My first post about hockey

The 2010 hockey season has come and gone and the Chicago Blackhawks are the Stanley Cup winners. Hooray. Life = changed.

Ok, so I think it's obvious I still don't have a lot invested in America's fourth most popular sport but since a good friend of mine is a big Philadelphia Flyers fan I feel compelled to at least mention the last game of the their series today. The Flyers lost it in overtime by the score of 4-3. Tragic really, when you get so close to winning it all and falling just short, I almost feel like I would rather my team not even make the championship round just to spare the pain of possibly losing it. I have been fortunate enough then that all my favorite teams haven't been anywhere close to the playoffs since the Kings made it in 04, to lose in the first round.

Back to hockey though. Like I said in an earlier post I am interested in becoming a bigger fan of the sport but felt that the Stanley Cup was a bad time to pick a team to root for. I don't want to be a bandwagon fan but it seems like it would be hard to avoid jumping on some bandwagon at this point. There are no professional teams in Sacramento, San Jose is the closest and I'm not overly anxious to start supporting the Sharks. I hate any professional franchise from L.A. so the Kings are out of the question. The Mighty Ducks are out too because their baseball brother, the Angels beat my Giants in the 02 world series, so they can go to hell.

So California teams are pretty much out. I don't want to pick the Flyers or Blackhawks because they were both just in the championship round. The Penguins could be a good pick because of Sidney Crosby, I don't even follow the sport and I know how important of a player he is. Helping to revitalize the game and draw in new fans. But I'll probably pass on the Penguins too, which leaves another 20 some odd teams left.

I want a team with history, a non-expansion team for sure. Maybe the Detroit Red Wings? According to Wikipedia, they've been around since 1926, that's a pretty good amount of time. Maybe the Toronto Maple Leafs? They've been around since 1917, is it time for me to like a team from a different country? One so foreign and strange to ours I wouldn't even recognize the names or traditions of the team?

Ok, lets stick with the different country team, but try a different team. Just checked the standing from this last season and Toronto was dead last in it's conference. I don't want to jump on a bandwagon but enough of my teams suck to include one more. The Montreal Canadiens? I'm thinking just maybe. Part of the original 6 teams that formed the NHL and they've won 24 Stanley Cups in their history. Not too bad. That does sort of liken them to the Yankees though...and I dislike the Yankees...or really just franchises that have pretty much always been good.

A tough decision indeed. More research is needed. If anyone reads this and has an opinion and would like to tell me why they think I should like their hockey team please leave comments doing so! There should also be a poll question as to which team I should like. So vote.

So for now I am undecided. An important decision awaits, and soon I will reveal the answer.

Up Next...My answer or is Tim Lincecum done for?