First timers...

by drfrankentweed on Apr 24, 2009 2:36 PM CDT

Am I the only one here who has just experienced the Blues in the playoffs for the first time? (Having only discovered the delights of ice hockey a few years ago).

So - thanks to everyone here for helping to make it something really special. This site became my first port of call each morning (and still is).

What I DIDN'T realise was the effect the playoffs would have on me.

I was told I had "terrible hockey fever" after staying up till 5am here to watch game 4.

I have never experienced such a mix of nerves and excitement at the same time.

I scoured every site I could find for a snippet of news

I worked out line combinations and potential scoring capabilities on a spreadsheet at work

I practically ate and slept hockey

The reaction of the crowd after the Blues lost game 4 - standing up and chanting "Let's go Blues" - caused more than a few tears.

In essence, I have never experienced anything quite like it before. No other sport - no other team - has sucked me in quite like this before. Quite an addiction, isn't it?

So in conclusion - I wouldn't have missed this for the world.

And..."please sir...can I have some more?"

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Comments

I completely get where you're coming from.

I’ve been a lifelong Blues fan simply by growing up in St. Louis, and sure I remember watching the playoffs in the late 90s, but I was too young (and perhaps too indifferent) to follow a whole season and care about the ins and outs of the team and the sport. But this year I feel like I’ve discovered hockey for the first time, and SLGT has really helped me on my route to becoming a devoted hockey fan. The daily posts, the GDTs, the editorials, and of course all of the non-hockey discussion that goes around here have really introduced me to hockey culture, and I’m glad to be a part of it.

by Busch Ice on Apr 24, 2009 2:51 PM CDT reply actions

Yes,...

It’s a fantastic feeling.

I’m very much removed from the everyday stuff “on the street” so to speak (due to living in the UK) but this site makes you feel a part of it. Much more so than the other sites i’ve found (where sniping at the players seems to be the main raison d’etre).

Thank heavens for SLGT.

"We have two giant hamsters running on a massive wheel at our secret underground lair..." - Benjamin Linus.

by drfrankentweed on Apr 24, 2009 2:58 PM CDT up reply actions

This. Is. Awesome.

Really fun to read posts like this. I’ve been a pretty intense fan since I could walk, so I really appreciate your description of how the game got its hooks in you … it’s kind of like reliving when I first realized how addicted I was, albeit many years ago.

Just wait for the feeling you get when they actually win a playoff game, and a series is tied 2-2, and that Game 5 goes into OT, and you’ve gotten no sleep yet the game is in your head all day long!

Lighthouse Hockey: Side effects may include Weight gain and frequent game loss.

by Dominik on Apr 24, 2009 5:42 PM CDT reply actions

LOl

I honestly can’t wait for that.

I thought THIS time was bad enough because NOTHING was as important in my life as the Blues games.

"We have two giant hamsters running on a massive wheel at our secret underground lair..." - Benjamin Linus.

by drfrankentweed on Apr 25, 2009 5:25 AM CDT up reply actions

You know you're hooked when......

The officer asks for your license and insurance and you break down and start into your “How the hell did he miss the net” rant, which results in you being tazed.

Excellent post by the way, welcome to the addiction of Blues hockey.

Dum spiramus tuebimur

by spectr17 on Apr 24, 2009 6:50 PM CDT reply actions

Thank you

I’m totally loving it – and I’ve now started on the trading cards and pucks.

"We have two giant hamsters running on a massive wheel at our secret underground lair..." - Benjamin Linus.

by drfrankentweed on Apr 25, 2009 5:25 AM CDT up reply actions

WOWZA

5 am? what time zone are you in? I’m in Nova Scotia and the game ended at 2 am Atlantic time. If you’re in STL. then that’s a series amount of time partying/commiserating after the game.

by thistypeofthinking on Apr 24, 2009 7:53 PM CDT reply actions

Ms Dr is in England

by luvhockey on Apr 24, 2009 8:26 PM CDT up reply actions

LOL

Yup – I’m in the UK – Cornwall to be precise.

I’m glad I stayed up – it was fantastic to watch

"We have two giant hamsters running on a massive wheel at our secret underground lair..." - Benjamin Linus.

by drfrankentweed on Apr 25, 2009 5:26 AM CDT up reply actions

woops

i meant serious, not series

by thistypeofthinking on Apr 24, 2009 7:53 PM CDT reply actions

It's great to see new fans getting hooked.

I’ve bled blue since my first game in 1968. I remember listening to Dan Kelly with a little AM radio under my covers when I should’ve been sleeping.

Enjoy the addiction, it’ll last forever.

by luvhockey on Apr 24, 2009 8:32 PM CDT reply actions

I'm just glad

that when I re-found hockey that I didn’t start liking some douche team. When I got really big into English soccer naturally I was like WOO MAN U and then I realized what a pack of cunts they were. That’s why I’m now a lifelong Arsenal fan. Arsenal really has a ton in common with the Blues too, with the youth policy and all.

Either way, I digress. Being a Blues fan kicks ass.

by Busch Ice on Apr 24, 2009 8:41 PM CDT up reply actions

When I was a kid I started with Leeds United...

…because they were really good at the time. But I began to feel dirty. Its like people in Arkansas rooting for the Yankees. So I switched to Notts County.

And now there is not a damn thing I can do about it.

by Rich of GASL on Apr 24, 2009 8:49 PM CDT up reply actions

Notts . . .

Oh my.

You, sir, are a dedicated fan.

"The world is getting to be such a dangerous place, a man is lucky to get out of it alive." -- W.C. Fields

by Donut King on Apr 25, 2009 12:09 AM CDT up reply actions

Fuck.

Notts? Really?

by Busch Ice on Apr 25, 2009 2:33 AM CDT up reply actions

The term is...

….lunatic fringe. You should see the looks my Notts County scarf gets in Wisconsin.
“Hey! That doesnt say ‘Packers’ on it? What the fuck’s a Magpie anyway?”

by Rich of GASL on Apr 25, 2009 9:14 AM CDT up reply actions

Oh dear...

Oh dear, oh dear.

Arsenal? Um…I’m a Spurs girl myself. However, it’s nowhere near how I feel about the Blues. Soccer just doesn’t really cut it now for me.

"We have two giant hamsters running on a massive wheel at our secret underground lair..." - Benjamin Linus.

by drfrankentweed on Apr 25, 2009 5:29 AM CDT up reply actions

So at this point . . .

I should NOT mention the major 2nd half choke-job by your boys from Saturday . . .

I’ll make a note of it.

"The world is getting to be such a dangerous place, a man is lucky to get out of it alive." -- W.C. Fields

by Donut King on Apr 25, 2009 11:20 PM CDT up reply actions

LOL

I know! But I just shrugged at the result. I’m finding soccer boring now after hockey!

"We have two giant hamsters running on a massive wheel at our secret underground lair..." - Benjamin Linus.

by drfrankentweed on Apr 26, 2009 5:34 AM CDT up reply actions

Ignited, as always, with an Old Trafford penalty. (Not that Spurs didn’t choke, but that Old Trafford routine gets old…)

Lighthouse Hockey: Side effects may include Weight gain and frequent game loss.

by Dominik on Apr 27, 2009 11:01 AM CDT up reply actions

Oddly enough . . .

I only saw the 2nd half. That granted PK was a pretty good joke . . . if only the ref thought it was a joke anyway.

"The world is getting to be such a dangerous place, a man is lucky to get out of it alive." -- W.C. Fields

by Donut King on Apr 27, 2009 1:05 PM CDT up reply actions

Chelsea FC

Way prior to the Abramovich invasion

Let's go Blues!!!

by Milo. on Apr 25, 2009 10:54 PM CDT up reply actions

It's all Chelsea at this house

My son’s soccer coach is from England and a Chelsea fan. When playing indoor they are CFC.
He has influenced 15 youngsters and gotten all us parents hooked with Chelsea also.

When we were at Disney World Epcot last year, in the England area we has to get Chelsea stuff.

by luvhockey on Apr 26, 2009 6:14 PM CDT up reply actions

Thanks..

I’ve noticed that.

What I love is being able to “rediscover” the past so to speak – and watch the youtube clips of the 70’s/80’s/90/s stuff that I obviously missed.

"We have two giant hamsters running on a massive wheel at our secret underground lair..." - Benjamin Linus.

by drfrankentweed on Apr 25, 2009 5:28 AM CDT up reply actions

I still consider...

…myself a new Blues fan. I became a true Blues fan in 1998 and have had season tix since 1999.
I 1st became a CAPs fan in 1996. (long story which I hope to post later as a “How I became a Blues fan.”)

Anyway, I was around for the presidents trophy winning team in 1999-00. We had a great team…we had all the pieces imho, but got the daycare flu and lost the opening round series to SJ. The next year we made a serious run and were eliminated by Col. to play for the cup.

While I enjoyed those two years of “successful” playoff hockey for the Blues, the team that we just watched this year (and postseason) is by far the most I have cared about the Blues “team” and organ-I-zation.

I was never more proud to be a fan, or pleased that the owners/management actually DID stay the course and build from within. I can honestly say that I believe this post-season was by far more intense, more meaningful, than the years where we were “expected” to go past the 1st round. The team was a team. This team was a perfect example of the phrase, the “team was greater than the sum of its parts” are some shit.

Thanks for the post. Was very refreshing. I like to hear I am not the only fan that is a member of the Blues fandom.

This site (and therefore everyone here) is my therapy. I thank you.

Now, back to work…
DanGNR

by DanGNR on Apr 27, 2009 2:05 PM CDT reply actions