Having spent all of my middle school and high school years living near Philadelphia, I thought I knew what hockey fans were all about. The Philadelphia Flyers sell out almost every home game, and they have enjoyed a large following ever since the Broad Street Bully era of the 1970s. In a matter of days, however, everything I thought I knew about hockey fans changed.
Over my junior year spring break in high school, I went on a school trip to Quebec City. Besides the amount of snow on the ground (many houses in Quebec have doors on the second floor because the first story is often buried under piles of snow), the first thing I noticed was the love Canadians have for hockey. When I turned on TSN the equivalent of ESPN in Canada 80 percent of its content was about hockey, from the NHL to the CHL to junior hockey leagues to European hockey leagues. When I opened up a Quebecois newspaper, such as The Gazette or La Presse, 8.5 pages out of 10 in the sports section would be about hockey. Everywhere I went, people young and old were dressed in Montreal Canadiens apparel and I wasn't even in Montreal.
That trip made me realize how passionate people can get over hockey (as a side note, I was secretly rooting for Team Canada in the men's hockey gold-medal game last year at the Winter Olympics. If Team USA won that game, I was afraid that Canadians would burn down Vancouver). From that point on, I have been paying more attention to hockey and learning its nuances.
Dartmouth has always had a great ice hockey tradition. The Big Green men's hockey team has won the Ivy League title 15 times and the women have done it eight times. Despite their success, Thompson Arena is barely half-full at many of their home games. If you have never gone to a Dartmouth hockey game or maybe you have never watched hockey in your life you should definitely give it a shot. For this week's top 10, I present to you the top-10 reasons to attend a Dartmouth men's or women's ice hockey game.
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Both teams are doing very well this season The men's team is ranked number 18 in the nation with an 8-4-2 record in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference. It is currently tied for fourth place in the conference and is only four points off the lead. The women's team boasts a 10-6-0 conference record and is in sole possession of third place. Both teams will likely make the conference playoffs.
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Thompson Arena is not as far away as you think This past weekend, I timed myself walking from the Green to the Arena for a men's hockey game. It took me under 10 minutes and my hands were still warm when I got there.
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Referee heckling All college hockey referees wear their names on the back of their uniforms. So the next time they make a bad call against Dartmouth, you can personally let them know how you feel. (But please use some discretion, there are many young children at these games.)
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Catch a glimpse of potential NHL and national team members T.J. Galiardi '10, Sarah Parsons '10, David Jones '08, Gillian Apps '06, Cherie Piper '06, Lee Stempniak '05, Gretchen Ulion '94 and Carey Wilson '83 are all former Dartmouth players. Who knows who will be next?
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Throw tennis balls onto the ice Following an annual tradition, Dartmouth students throw tennis balls onto the ice when the Big Green men's hockey team scores its first goal against rival Princeton University at home. So mark it down on your calendars the game is set for Saturday, Feb. 12 at 4 p.m.
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Cool uniforms Dartmouth hockey has great throwback uniforms, featuring a white sweater, green lettering, green shorts and stripes that go around the waist and down the sleeves. Hands down, one of the best-looking hockey uniforms around.
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Continuous action In hockey, there is rarely any stoppage in play except intermissions. There are no 30-second huddles or 15-second delays between pitches. It is non-stop action from one end of the ice to the other. By the way, each team only has one timeout per game, unlike the 300 that basketball teams seemingly use at the end of every game.
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Free t-shirts/burritos/pizza On the rare occasions when there is a stoppage of play, you can get all kinds of free stuff.
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The games are free for all students Free is always good, eh?
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You'll have something to talk about with that cute Canadian in your 10A. You are welcome.
