Ice Hockey: Get Rid of the Goalie!

Written by Frank Li

The NBA season ended prematurely for the Chicago Bulls this year. But who cares – Our focus has been on the Blackhawks anyway. You see, in this great sports city of Chicago, anything short of a championship is considered a failure. So the money has been on ice hockey this year …

Americans are sports fanatics. We are crazy about many sports: basketball, football, baseball, and you name it … But if you are really into sports, you should like ice hockey more than any other sports, for three main reasons, at least:

1. It’s much faster, as an NHL player can reach a maximum speed of 30 miles/hour.

2. It’s much more confrontational, as it’s often highlighted in the news with fist fights.

3. It’s much more physical, as many players have missing teeth.

In short, ice hockey is a real sport!

Why, then, isn’t ice hockey more popular in the U.S. than basketball or football? Well, aside from the fact that ice hockey is just too popular in Canada, as we Americans do not like to be second in anything, the game itself is to blame! Specifically, it’s the goalie, stupid!

With the goalie, ice hockey is just like soccer, a game of futility, mostly! See, we Americans are very result-oriented: you either score or you don’t – there is nothing in between! Additionally, we enjoy instant gratification and constant highlights more than other people.

Without the goalie, ice hockey could be as high scoring as basketball, which would make LeBron James look only too slow and only too human.

Attention NHL: to gain more fans, change the rules and enliven the game by getting rid of the goalie! This is a serious proposal. Once you do that, other sports (e.g. Lacrosse and Water Polo) will follow!

Go Blackhawks! Bring back the Stanley Cup again, this year!