Have we won the Stanley Cup yet?

As I anxiously await the start of UFC 131, ooops, I meant the final game of the Stanley Cup playoff, I can’t help but to think about a question that a friend of mine asked a short while ago: Are you going to sign up Brayden for hockey?

I answered the question without the slightest hesitation: No!

Wow, I had never turned heads that fast in a room. No one could believe what they heard. Was Armin kidding? Perhaps Armin didn’t understand the question, so let’s ask him again… are you going to sign up Brayden for hockey?

This time I felt like I needed to answer the question with an explanation: No! I don’t mean any disrespect, but I don’t think I’m ready to sign up my one and only son for a game that after a century of history is still trying to figure out the rules. Disagree? Here’s my case:

• Most analysts agree that referees cannot agree on what constitutes a penalty.
• Sidney Crosby is missing games due to a concussion (yup, he is still under evaluation and his return is still up in the air).
• Mason Raymond suffers a broken back during the opening minutes of game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals but no one is penalized. Some say that Mason may never walk again… if he does, it’ll be a miracle. Let’s hope for the best!
• Nathan Horton suffers concussion from a major blow to his head; Canucks player gets 4 games suspension. On numerous occasions, TV and Radio analysts have said that this was a trade that they would make in a heartbeat, meaning that it’s great to remove Horton from the games at any cost.
• National Hockey League’s Commissioner, Gary Bettman, continues to be ineffective at all levels. When will the league executives wake up and realize the damage this man has done to this great game of ours?
• National Hockey League’s Players Association continues to fail the very player it has promised to support. Hmmm, I wonder how Mason Raymond feels about it.

And the list goes on and on!!! I can literally list hundreds of incidences from 2010-2011 season. When will the sponsors decide to pressure the league to remove all (and I mean capitalized ALL) violence from this wonderful sport? When will media begin to pressure the league for some sort of resolution on the “rule books”?

Can we please go back and play hockey the way hockey was meant to be played? Can we go back to the time when parents signed up their kids hoping that one day the little ones would end up being the “Great One”? Can we rewind the clock to the time when parents didn’t have to watch their kids getting hurt on the ice? Can we go back to the time when there were no “Stop” sign on the back of the jerseys?

Until we can say “yes” to the above questions, I will refuse to sign up my son for hockey (or at least until he begins to pressure me into signing him up).

Thank you for reading,

Armin

PS. I watched my brother’s hockey career come to an abrupt end with a knee injury… it wasn’t pretty!

PPS. I will be watching the game from between my fingers while biting my nails. Go Canucks Go!