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Thursday, December 30, 2010

Puck Drop: The First Post

        This is my first post for my new blog, which will be centered around the Anaheim Ducks. I will recap every game, starting with this Friday's game against the Flyers, as well as my commentary on player performances, plays of the night, and any other Duck related news that arises over the course of the remaining season. Before the upcoming game on December 31st, I think I should let everyone know a little bit about myself, and where my passion for the Ducks and hockey in general has come from.
        I am not your prototypical hockey fan. I am from Long Beach, California originally, but moved with my parents to Portland when I was 8 years old. The only exposure I had to hockey growing up was floor hockey in gym class, which I was terrible in, and "The Mighty Ducks" movie series. I wanted to be Charlie Conway so bad. My parents even bought me roller blades and a cheap, plastic hockey stick one year for Christmas. Unfortunately, rollerblading on a dirt driveway does not work very well, and with the nearest ice rink thirty minutes away, my dreams of triple deke-ing on a breakaway died pretty quickly.
         My first real experience with the NHL didn't come until high school, where I made friends with a guy from Edmonton. He was naturally a huge Oiler fan, and didn't really care much about anything other than whether or not the Oilers were playing well or not. I could tell every single day whether or not the Oilers had won the previous night or not. John would be in English class on time with a smile on his face the day after the Oilers had won a game. He was at least five minutes late, had forgotten his homework, and looked like he had been run over by a car on the way to school on a day after the Oilers had lost. I don't think I have ever met someone who's entire demeanor is based completely on a hockey team. Needless to say, he's practically depressed these days. John bought the NHL center ice package the year after the lockout for the 05-06 season, and he and I would watch games together after school. It didn't take me very long to get addicted the the speed and excitement of the NHL. The competitiveness of the players and the amount of skill it takes to be a great hockey player still amazes me.
        It took me a little bit to fall in love with a team, and honestly, the first thing that drew me to the Mighty Ducks was that John passionately hates them. He would talk about how expansion teams don't even deserve to exist, and that a team in California based on a Disney movie is an insult to the sport. As a native Californian and American, I took some exception to his hardcore Canadian opinions, and began cheering for the Ducks. Although I was becoming a big Ducks fan, a piece of me still hoped the Oilers would do well, mostly because John was a good friend of mine. The mid-season addition of Chris Pronger was huge for Edmonton, and he became my favorite player quickly. He was huge, tough, and nasty. Essentially everything I am not, and I loved watching him play. I followed along through the playoffs on the edge of my seat every night on TV, through Bryzlgalov's heroics against Calgary and Colorado, and the eventual fall to John's Oilers. When the offseason news hit that Chris Pronger had been traded to the Ducks, it was all over. I was officially a hockey fan, and more so, I was an Anaheim Ducks fan.
        I will not pretend to be an extremely knowledgeable hockey historian. I wasn't around for the dark days of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, and outside of last season, didn't know how horrible it is to have your team not playing in April. My blood doesn't boil when I hear the name Paul Kariya. But that does not make me less of a fan of the team now,  and I consider myself to be a smart hockey viewer. I want to provide somewhat of an outside point of view about the Ducks. Most Ducks fans are based in California, and I hope my opinions from up North are different and insightful. I am looking forward to recapping games, and providing my two cents on what the Ducks are doing right, and much more likely, what they are doing wrong and the things they can do to fix it. Thank you for checking out my new Ducks blog, and let's go Ducks!
        

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