to selected games. All you have to do is register on their site, login to their community forum, and select the night you want to go! Unfortunately for me, the closest team isn’t really close at all. But if one of the sixteen franchises are near you, this is a great opportunity to get your whole youth group, Scouting organization, soccer team, or homeschool co-op to an activity for no cost. Free is pretty difficult to beat!