Fox Sports NHL Widget... and why I picked the teams I did...

So, this widget is Pretty cool!!

It asked me for my 6 teams to show up in the widget, and I'd never thought beyond my #1 and #2 before. They didn’t force me to choose a 1-6... but I at least have reasons for choosing a 1-6...

1 - Sharks... DUH!! They are my home team. The team name that entered my breath the same day as the word 'hockey'.

2 - Coyotes... I have a friend in Phoenix, so when I visited her early in my hockey days, I made her go to games with me when I visited. We even got tickets just 3-4 rows behinds the Sharks bench one game. And I have been there about another 4 times seeing the Yotes play teams other than the Sharks. I kind of adopted them as #2. And they have a great Arena.

3 - Senators - Well this one is different. I had no interest in the Sens a while back... there was no reason. Then my favorite player (Milan Michalek) got traded to them. Even then I didn't have it in my head to immediately follow them. But gradually I began curious of his progress and how he had been doing. So I started rooting for the Sens. He did well a couple of games, but regardless, I was at least keeping tabs on the team anyway.

4 - Flyers - Another random team. I don't really "follow" them per say, but am happy when they do well against none of my favorite teams. I became friends and/or acquaintances with a handful of Flyers fans over the last few years and they are so devoted that it was hard not to cheer them on... when there wasn't a conflict of interest.

5 – Capitals – I flew to D.C. (office in Maryland) for work in Oct ’06, and had my nights free. I had maybe seen a handful of games at that time. But I had the bug. My friend who was travelling with me and I, met up with a childhood friend of mine and her boyfriend for a game. It was really random since I was new to the sport and really the only one who gave a crap about the game ;-) But it was fun to see Verizon Center all the same.

6 – Kings – Another division rival… but I seem to think of things on a more personal level that just hockey rivalries. I have met (online and in person) a lot of Kings fans over the last couple of years and they are great. And I call them friends. In the effort of hanging with them and seeing hockey at the same time, I have seen a handful of games in L.A., which is great.

So as is the theme, familiarity comes into play. There is something personal and/or hockey related that draws me to each of these teams. That’s just the way it is ;-)