I am a novice ice hockey fan. Growing up in the mountains of western North Carolina. I did not grow up with the sport. One of the first games I ever saw was the "Miracle On Ice" games in the 1980 Winter Olympics. I have never played the game and I have never even been on ice skates. The only experience I have ever had with hockey is what I have played in video games.
I really do not have a favorite hockey team. I have followed the Philadelphia Flyers and the San Jose Sharks over the years but I have no real passion for those teams. The Carolina Hurricanes came in the mid-1990's and a connection was made. I went to the Carolina Hurricanes very first game at the Greensboro Coliseum against the Pittsburgh Penguins on October 3, 1997. I drove 4 1/2 hours to see that game. A couple of friends from work met me down there. It was a fight filled contest featuring the likes of Stu "The Grim Reaper" Grimson. He fought Penguin tough guy Chris Tamer and I just watched the video of it on hockeyfights.com.
My goal with this blog is to present the Hurricanes from a casual fans perspective. I do not know the ins and outs of the game like the hardcore fans do. I know I do not like "dump and chase" hockey and I prefer a lot of offense like the Edmonton Oilers and Wayne Gretzky had in the 1980's. The era of the 100 point scorers has about ceased to exist. It has about gone the way of the 20 game winner in Major League baseball. My dog Molly just fell asleep on a Carolina Hurricanes t-shirt I was wearing today in honor of the beginning of the NHL season.
I get to see quite a few of the Hurricanes games on TV but western North Carolina is not exactly a hot bed of hockey. The Carolina Hurricanes top minor league team, the Charlotte Checkers, is much closer and accessible. I am looking forward to providing what insight I can and following the Hurricanes into the Stanley Cup playoffs.
