Jeremy Laura: Why I love hockey - one day at a time

Good to see ya back.

Times are changing and the sport will have to change with them. It still feels weird watching games without fans, but everything else in life is pretty weird now also, so I guess it's par for the new course.

It will be interesting to see what happens after this one-off Covid Cup bubble playoff is over. I expect a lot more weirdness in terms of how the next season is implemented.

Jeremy Laura: Why I love hockey - one day at a time
- Jeremy Laura

Welcome back.

Jeremy,

VERY happy to see you back. Whilst the world, and our sport, is changing, your blog hit the essence of who & what we are; a community who've survived through immeasurable strife.....TOGETHER.

You, my friend, are like the Pied Piper; the entity that guides us onward (nevermind how the actual story goes, ok ) with a beautiful break from reality. And you treat EACH of us with the utmost in dignity and respect. You, my friend, are a rare breed, and someone who holds untold value. Thank you for coming back.

My offer stands, brother. Any time.

Great to hear from you.

It's true that we have no way to know what things are going to look like in the near to medium term future. Next season for sure will be weird. Maybe a few more years after that.

Is it possible that some teams will have to close up shop? Or that the sport will see some contraction at the professional, collegiate, and/or amateur levels? For sure.

That said, all sports cycle through periods of greater or lesser popularity. Minor league baseball is going through serious contraction. Close to 1,000 golf courses have closed in the past decade. Football participation at the youth level has been declining for a long time now, especially given what we know about brain injuries, and eventually that's gotta make an impact at the pro level.

While certainly it would be sad to see the league contract or opportunities for young players get harder to come by, I don't think the sport itself is going to be put on life support anytime soon. Change is inevitable, but hockey will persist. Maybe not in exactly the same form we're all accustomed to, but it will persist. I've made peace with that.

Good to see ya back.

Times are changing and the sport will have to change with them. It still feels weird watching games without fans, but everything else in life is pretty weird now also, so I guess it's par for the new course.

It will be interesting to see what happens after this one-off Covid Cup bubble playoff is over. I expect a lot more weirdness in terms of how the next season is implemented.
- GalacticStone

Times are not changing. People are just getting more and more ignorant by the day.

Jeremy Laura: Why I love hockey - one day at a time
- Jeremy Laura

Glad to see you're back!

Good to see ya back.

Times are changing and the sport will have to change with them. It still feels weird watching games without fans, but everything else in life is pretty weird now also, so I guess it's par for the new course.

It will be interesting to see what happens after this one-off Covid Cup bubble playoff is over. I expect a lot more weirdness in terms of how the next season is implemented.
- GalacticStone

Thanks for chiming in. Yeah, the weirdest may be yet to come

Welcome back.
- gergeswillems

Thanks G. Your words hit me hard brother. Thanks

Jeremy,

VERY happy to see you back. Whilst the world, and our sport, is changing, your blog hit the essence of who & what we are; a community who've survived through immeasurable strife.....TOGETHER.

You, my friend, are like the Pied Piper; the entity that guides us onward (nevermind how the actual story goes, ok ) with a beautiful break from reality. And you treat EACH of us with the utmost in dignity and respect. You, my friend, are a rare breed, and someone who holds untold value. Thank you for coming back.

My offer stands, brother. Any time.
- mcmastermike1968

Man, you are a rare and awesome person! I’m definitely not one to guide, necessarily. But, I do love our sport and our community. I want to see us all get through, myself included. I am so grateful for everything MC

Great to hear from you.

It's true that we have no way to know what things are going to look like in the near to medium term future. Next season for sure will be weird. Maybe a few more years after that.

Is it possible that some teams will have to close up shop? Or that the sport will see some contraction at the professional, collegiate, and/or amateur levels? For sure.

That said, all sports cycle through periods of greater or lesser popularity. Minor league baseball is going through serious contraction. Close to 1,000 golf courses have closed in the past decade. Football participation at the youth level has been declining for a long time now, especially given what we know about brain injuries, and eventually that's gotta make an impact at the pro level.

While certainly it would be sad to see the league contract or opportunities for young players get harder to come by, I don't think the sport itself is going to be put on life support anytime soon. Change is inevitable, but hockey will persist. Maybe not in exactly the same form we're all accustomed to, but it will persist. I've made peace with that.
- Sven22

I’d not thought about youth football in a while. I had heard that there were a lot of parents worried though. The biggest holdup to hockey at that level is cost and access. In Canada they seem to have more “community” ice. In a lot of places in the US everything comes at a premium. Until the financials come out, I have no idea how the league will push ahead. The top earning teams pay out to the bottom teams as part of the ownership agreement. If only one or two teams had good “financials” this year, that could cause some serious hiccups. Glad to hear from you Sven!

Times are not changing. People are just getting more and more ignorant by the day.
- Feds91Stammer

More than anything, it is alarming to see one diverse opinion shatter relationships. Growing up, there was always a family member that was on opposing sides of pretty much everything. Somehow they got through it. Any more, it’s just scorched earth. It doesn’t feel “ok” to have differing opinions. That’s getting worse

Glad to see you're back!
- EdmHockeyMan

Thanks!! I missed all of you.

WELCOME BACK!!

I hope you missed us as much as we missed you! Thanks for coming back and putting your heart into this article!

As for the NHL, yes they need the fans, that is why they took a "softer" approach to honoring the BLM heroes........it still is too much for many of us though. I don't want to go into all this here and now. It is apparent that the NHL wishes to get a season over with, even at the expense of wearing out the players. The Isles and the Knights were weary in their first game into the CF and the scores showed it. Hopefully a better rested Isles team will be more competitive tonight.
Go Bolts!

WELCOME BACK!!

I hope you missed us as much as we missed you! Thanks for coming back and putting your heart into this article!
- HenryHockey

Thanks H2! Definitely missed everyone

Good to have you back

I guess you didn't play road hockey growing up. All we needed was a stick and a ball. We would use rocks for the posts of the "net" if nobody had a goal we could use.

Good to have you back

I guess you didn't play road hockey growing up. All we needed was a stick and a ball. We would use rocks for the posts of the "net" if nobody had a goal we could use.
- dcz28

Not much. And that works fine for just playing around. But anyone who wants to join league play, look out! My good friend got a sheet of “synthetic ice” to practice shooting during the summers. Mostly we played football, baseball, basketball and occasionally Cricket. We had apple trees, so we did a number on dad’s golf clubs when those started falling

I don’t write many comments but I do come to this site a lot specifically for your posts. It is really good to have you back! None of the other teams’ writers come close to the insights you bring. Hope to see more posts as we get close to the new season, no matter how weird it is! And no matter how bad the red wings may be now, I will always be a fan.

I dare say I was much better at street hockey than ice hockey. I could stick handle and shoot a "deadened" tennis ball better than most. We had a larger driveway than most the neighborhood kids and would spend hours in my backyard shooting on a cheap aluminum framed net. We had to take turns playing "goalie" with no protection. When someone took one in the privates, he didn't have to play there again that day! The goal was positioned in front of the metal garage doors and would sound out loudly on any shots that missed the net. It also knocked out most of the chalking in the corrugations, much to my father's displeasure. Aw the pleasures of youth!

Not much. And that works fine for just playing around. But anyone who wants to join league play, look out! My good friend got a sheet of “synthetic ice” to practice shooting during the summers. Mostly we played football, baseball, basketball and occasionally Cricket. We had apple trees, so we did a number on dad’s golf clubs when those started falling
- Jeremy Laura

Yeah it doesn't help with skating but was still fun. For skating in the winter we would skate on frozen farmer fields ice or we could just go to the arena after school for free skating (no pucks/sticks allowed just skating). We didn't have synthetic ice back then, i just used a piece of plexiglass to shoot pucks on a plywood with a net painted on it with 4 targets (one in each corner like the skill competition at the all star game).

I was one of those guys who would stay up and watch the Wings on the West Coast. Sometimes, the games might go off at 1am. I hadn't been to bed yet, but I would be starting work at 3am. Might get an hour and half nap before heading out. Wife thought I was crazy, but off to bed she would go, kids in bed, and me in my favorite time, watching the Wings and hockey.

I don’t write many comments but I do come to this site a lot specifically for your posts. It is really good to have you back! None of the other teams’ writers come close to the insights you bring. Hope to see more posts as we get close to the new season, no matter how weird it is! And no matter how bad the red wings may be now, I will always be a fan.
- slewis

Thanks so much! Yeah, now that the draft has been bumped up we’ve got some actual real timelines. Pretty exciting

I dare say I was much better at street hockey than ice hockey. I could stick handle and shoot a "deadened" tennis ball better than most. We had a larger driveway than most the neighborhood kids and would spend hours in my backyard shooting on a cheap aluminum framed net. We had to take turns playing "goalie" with no protection. When someone took one in the privates, he didn't have to play there again that day! The goal was positioned in front of the metal garage doors and would sound out loudly on any shots that missed the net. It also knocked out most of the chalking in the corrugations, much to my father's displeasure. Aw the pleasures of youth!
- HenryHockey

Slap shot tennis balls can do some damage!!! Thanks for sharing that!

Yeah it doesn't help with skating but was still fun. For skating in the winter we would skate on frozen farmer fields ice or we could just go to the arena after school for free skating (no pucks/sticks allowed just skating). We didn't have synthetic ice back then, i just used a piece of plexiglass to shoot pucks on a plywood with a net painted on it with 4 targets (one in each corner like the skill competition at the all star game).
- dcz28

That’s awesome!!! What a great memory. Thanks for sharing that!