On TV we see financial problems and people are starving. We see problems in our healthcare system and there are problems in the schools our children go to.
Everyday we face this, but do we take action to make a change?
If I speak for myself, I sometimes do take action when there is a local problem that really concerns me, but when it comes to nationwide or worldwide issues, I most often don't care.
What I care about is the game and I don't think it's a good thing to be that narrow minded.
How can one love and care about a game as simple as hockey when we have all these problems in the world?
The salaries of all the players in the league would probably be enough to solve the starvation in the third world. They make a lot of money, but there are people in other professions that make more.
Do you think that there's to much money in hockey and that it could be used for a better purpose?
Maybe, but on the other hand, the money the players makes is his true market value. There is a break even between supply and demand or otherwise no team would sign him and the money would end up in the pocket of the team owners.
One thing I think the sport have done well is the founding of the Hockey Fights Cancer organization. If you compare it to a disease like cancer, it isn't that important and I think it's very well done that it raises money for cancer research.
We fans all followed Mario Lemiux's and Saku Kouivo's battle with the disease and those guys sure must have love hockey because of the way they fought back.
How can you even think about returning to the game after something like that?
I guess the answer is that it do play an important part in our lives.
What kind of force makes a young player put the time and effort in that is necessarily to reach glory?
Isn't the time spent on the rink (or the stands for us fans) better spent on studying to become a doctor or lawyer? Something that really matters or can you say that it is of equal importance?
I have given these questions some thoughts and I simply don't know. Maybe hockey is bigger than life.
You probably already new this, but 1917 was the year when the first historical game of the National Hockey League was played. In the spring the year after Toronto had become the first ever Stanley Cup champions.
Since I love the National Hockey League so much, it would actually take a full 500+ pages book to tell you all of NHL's history. This league has been through so much and it always gives me the chill when I think about it.
Just consider this, with the 2004-2005 season fresh in memory; the 1919 Stanley Cup was canceled due to influenza! This makes 2005 the first year without a Stanley Cup champion since 1919.
Over the history of the National Hockey League we have also seen the big Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto being built. Not without controversies though.
Personally I don't think that any other sport has so many true heroes as the NHL. What a great history and they are all in the Hall for us to see and admire.
What about highlights on the ice though?
Well, since I'm not that old I got to say that Wayne Gretzky and the 1980's Edmonton Oilers had the greatest era in ice hockey history.
I actually feel sorry for the young hockey kids of today. Not to have seen Gretzky play isn't anything I would have liked to experience.
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Johnny Smith has sinced written about articles on various topics from Jewelry, Site Promotion and Stress Management. The author Johnny loves to watch and write about the NHL and ice hockey. At his site you will find everything from the latest news to