Aug 6,7

“You can put it in the win column!”

I long to hear that phrase again, for anyone who lived in Calgary and listened to Flames games on the radio those words were a sweet melody. Peter Mahar was the voice of the Flames for thirty-three years, and he uttered those famous words every time the Flames won.

The Flames beat the Winnipeg Jets this week in the qualifying round of the most bizarre playoff Stanley Cup Championships ever. A championship delayed by Covid19 and now played out in a bubble in two cities, Edmonton and Toronto. It is another of many things that have happened in 2020 that if someone had tried to explain it to me last year I would have laughed in their face. No one is laughing now.

Hockey in August doesn’t feel right. Nothing about 2020 feels right. I guess it is appropriate in some way that the NHL is using the summer to decide the champion of a winter sport. Normally it is decided just before summer begins. This year the restart is in the middle of summer and will finish when hockey usually begins.

Do we have that right? And does anyone care? I know I am craving sports, but would prefer football, not hockey. My team won so I am happy. I am sure Peter Mahar is happy along with the many fans of the team back in my original hometown of Calgary. I still try to care, but it feels like a money grab more than anything else. Playoff hockey is not the same without fans in the rink and the energy that comes with it. An energy I will never forget as the Flames came oh so close to winning it all sixteen years ago.

Time has passed by in the blink of an eye since the heady days of 2004. All those years ago, Mikka Kiprusoff, Jerome Iginla, Craig Conroy, and Martin Gelinas led a ragtag group all the way to game seven of Lord Stanley’s tournament. It was a time for me I will never forget, yet only barely remember. Sports was there to unite the city by the Bow River and Calgary came together in a celebration that spring. It was amazing and energizing, elite hockey at its best, and the most wondrous thing about it all was the fans. Without fans, it somehow feels wrong. It feels like the point of playing for the Stanley cup has changed.

Now as we enter the dog days of summer, hockey has morphed into something different. Something that the sponsors and TV producers hope can bring fans to sit in front of their TV sets and watch grown men play a game. A game played in front of empty seats and flashy productions. A tournament I am uncertain I will watch or care about. I wonder how many people will watch or care.

There will be no battle of Alberta this year. The Edmonton Oilers went down in four games to the Chicago Blackhawks. The hosts have now turned over their own dressing room to the rest of the remaining players. Is the sting of losing out in their own building one that will bite them? Or are they relieved to go back to spending time with their families at their summer homes?

I think hockey will remain in the periphery for me. A distraction in the news feed that isn’t all doom and gloom. I will quietly cheer for my team and hope they make it to the finals in October. I may start to care again as the colour of the leaves change. In reality NHL, NBA, MLB, and the NFL are all there to distract the masses. Without live audiences and the interaction it brings, sports will not be the same. It brings clear the highlights of how much sport has been taken over by greed. Billionaire owners, paying millionaire players to play games seems redundant in today’s new normal.

While these athletes are being tested for covid19 on a daily basis, millions around the world remain untested. Does anything about that make sense? The money and resources spent to ensure a champion is crowned in the major sports feels like a waste. So as hockey will continue to line the pockets of the wealthy and distract the masses we will continue on.

I will continue enjoying the summer, hoping to stay safe in our beautiful valley. I will hope the Flames can continue to “put it in the win column.” But my reality is much like many others. Major sports are back and will be there as a distraction. It won’t be the same, but then again what, after 2020, will ever be the same?