In the Crease: Discovering a love and passion for a new sport

Hello new friend.

My name is Drew and I am, as of about two weeks ago, a hockey fan now.

Some of you have probably been following along on Twitter or listened to this episode of the DNVR Avalanche Podcast, but for those who haven’t, I cover the Colorado Rockies baseball team here and our nation’s past time will always be my first love.

I am a Colorado native who grew up during the golden age for both football and hockey in the state. As a kid, I cheered for John Elway, Dikembe Mutumbo, Todd Helton, Larry Walker, and even Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg.

I’m not sure I could pinpoint why exactly I never grew an affinity toward hockey. I played all the other sports but never felt the need to strap on a pair of skates. When I eventually tried this out in college, the results were disastrous.

I didn’t understand the game. In many ways, I still don’t.

But when it was on TV (usually during the playoffs) I would watch and cheer and usually get lost unless they had that little blue highlight on the puck that I know true hockey fans hate.

As the years went by, my only interaction with the sport was to marvel at the highlights shown on national spotlight programs while conceding that I would likely just never find my way into caring for the game.

Then I came to work at DNVR.

The passion and knowledge shown not only by AJ Haefele, Nathan Rudolph, Andi Duroux and Evan Rawal but you, the consumer of their work, has floored me.

For a few years, I kept saying I would try to find a way to get into hockey since so many people near me loved it so much. And for a few years… it just didn’t happen.

Then several weeks ago on THE Denver Sports Podcast, Haefele laid out his expectations for the 2019 Colorado Avalanche and it was clear that the time was now or never.

And so I come to you with open eyes, an open mind, and an open heart. I want to learn about your sport, your team, your league. Your passion.

I also hope that anyone else who is either jumping into hockey for the first time in years – or maybe the first time ever – will join us and learn about the game right alongside me. It can be scary and intimidating to dive into something new and gatekeeping is a sad part of many fun communities but Avs fans have been extraordinarily welcoming and there is plenty of room on the bandwagon.

Also, you won’t be the least knowledgeable person talking Avs. I will wear that crown proudly.

One thing I thought might be helpful and/or fun to do throughout the season is to provide semi-regular updates on what I am learning and how I am enjoying discovering something new to love.

Since hockey appears to have an affinity for the number three the way baseball does for the number nine, let me share with you three takeaways from my first experiences watching full hockey games as an adult.

One-Timer – 3-on-3 overtime is a gift from the gods

The only barrier to my enjoyment of the game that I was ever able to specify was a feeling that there was just too much chaos in hockey. From a personal standpoint, that made it hard to tell what was going on. But from an analysis standpoint, it just felt to me like too much of what happened on the ice was random or involved high degrees of luck.

(Good time to remember I cover a sport with so much random variance that they have to play 162 games because the worst teams in MLB are still gonna win 60.)

Not only does 3-on-3 overtime cut through all of that and make it painfully obvious how insanely talented these guys are, but it also helps to understand why they don’t just play the game like that all the time.

Sure, it’s a bit more satisfying for me to see more control exerted over what happens to the puck but I’ve learned that all the messiness and chaos in 5-on-5 is the result of something that is being purposefully done as well.

It’s called defense.

Oddly enough, as exciting as it is to watch the 3-on-3 overtime, easily the most exhilarating moments in all my weeks of hockey watching, seeing how the game plays when it opens up helped me to appreciate the poetry in the madness of the rest of the game.

Still not sure I can vibe with sudden death. Losing to the Panthers after like 17 seconds (it was 29) of overtime left all that adrenaline to seep out softly into nothingness with nowhere to go. But it boosts the tension even more.

Either way, hockey has the best overtime in sports.

Secondary Assist – Saucer pass/Gordie Howe Hat Trick/Spinny Goal

Trying to pick up on some of the terminology, I am also inclined to create my own.

At one of our DNVR Watch Parties, a few Avs fans were kind enough to explain to me what a saucer pass is, and how one might put some “sauce” on it. I also learned about the Gordie Howe hat trick as we searched for a hockey equivalent of hitting for the cycle in baseball.

Come to think of it, I should probably learn what “the crease” is.

These are the kind of nuances and histories that I am just looking to gobble up and place right next to my infantile understanding of concepts like the spinny goal.

So far, spinny goals are my favorite and they are nowhere near as common as I’d like them to be.

In my first few viewings, Andre Burakovsky – who I have adopted as my favorite player – and Nikita Zadorov (yes, I had to look up how to spell both those names) provided me with some spectacular spinny goals and I would like to see more, please.

I can appreciate Nathan MacKinnon sniping from a distance and am quickly falling head over heels for Cale Makar’s combo of speed and power, but give me a spinny goal any day. Spinny assists are also acceptable.

Please feel free to comment below or hit me up on Twitter (@DrewCreasman) with videos or gifs of your favorite spinny goals over the years knowing that I probably have not seen them.

Hat Trick – This is going to be fun

For this inaugural edition of In the Crease, my third observation will be simply that this is going to be one hell of a ride.

I haven’t been watching hockey long but I’ve learned just enough to know that I haven’t seen a normal hockey game yet.

Is their “normal” hockey?

Let’s find out.

I will be attending my first ever NHL game at some point this season and would very much like to see as many of you there as possible. If you can make it out to our watch parties, that’s even better. The next one is tonight at 6:30 p.m. at The Pioneer.

Until then… let’s do that hockey!