Anyone who knows me knows just how passionate I am about hockey. I know I've waxed poetic about it numerous times (most recently, perhaps, when the Hawks won the Stanley Cup). Hockey's been a constant in my life, from my earliest memories onward.
Growing up, my dad and grandfather were ice fishermen and they took me and my sister Dawn with them to various woodland ponds in Massachusetts. We skated as soon as we could walk. And we always had our own rink in the backyard, oftentimes in space appropriated from the spring/summer garden area. Spotlights enabled us to skate well into the night.
My grandfather was a big hockey fan. So was my childhood babysitter, Mary. Even though we had a 70's era "rec room" with a big color TV, for some reason my routine was to drag my tiny black and white portable from my bedroom to the kitchen table and watch it there. I was a painstaking scorekeeper... writing in a little notebook all of the goals, assists, penalties and commentary. I kept a scrapbook of newspaper clippings that my Grammy would send me from the Worcester, MA Gazette. She did this til the day she died, even though I was out of college and married then.
After moving to Pennsylvania, I decided for the first time to play organized hockey and was very lucky to have a wonderful mother who was willing to indulge and spent countless hours shuttling me back and forth to games and practice. Back in the late 70's, there were no such thing as girls' leagues in Johnstown, PA, so I was the first (and only) female player in the organization at the time. I wasn't a great player... hell, I wasn't even a good player, but I could skate fairly well and I just adored the feeling of donning the equipment and playing the game I loved.
In high school, I followed both the Penguins and the Bruins, but my main love was the Bruins. As a teenage girl, my main love was also BOYS. I saw rookie Al Secord and it was LOVE. Although I had never done this before in my life, I wrote a fan letter to him and not only did he send me an autographed picture, he also sent me a handwritten letter telling me that I was the first fan to ever write to him. I still have it. Back in the day, you could go right up to where the players exited the arena in Pittsburgh, so I had the added joy of talking to him several times after games (and Gerry Cheevers, Ray Bourque, so on...). Later, Al Secord came here to Chicago and played for the Blackhawks, the Chicago Cheetahs (roller hockey-- what fun) and the Chicago Wolves, so my "relationship" with him continued until his retirement from the sport.
I remember going to Blackhawks games in the old Chicago Stadium, when the neighborhood was iffy and the rink itself was ancient and loud. I remember the lean days for the Hawks, when you could walk up to the ticket window ten minutes before the game and buy any seat in the house. I was there for the inaugural season of the Chicago Wolves minor league hockey team and I saw their first Cup win. I've witnessed hockey's gorious resurgence in Chicago-- Kane and Toews, welcoming back Mikita and Hull. 2010 Stanley Cup.
It's been great. It IS great.
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