Phil Stacey
January 19, 2009 07:23 am I get asked sometimes why I don't enjoy basketball. That's simply not true; I do like hoops. But I love hockey. So do tens of thousands of other sports-minded folks all over the North Shore, who have no qualms proclaiming it — rightfully so — as the king of all winter sports in this sports-crazed area. There's really no argument. In many parts of the country, high school basketball may reign supreme (of course, in many parts of the country, "gourmet Italian food" means going to The Olive Garden). But for over half a century, sports fans here in the Bay State have known better; it's hockey that dominates our winter landscape. I can break it down as simply as this: hockey is played on ice. Wearing skates. And gloves. And sweaters. In cold rinks. Basketball is played inside. In a warm gymnasium. Where the players were tank tops, shorts and sneakers. Which one of those two screams "winter sport" to you? But that's taking the easy way out. There are better ways to make an intelligent, informative argument than that. Basketball is a sport that virtually anyone can play, anywhere. You get a ball, find a hoop, dribble and shoot. Of course, the game itself is eons more complicated than that, but you get the basic gist. Hockey, though, takes time to master. Before you even think about getting a stick in your hands, you have to learn how to skate. Then skate backwards. Then turn and move and stay upright while someone is trying to knock you down. Factor in the amount of energy it takes just to play a single minute of hockey — that's why they have line changes, folks — and all the physicality that the sport provides, and you understand why it takes an incredible amount of athleticism just to step onto the ice. Playing hockey is not something that the masses simply learn how to do. It's an acquired skill, like learning to play Dylan's "Tangled Up In Blue" or making the perfect creme brulee. Hockey is where multiple high school teams play in the same building, making for great double- and tripleheaders twice a week for fans. Hockey is about camaraderie between players and coaches who battle on the ice for two hours, then shake hands and share laughs off of it. Many people who don't care for (or maybe don't understand?) hockey say that the area's best players flock elsewhere in search of better talent and to play at a higher level. That point can't be denied. But I'd argue until the day they drop me in the ground that it hasn't hurt the sport's popularity or passion locally. Sure, junior hockey and prep school programs raid the area — a problem basketball doesn't have to deal with. But hockey, like a battered old tree in winter that blossoms anew come spring, perseveres and continues to thrive. Don't believe me? Why else would 1,000-plus people show up for a high school game between two age-old rivals on a bitterly cold Wednesday night in January? Why, then, are the high school hockey tournaments some of the best attended sporting events of the entire school season? Why is it the only sport with its own exclusive, double-elimination playoff? Also, look at the current crop of hockey talent our area has produced, something that basketball can't come close to touching. Three players (Brian McGuirk, Cory Schneider and Chris Bourque) are skating in the American Hockey League; Schneider and Bourque have both been up in the NHL this winter and will be starters in the AHL All-Star Classic Sunday in Worcester. Several other standouts skate at some of the country's best Division 1 college programs. John McCarthy is the captain at Boston University, where Chris Higgins is also a 100-point career scorer. Benn Ferriero is a captain at defending national champion Boston College; Will O'Neill skates a regular shift at Maine; Brian Day leads Colgate in goals; and Meghan Duggan is one of the best female players in the country for the nation's top ranked women's team at the University of Wisconsin. And if you're talking star power, well, the National Hockey League's Central Scouting ranks Chris Kreider of Boxford as merely the best high school hockey player in the nation, ranking him No. 14 among all North American prospects. Hockey, like anchovies or The Grateful Dead, is not for everyone. For many people, there's really no middle ground; they either love the sport or don't. That's fine. The majority of sports fans on the North Shore know where the truth lies. When it comes to winter sports, hockey is king. ¬¢¬¢¬¢ Phil Stacey is the sports editor and hockey writer at The Salem News. Contact him at pstacey@salemnews.com or 978-338-2650.
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