Growing up as a child, ice hockey was a major part of my life. My younger brother started playing as soon as he could walk and it seems that ever since then, my whole family has been invested with the sport. Living only 45 minutes from Philadelphia, my father would take my brother and me to Flyers games and ever since, I’ve been in love with the Broad Street Bullies — they have my heart completely. Every October, the start of the ice hockey season is something I look forward to. Although it’s hard for me to make it to the Wells Fargo Center, I can always tune in to watch the games; this has been my routine for the past two years while studying at the University of Pittsburgh.
Since their disappointing loss in Round Two of the playoffs last year, I was almost anxious for the next season to start; to see my Fly Guys out on the ice again. The season looked promising — trades were completed in February. To make me even more excited, the Flyers acquired Luke Schenn — the brother of rookie Flyer Brayden Schenn. If you want some eye candy, they both are delicious …. (drool).
Anyway, in July, my hopes for this season started to fade away. The NHL had to come to their collective agreement on five major issues by September 15th in order to have a complete season. Players and teams are still negotiating to this day. On November 21st, the NHL Players’ Association presented a new proposal to owners. It is not known if this will end the lockout, but NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said that there was “movement” on some issues. As of now, a season does not look promising. In my opinion, the 2004-2005 lockout — that eliminated a whole season — is repeating itself.
I wondered if others felt as I did, so I asked some Pitt students how they deal with their hockey withdrawal. What do they miss most about it?
“I definitely miss the Pittsburgh Philadelphia rivalry. It gets very heated, especially since we go to school here. also, not only watching the games on TV but seeing the games live. My family has season tickets to all the Flyers games and it’s a lot more exhilarating seeing it played live, right in front of you. On top of that, I miss walking down the street seeing people supporting their hometown teams. You don’t really see that anymore because the season isn’t happening.” – Shawn Robinson, junior.
“What I miss? Just about everything. Screaming at my TV on week nights at 7, getting in arguments with my friends, picking on people for liking other teams. And just the game itself. There is nothing more exciting in my opinion than watching hockey. And the fact that I can’t go to any live games is even worse. The atmosphere is just incredible. As for surviving, I try and keep up with the local AHL team at home, the Hershey Bears, and I went to an ECHL game in Reading over Thanksgiving break. It’s just a matter of trying to fill the void and waiting for the NHL and NHLPA to get their s*** together and make a deal.” – Brooke Walters, junior.
“Well, I hate that they don’t have the NHL this year and watching your players playing in other leagues and not in their usual jerseys. I miss the excitment of the rivalries especially being a Flyers fan in Pittsburgh.” – Cherrnor Malenkani, junior.