A Local Boy Makes The Big Time
Waaayy back when Captain Holly was in college (mid 80's), I used to play pickup hockey on Friday nights at the old Hygiea Iceland rink in Salt Lake City. It was a cheaply built, smaller-than-regulation place with chain-link fencing instead of glass on the boards. You paid something like $4.00 for a couple of hours playing time (shows how desperate Utah hockey players were for ice time in those lean years).
I remember there was a skinny kid named Konowalchuk who, despite being only about 13 years old, could skate circles around everyone else on the ice. Well, the skinny kid has grown up and now plays for the Washington Capitals of the NHL. He was just named again to the US team roster for the World Cup of Hockey tournament this fall.
If you liked the 2002 Olympic Hockey tournament (the level and intensity of play, not the result) don't miss this year's World Cup of Hockey. The US is the defending champion (having won the last tournament in 1996) and every team from the eight participating countries (with the exception of Germany) is loaded with NHL talent. These are the best players in the world, and it will be the best hockey you will ever see. Don't miss it!
posted by Captain Holly @ 13:11
2 comments
2 Comments:
Yeah, it was really bad when a 13-year old could skate around guys twice his age. To get ice time, he played in all the summer and winter check and no-check senior leagues, so despite the fact that SLC (and Utah) is a basketball town/state, he was able to make it into the big leagues.
Oh, almost forgot. The Germans are playing in Cologne Arena, the home of that DEl power house, Koln Haie, the DEL version of the San Jose Sharks since Haie in German is Shark. I think they could have picked a better name, maybe something along the lines of Ice Bears, Roosters, Lions, Wolves, Freezers, Huskies, Scorpions, Penguins, or Panthers. See any trend here? I hate to have to say this, but, one of the best hockey team names right now is the Rangers. It just says it all. Of course, something along the lines of Vandals, Norsemen, Vikings, or even Pillagers would even be better.
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