We had a good opening weekend in the NHL, even though the championship banner presentation in Boston seemed to happen without any regard to getting the game started on time. Opening week saw the return of Jaromir Jagr, Friday and Saturday games in Helsinki and Stockholm (made for a great matinee watching on Saturday since college football was not too appealing to me), the return of hockey to Winnipeg, and, as a somewhat ode to my mention last week, the first career goal of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
Speaking of filling in the goal column in the box score for the first time, I’m hoping some of you caught what happened for former Badgers, most notably ones in Nashville and San Jose. Craig Smith, who went pro early, had two goals and two assists in his first two NHL games for the Predators, and Joe Pavelski netted two goals in the season opener for the Sharks. Up and, somewhat, over in Toronto, Jake Gardiner logged some ice time for the Leafs but did leave the game with a -2 rating.
Something else in Toronto always draws my attention too – Phil Kessel. Even though the Madison native decided to head west (like a young man) and attend the University of Minnesota for his personal reason of, if I remember correctly, wanting to play with guys he knew, Kessel did have a hat trick and an assist that night to go along with some comments about his new physique. But, being the Wisconsin boy that I am, it is difficult not to cheer for one of our own. So I always take a peek at the box score to see how Kessel fares. It’s the same thing with Drew Stafford in Buffalo (Milwaukee native), Jake Dowell in Dallas (Eau Claire native), and Jack Skille in Florida (Madison native and former Badger).
Anyway, back to banners in sports…
Does the “raising the banner” ceremony seem like a tradition that is only emphasized in hockey? It does to me. Yes, it’s hard to raise a banner in a football or baseball stadium, but, since hockey and basketball arenas always have roofs, I always link “banner raising” with hockey. I think basketball franchises (and other sports) more or less do a “banner revealing” where the cloth is dropped to show it up in the rafters.
In Colorado over the weekend, a banner retiring Peter Forsberg jersey was lifted to the heights. It was a good little ceremony, along with a speech that can be expected from a number retiring…and a Swede giving a public speech in English. He’s still one of my all-time favorite players.
While at the UW men’s hockey game Friday night, a friend of 17 years texted me saying he was seated in the front row of the University of Minnesota-Duluth and Notre Dame game. Sweet. Those are two great teams, with UM-D being the defending NCAA D-I champ. He sent me a picture of the raising of the champion banner (oddly enough, I have been to that arena when I was in Duluth last for Grandma’s Marathon. Not what I was expecting after being to the Kohl Center so many times).
Shoot, just a few weeks ago, the UW women’s hockey team had their banner raising ceremony when they opened the season.
Another happening that I associate with hockey and being a champion is Lord Stanley’s Cup. Yes, the Stanley Cup is my favorite trophy in sports, along with the Lombardi Trophy (for obvious reasons), but I really like hearing about the travels the Stanley Cup makes in the summer months with the players and staff of the winning team. I have read and watched clips of players who took the Cup back to their schools, to children’s hospitals, to youth teams, or to an auction to forfeit one of their days with the Cup to have a non-athlete spend time cherishing it, with the funds going to a selected charity.
There is much more uniqueness that comes along with the Stanley Cup in that only one exists and that every member of the winning team has his name etched onto it. One name I love is Jean B?liveau, of the Montreal Canadians. His name appears 17 times – 10 as a player and 7 as a club executive – on the Cup that is continually increasing in both weight and size to make room over the years for all the names that are added.