Hockey is a sport that’s very different. I love hockey because of its combination of speed, skill, and grit. My favorite parts about hockey are the dangles and dekes, which essentially means skillfully getting the puck through opposing players.
I grew up in San Jose, a city with an NHL team, and I believe that their presence helped spark my interest in the sport. In elementary school, we got to play hockey during recess, and it was a lot of fun.
In high school, I was a part of the inaugural roller-hockey team. I didn’t even know how to skate, but I really liked to stick-handle. In my first season, I scored a goal in my first game by tapping in a rebound. I didn’t score for the rest of the year and the only game my team won was when our opponent forfeited.
During my time playing hockey in high school, I played in all positions: as a forward, defender, and also the goalie. One of my favorite memories was scoring a goal in the shootout. I was so nervous on the bench, but after I scored I was overjoyed and celebrated wildly. The opposing team proceeded to score twice and we lost. Good times.
Another proud moment for me was my first game as goalie. We played against one of the consistently dominant teams in the division, and by beginner’s luck, we won the game. I only gave up 2-3 goals I believe. Playing goalie was pretty fun, despite the “wacky goalie” stereotypes that I didn’t help combat and all of the sweat.
Currently in the NHL, my favorite player has to be Evgeny Kuznetsov. I really admire his creativity with the puck as well as his happy-go-lucky personality. There is a pretty good video on YouTube which I linked below showing some of his highlights.
If we also include former NHL players, Pavel Datsyuk was also one of my favorites. If there was anybody I’d try to model my game after, it would be him.
Some of my other favorite players, in no particular order, are:
- Patrick Kane
- Brent Burns
- Jesperi Kotkaniemi
- Connor McDavid
- Tom Wilson
- Aleksander Barkov
- Nathan MacKinnon
However, when it comes to teams, I find it harder to choose a favorite, since I care more about the individual player than their organization. Of course, I have a soft spot for the San Jose Sharks, but I like basically all of the teams in the NHL. Except the Boston Bruins.