Last year I wrote a blog about watching the current Avalanche team through the eyes of my young children. I see them selecting which players are their favorites and watch them discovering a love for hockey. I was reminded last weekend of why I enjoy the game so much and why it is important to have a favorite player and team. I grew up in a house with a father who watched a lot of sports. He enjoyed watching any sport on television but his passion was to see his favorite teams in person. He had season tickets for college and professional teams wherever we lived in the country, and we moved a lot. I wanted to spend as much time with my father as possible, so I attended many games with him.
One of my earliest memories of those adventures was a trip to Madison Square Garden to see the New York Rangers play in 1968. All the Rangers games I had seen were on a little black and white television. Back then people dressed up to go to sporting events. My father wore a suit and tie and I had my Sunday church clothes on. I am from a large Irish family, so it was a big deal when I was selected to go to the game. My many brothers, sisters and cousins were jealous as I rubbed it in for weeks that I was going to see the Rangers play in New York City. We rode the train in from Long Island to Penn Station. There was just one entrance into MSG. At that age it was overwhelming trying to make my way into the arena with swarms of people also trying to get through the doors. Holding my hand, my father led me inside the arena. I was almost knocked over by the sights and sounds. I looked around and soaked it all in. The bright whiteness of the ice, the different colors of seats, the scoreboard and thousands of people excited to be in the building. Then the teams came on the ice and I was awestruck by the colors. Having only seen the Rangers in black and white, I was bowled over by how wonderful the uniforms looked. It was a life changing moment.
I watched the game with intensity and decided that Eddie Giacomin, the goalie, was my favorite player. I was fascinated by the equipment and the way he would sprawl on the ice to make save after save. The game moved along in a blur to me, but I will always remember the special feeling of walking in with my father, falling in love with hockey and deciding which player to emulate. I knew that I wanted to play hockey and be around the game for the rest of my life. The next day before our daily street hockey game I taped magazines to my legs, cut out cardboard with eye and mouth holes for a mask and put on my baseball glove. We didn’t have any fancy hockey equipment or nets. We would put two rocks six feet apart in the street for goals, use whatever old wooden hockey sticks we could find and with a tennis ball for a puck we would play for hours.
Now when I play street hockey with my children and their friends it brings me back to a time of innocence and happiness. I love hearing them call out what players they will imitate and while the kids get to use fancy new nets and the latest in street hockey sticks it is nothing but pure joy when they play. Madison Square Garden will always have a special place in my heart where my father and I were able to spend precious time together and I had a chance to find out that sports are more than games. It is a way for two people to connect and have a bond that lasts forever.
