Birthday Hockey

Part of my birthday celebrations this year included hockey, because after four years in pep band and dozens of hockey games, the sport grew on me. It was only the second time I’ve ever paid to go to a hockey game, but I did get a slight staff/faculty discount. One of the few perks of being a grad student is that we’re considered both students and staff, so we get all the discounts.

The reason I chose this game was not just because of the discount tickets, but because Clarkson was coming to Michigan. Clarkson, like Cornell, plays in ECAC hockey, and finished directly behind Cornell in the standings last year, so I figured I’d watch some conference friends(?) and get an early indication of how the ECAC season might shape up. With that in mind, I headed to Yost Ice Arena on a cool fall Friday night. Yost Arena is probably nicer than Cornell’s Lynah Rink, but I like Lynah and its wooden benches, low rafters, and no video replay screen. Yost, like a lot of things about Michigan, is almost too polished. Life is messy. It has rough edges. It’s not all shiny and sparkling chrome and glass. But Michigan hockey is better than no hockey at all, so I forked over my money and entered the high-ceilinged, aluminum-clad arena.

Near the end of the third period, tie game

It was early in the season, which usually means teams are still getting back on their skates, so to speak. This game was no exception, with players falling and more crossed signals than typical. Clarkson ended up scoring near the end of the first period on a power play, then conceded an even-strength goal midway through the second period, and that concluded the scoring for that game. ECAC plays a single five-minute sudden death overtime period during the regular season. If no team scores during overtime, the game ends as a tie, which is what happened on this night. Apparently for Big Ten conference games, the tie stands for NCAA records, but after the first overtime, they play a second five-minute sudden death overtime, except 3-on-3, and if the game is still tied after that, there’s a shootout and the winner receives an extra point in the Big Ten standings. For this out of conference matchup, however, the game ended as a 1-1 draw after a single overtime.

Third period, student section and hockey band in the background

There was a rematch the following night, and Clarkson came away with the win, which is what I would have expected. Michigan had home ice, but Clarkson (and Cornell) started the season ranked pretty highly. Overall, neither team was particularly inspiring, but Clarkson’s defense looked more organized, and though their offense wasn’t as active as Michigan’s, they had more dangerous fast breaks. All said, it wasn’t a bad game to watch. I brought my DSLR and experimented with shutter speeds, and I got to see what might be my favorite penalty¹ – too many men on the ice.

¹Hockey penalties are great. While most cards in soccer are for “unsportsmanlike conduct,” in hockey you get penalties like boarding, hooking, slashing, cross-checking, charging, high-sticking, holding, holding the stick, elbowing, interference, roughing, tripping, and playing with a broken stick. And of course, too many men on the ice.