Reading Dave Begel’s "5 Reasons Why It’s So Easy To Hate Hockey" article was eye-opening for me. Mainly because it seems like Begel, who is about as good as it gets as a writer, does not appear to have opened his eyes and watched hockey since the days of the cathode ray tube and when the television unit was three times the size of the screen.

Every reason he says, "Hockey, Meh!" is a reason why I was obsessed with this postseason.
I grew up in a town where there was no hockey. No one played it. No one watched it. All we knew was that no one playing it had teeth. We all took offense when anyone mentioned it as the fourth major sport in America.

Honestly, I am not that guy who seems angry that sports talk radio does not talk hockey more – unless the home town NHL team is in the Stanley Cup Finals. If you love it, love it. Just know that for most people, hockey is kind of like the College World Series or the NIT. You only care about it if your team is in it. Nonetheless, congrats to Chicago. 

That being said, it is also the best thing going in terms of its postseason. Every sport upgrades in quality in the postseason, but hockey’s energy and drive make it either appointment viewing or it makes you bemoan the fact that it's taking the place of "American Ninja Warrior" on NBC tonight.

Let me address Dave’s points one-by-one.

The Puck

Yes, the most precious item in the game is the puck, and the fact that it is hard to see as a fan or media member is a problem. It is probably the reason that hockey will stay in its niche, but it also means that every second of the game is crucial. If you take your eyes off of it (especially in person) then you will miss the magic. Some would see it as a downside, but when I watch the Blackhawks and Lightning, I am staring at my screen to see just where that little orb is going.

Substitutions (line changes)

Hey, I don’t understand how it works either. I have been down behind the bench, and I have almost never seen a coach tell anyone to go in or come out and yet they have this perfectly choreographed moment when they have to decide whether the puck being on one end means it’s time to keep trying to score or if it is safe for guys to go over the wall and in or over the wall and out. Plus, considering if it does not work and the team receives a Too Many Men on the Ice call, the timing is pivotal. It is odd to me that if you are at a game, it seems like a nuisance to have to watch it.

Brutality and Boards

Dave does not like when a player acts as a "guided missile missing a few teeth barrels at over 20 miles per hour into some other guy with a few missing teeth and crashes him into the boards." He also does not like it that the fans go nuts when it happens. So, does Dave also complain that football has taken a lot of the hitting out of itself? Can you have it both ways?

The commitment and passion that hockey players put into every shift on the ice, all for the pursuit of the Stanley Cup, is unmatched. There are moments in every other sport when you can see that even the players are not completely paying attention. Hockey players are in constant attack mode. I love that point when I am kind of worn out at the end of the game – and I'm just watching.

Too Fast

Of course, who wants a game where you are in awe of the pace and never-ending action? Yes, it is nice that other sports do allow for the color commentator to drop in bits of wisdom, but how much wisdom is there throughout a game anyway?

Too Indoors

Huh? This is when I thought that maybe Dave was writing this in the spirit of The Onion, where he was complaining about a sport but then makes arguments that you can so easily poke holes in. Hockey was invented outside but so were football and baseball. While playing those sports indoors seems to lose something, the energy that hockey generates in an arena gives the same feeling that a great concert gives you. You are worn out and invigorated at the end of the night.

Again, I am not that fan who looks at people who do not enjoy the sport as having something wrong with them. It’s just that the title of the article involved "Hate." It was just that the reasons that Dave Begel gave for his hatred often came down to that he really enjoys other sports apparently when there is nothing going on.

A sport that does not have those down times? That's constant movement and effort and energy? Now, THAT is a game I could love!