Na na, hey hey, good-bye

I really don't care much for hockey. I might have mentioned this before, after 1,300+ blog posts the subject matter I've written about tends to blur a bit, but I figured it was worth pointing out again as the play-offs are on.

I have no idea why, really. I like sports. I like lots of different sports, but hockey has never done it for me. I tended to follow it when I was a kid because that's what you do when you a boy in elementary school. You don't give the pack a sign of weakness at that age, and saying you don't like hockey is like coming to school wearing glasses, braces and wearing a pink shirt. You just know there's a beating coming at some point.

But I never did care much for it. Ours was not a hockey crazy family by any stretch. I'm not sure if anybody in our family has even laced up a pair of skates to play a game. Different people rooted half-heartedly for different teams. I know there are Leafs, Bruins, Blackhawk and Red Wings fans in the horde (oh, and has the Red Wing fan been unbearable lo these many years). But we were all united in one thing, though. We all hated the Canadiens. So while I might not have inherited a team to cheer for (I'm a very weak Leafs fan), or a sport to care passionately about, I did inherit a team to hate. It really didn't matter who won the Cup, as long as the Canadiens lost.

So essentially my Stanley Cup play-offs ended this evening. I didn't watch the game, I was busy, but I do enjoy this story. The Habs went out in four, which is fine and amusing for me. But that Michael Ryder did a nice chunk of the damage is what makes it glorious and causes me to actually pay attention to hockey for more than 30 seconds.

Ryder, as I recall, was treated abysmally when he was with the Canadiens last year. I was glad when he left in the off-season because Ryder playing with the Canadiens was always a minor headache for me. You want to cheer for the Newfoundland boy doing well in the big leagues, but did it have to be for that team?

But he left, went to a team that finished first in their conference and just put the screws to Canadiens by scoring four goals in the series, including two in the final game.

Plus the anguished cries of Habs fans on Facebook this evening are like a balm to my blackened, twisted soul.

So now I can go back to ignoring hockey again. Which is nice. Wake me up in about six weeks or so when all of this foolishness is over and let me know who wins, all right?

Last Five
1. Miniature parade - Bob Mould
2. We shall overcome (live) - Bruce Springsteen
3. Lonely people - Hawksley Workman*
4. A man/Me/Then Jim - Rilo Kiley
5. Pomegranate daffodil - Hawksley Workman