Over the last month and a half I've had the pleasure to post a (mostly) daily NHL Playoffs thread running down the games of the night. It has had its ups:
It's downs:
And it's WTFs:
But above all it had the spirit of the best game forum posters in the world getting together and watching the best players in the world play the best sport of the world. Maybe the playoffs didn't end quite the way I wanted them to, maybe they took longer than we would have liked, but they ended the way they should have: With the (current) best team in the NHL taking the cup home. There's a lot of crazy stuff happening in the world and distractions are plenty. But it was wonderful to get to hang out with you folks, see how the other fandoms embrace their teams, and get to see the games from a different (but respectful) point of view. As our Chatty continues to change it was nice to see the group of NHL fans continuing to talk hockey despite the changes.
The NHL itself is growing and changing. As the league returns to normal play after two years of unprecidented change we're seeing more hockey fans than ever before join its ranks. As of this year 37% of all NHL hockey fans are female, 26% of those joining in just the last couple of years. 40% of all NHL fans are under the age of 50 and better representation in hockey voices joining the broadcast crews across the country like JT Brown, Leah Hextal, Cassie Campbell-Pascall, Everett Fitzhugh shows that despite its painfully discrimintory history our sport is beginning to progress to match us, the fans. As the spotlight shines brighter on our sport we're witnessing the dark secrets get excised and the league attempting to become more welcoming to all. I can't wait.
Hopefully we'll look back at the 2022 NHL Playoffs as not a return to normalcy in the game, but a new normalcy. I'm excited to see how much better this sport can be, and I'm excited to see it grow with the Chatty. Don't get me wrong, I'd have posted the threads even if no one responded to any of them. I'm much too arrogant to stop just because a couple of hosers don't like the game. But instead a bunch of you participated and it makes me smile so much to know that the people I have chosen as my group of friends have the same love for this game as I do. Maybe next year the Dynasty will be cemented. Maybe the new Legacy will continue to grow. Maybe the Leafs will make it out of the first round. No matter what absolutely crazy, heart warming, exciting, jaw-dropping, ankle breaking things happen I'll be here next year to cheer on our teams with all of my Shack NHLers. I hope you'll be here to cheer with me too.
Much Love,
TFO
