National Hockey League/Nhl

Let’s talk sports fan rituals. I was watching Game Three of the National Hockey League Stanley Cup finals between the Las Vegas Golden Knights and the Florida Panthers. After the narrow Panthers loss, the grieving fandom tossed water bottles and loads of rodent toys onto the ice. . Whats up with the rats?

Let’s talk numbers … uniform numbers.Some of the best athletes across numerous sports are best identified with a uniform number.

Let’s talk deadline trades. The NBA and NHL trading deadlines just passed. Was your team a buyer or a seller? Was your team all-in for this year or dedicated to the future?

Let’s talk playing through injury. Watching Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes gut out and play through his high ankle sprain in the AFC championship game against Cincinnati ...

Let’s talk the value of coaches. It is coach-firing season.

Let’s talk comebacks in sports. In sports, one of the shining examples of competition is the comeback.

Let’s talk winning and losing games. In team games, can any one person win or lose a game?

Let’s talk the best Christmas sports lists. It’s Christmas and Hanukkah time and we all have our wish lists. Sports fans generally have sports-specific items on their wish lists. It’s Christmas and Hanukkah time and we all have our wish lists. Sports fans generally have sports-specific items on their wish lists. Of course, at the top of most lists is something over which we have no control – championships.

We are in a social media world. We are at our phones or desktops and we can find anything we want to know about anything we want to know about. Good information is golden for teams, but does wrong info or misinformation hurt teams? And are followers real or not?

Let’s talk fierce rivalries. One of the great things about sports is the teams and players we love to hate. The ones with whom we have built up rivalries over many years of competition or many years of banter, debate, argument and wagering with fans on the other side. There is a difference between a regional, conference, or city rival and a team that you point to playing or whom you really have to beat to make your season.

Let’s talk the Stanley Cup. If you are a hockey fan, or if you have ever played “the greatest game on ice,” this is the time of year you wait for. It is the culmination of the long nine-month grind of body checks, and slamming opponents into the boards, skillful puck control, crisp passes, swift moves and deft dekes, blazing shots, poke checks and lightning glove saves. And it is the Cup itself. What a history.