You always remember your first time. It doesn’t matter if it was good, great or even left something to be desired (very rare). You remember the way it feels. You reminisce about the excitement pumping through your veins. I’m talking about the first hockey game that you ever attended. Sometimes I really wonder about our readers around here.
Last weekend, one of my friends attended his first hockey game ever. He had listened to me talk about it ad nauseum—talking about how all he had to do is see one game IN PERSON and he’d be hooked. For years he resisted. Not really actively resisted—more of the passive resistance that said, “I don’t care enough to make the effort to see what I might be missing.” But when free tickets dropped into his lap from a friend, any effort (and excuses) disappeared and the scene was set.
Yep, he's now one of us...
You have probably heard a million stories and read just as many articles about people and their first experience at a game. They’ll talk about the smell of the ice or how much colder the arena was than they expected. They might talk about how many people were wearing jerseys and even how much everyone was “into” the game.
Think back to YOUR first game! Do you remember who was playing? Do you remember that FIRST feeling that you had when you saw a bodycheck? A goal when the arena went nuts? When you realized how DIFFERENT it is in person than it is on TV? If you were familiar with hockey on TV, were you amazed with how much better it was when you were there? How much faster it was? How much harder the hitting was?
Did you fall in love the very first time you went to a game? I did.
My first game was with my best friend and his family. They had season tickets so it was just like any other game for them. I was a huge sports fan, but I didn’t really know anything about hockey. It’s supposed to be like soccer, only with ice, sticks and skates, right? When we got to The Forum, I remember going down through the Whistle Stop and watching the visiting team step onto the ice. The game was so much faster, so much brighter, just so much MORE than I had ever imagined. I walked in as someone that couldn’t care less about hockey—and left as a Kings fan for life. After the game, we waited outside the Forum Club for autographs while wearing our puckheads. I think I still have that puckhead somewhere.
My Mom has told me her story more than a few times. She went with her brother back in the 80’s to see her first game. She got there late just before the 2nd period. When the 2nd period ended, they thought that was the end of the game. They didn’t know there were 3 periods. If she only knew what her son’s life had in store for her.
But how many times have you heard the story of the FRIEND that is going? When I heard that my friend was going, do you know how badly I wanted it to be a great game? I wanted great saves, huge hits, amazing goals, a fast pace and even a fight. I wanted it all—and I wanted it all wrapped up into in single game to validate everything I’d been claiming for the last few years. I was actually nervous that the game might turn into a boring, 2-1 game that was filled with a couple of flat teams, trapping and no flow at all. Hell, I even thought about the kind of crowd that was going to be at Staples Center! I just wanted it to be a great experience. I wanted the game to put its best foot forward. I wanted it to be ENTERTAINING.
Sooner or later, we all end up at this place...
I have a friend that went to his first game against the St. Louis Blues. Will he remember the 3 fights? What about the goal by the Bad Guys 14 seconds into the game? Would he remember the quality of play for 53 minutes that left a lot to be desired or the furious comeback in the last 7 minutes that came up 1 goal short? His answer: All of it. And it was AWESOME!
A million things have been written about someone’s very first game. But what about the person that is TAKING their friend to their first game? How badly do you want your friend to enjoy the game that you love?
I thought I was going to be the one that was going to teach my friend all of these things. But when he told me about how great it was to see how fast they skate and how hard they shoot—he was the one that was reminding ME how great the game is.
As much as I over thought my friend’s first visit to a hockey game, I forgot the most fundamental thing about hockey. It’s an amazing game. It sells itself. When you’re at one of your first games, there is no such thing as a boring game. I was over thinking it when I imagined the ideal game for my friend to see.
Since then, my friend has reminded me of something else as well. Once you go to a game, you can even appreciate it more on TV! You KNOW what it’s like there. You KNOW how hard a slap shot can be. You KNOW how hard that body check was and you know that buzz in the crowd that you can almost hear on TV. He didn’t really like watching hockey on TV before, but now he’s even setting his DVR so he doesn’t miss Kings games. Nothing could have made me prouder!
How happy are you when your friend asks you, “Wow, Getzlaf is going to play tonight? I thought he was on the IR?” Not only are you happy that they are keeping up, but you’re happy that they even know who Getzlaf is. Hey, you might even be happy that they know what the IR is!
I was reminded that hockey players need to always give their 100% effort, because they never know who might fall in love with hockey that night. For every jaded season ticket holder or hockey blogger, there’s someone there for their first game. Are they going to be bored or are they going to head down to the Box Office and buy tickets to the next game?
My friend has reminded me that when it comes down to it, hockey is just a game. A great, exciting, life changing game.
Matt Reitz is the Editor-In-Chief here at ViewFromMySeats.com and former NHL Writer for ProHockeyTalk on NBCSports. When he’s not shoving a mic in the face of NHLers or explaining why home teams should wear white, he’s usually trying to figure out what song to play next on his iPod. It’s a never-ending job.
