Here we are in the merry month of June, and hockey is being played when it is 90F outside (or over 100F last week, in that hockey nirvana known as the desert of Arizona).
Hockey is not unique. When customers pay to see a game, length of season gets to be all about the moolah. I remember a World Series game when it snowed one evening. How in hell you can expect normal baseball, when the orb is freezing and hard to throw or catch? Baseball is, or should be, a sport of the sun.
40 years ago, when hockey "permanently" infected me, college tournament play occurred in the winter. Tournament play is particularly rooted in hockey as a complement to regular season and league play. Tournament play is essentially what the Stanley Cup playoffs are.
Canadians preserved this tradition as remnants of the English system of community sporting contests from the time of the middle ages. In other words, we are witnessing the modern equivalent of jousting, with the nobles looking on at the poor idiots who commit their bodies for some sort of honor and a ladies' handkerchief. Well, maybe the latter really did lead to some real benefits, but who is to say.
The "Beanpot" hockey tourney in Boston preserves this tradition, as it is played in February when water naturally occurs outdoors in its solid form. The ECAC and NCAA tournaments are finished in April...which to me is the natural limit of when hockey should be played (at least at our latitudes). It is consistent with when the last snows of winter can occur - usually done by the end of March, but with an infrequent storm even in mid April.
Alas, the "pro" (as in PROfit) leagues don't see it this way. Exhibition hockey starts in September, with the real season opening in early October. That is a full month before snow happens (witness, the freak Halloween storm that happened in the Northeast last year).
So, from September to June, professional athletes earn their keep - those that reach the finals. The others get to retire to the golf courses in April or May. That is a season of 9 months on average. And at the tail end, as happened this past Wednesday in muggy Newark, you wind up with summer-like conditions which create a horrible playing surface.
Hockey played on mushy, choppy ice...baseball played in the snow...seasons that go on without end...and the league teams continue to gleefully rake in gate receipts, merchandise sales and what not. I am not immune. Playoff tickets cost an additional 30% of a regular season, give or take. I buy some merchandise too. It feels great to wear a hat or T with the word "Champion" emblazoned upon it.
Merchandise cost is another way that moolah flows. The official Eastern Conference Devils hat cost $45 at the Prudential Center. At Modells, it was $32 on Thursday. By Saturday, the hats were marked down to $15. A little patience can save a bit of money.
Pretty soon hockey will be done, then I go cold turkey for a couple of weeks, and before long, the new season schedule comes out - the awards weekend happens - the drafts and trades get finished. And the eternal question will be answered. Who will replace Martin Brodeur (because, mark my words, he is hanging up the skates this year).
It is possible that last night was the last time he will have played before a home crowd - if LA manages to sweep the series. But as they say in Philadelphia - it ain't over until the fat lady sings.
Hockey Rules!
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