Behind the Blog: Jerseys & Hockey Love
After a long summer hiatus, Behind the Blog is back for the season. Tapeleg at Jerseys and Hockey Love is going to start it off for us this year. JAHL is a new hockey blog dedicated to talking about hockey jerseys, minor league hockey fun, and the Colorado Avalanche. It’s a fun and always interesting read.
Q.1 – According to your archives, you started Jerseys and Hockey Love in May 2006. Why did you start a hockey blog?
I started JAHL to get into the conversation. Most of the people I am around on a daily basis are not hockey fans. Only one, in fact, so it’s kind of hard to talk hockey with people. I found a few really good blogs from all over the world, with people who had a lot of personality, and spoke their mind. I can do both, so I saw this as the perfect medium to get the conversation started..
Q.2 – Many of your posts are in regards to various hockey jerseys that you own. How many do you actually have? Which one is your favorite and why?
How many? Way too many. Around 40, on this count. That’s a lot of jerseys. A few are blank, a few signed, several game worn, and none of them are the new ‘Swift’ jerseys. I don’t really care for those.
Favorites: I can’t pick just one
David Aebischer 3rd. It’s kind of unique, with a black stripe through his name, following his trade (my little protest).
Dan Hinote Game Worn
Masow Dynamo Game Worn: Softest jersey ever
Cincinnati Cyclones Game Worn
Q.3 – What made you become an Avalanche fan?
The Stanley Cup win in 1996. Going towards the third overtime, I was biting my nails. No game had ever made me feel that way. And I had never been a ‘sports’ fan. Even now, I am a hockey fan, and could care less about other sports. The only other one that I enjoy is Lacrosse. That SCF game alone did it for me. I was sold.
But I will say this. I am a hockey fan first, and an Avs fan a very close second. I can go to a game anywhere and be entertained. I love going to games in the minors, juniors, or even high school tournements. I stay for the kid’s games between periods. I’m not turning my back on the Avs, but I am a Hockey Fan. I love the sport, not just my team.
Q.4 – What do you hope to achieve with your blog over the next few years?
Some of what I want is along the lines of the audience, and some are all about me. I would love to get some more readers from Colorado (but I love the readers from everywhere). I don’t know how Colorado sports fans react to the blogs. I’d also love to see more comments, if only to up the conversation factor. I love talking hockey with people, and the comments on the blogs is the outlet for that.
As for me, I hope to become a better writer. Sometimes, I struggle with what I want to say, or how to say it. Metephor eludes me too often. It gets better all the time, and hopefully won’t stop anytime soon. All of the writing I have ever done before has tanked quickly. I would either just give up, or hate what I was doing. A lot of writers hate to write, but love to have writen (to have the work done). This blog is fun for me to write, and to have writen. It’s the first time I have really, truly enjoyed facing the writing, and that makes it all easier.
Q.5 – Who is your favorite hockey player (either current or retired player)? Why?
You are either going to love this answer, or hate it. I’m going to give you two:
Current Player: David Aebischer. No longer an Av, and getting the short end of the trade, I feel like he was never given a real chance. Even before his slide last season, he was never mentioned as the goalie of the future for the Avs. He got traded after a strange year for every goaltender with the Avs. I would rather have Aebie back any day.
Former player: George Plimpton. (Wha?!?!?) Plimpton, for those who don’t know, played 5 minutes in goal for the Boston Bruins against the Broad Street Bullies in an exibition game. Then he went and wrote one of my favorite hockey books. He had the guts to do what most would shy away from, and he even ‘stopped’ a penalty shot against Reggie Leach (he fell down and got a toe on it). George, of course, played other sports, and wrote some great books about it, but Open Net is just a great book. Go read it.
Honorable Mention: Joe Sakic. Even if you hate the Avs, you have to love Super Joe. He is an amazing player while also being one of the nicest and most honorable out there. It’s hard not to like him.
Q.6 – Which team do you see making a lot of improvement this season and which one do you think will not be as successful as last year?
I think Nashville will be suprisingly good this year. Much like Calgary, they had some really good elements, but needed a few more players to go with their stars. They have that now. They also have some decent third and fourth lines. If Vokoun is healthy, they have a shot.
Minnesota will be interesting. They are being built different than they have been coached. Is the defensive style of play going to rub hard against the scoring talent they picked up? It’s going to be fun to watch.
I can’t see the Stars doing much this year. They haven’t done much to gain anything, and lost some players. Are they going to rely on Turco to get the job done for the rest of them? Hard to tell.
Q.7 – A lot of members of the media see the Avs going down in the Western Conference standings, do you agree? If not, why?
Confidence hasn’t been high lately. But now that the lineup looks to be solidified, a team may be coming together. The season of Kariya and Selanne was a bust for the Avs, mostly because there wasn’t enough room for that many stars on one team. They weren’t acting like a team. You could see it in the style of play, you could watch it happen. Now that we don’t have the stars, teamwork will have to get them through. It’s what made the Hurricanes so successful last year. Also, the team will live and die by Jose Theodore. If he makes a comeback, they can do well, but they lack in the goalie depth department should he disapoint.
Long and the short, I haven’t written them off, but they have been successful for too long not to fail at some point. If they have to go through a little pain to figure out how to exist in the post-cap era, this is the time to do it. And who better to do it around than Joe Sakic.
Q.8 – What do you think the NHL should do to reach out to potential fans?
There is so much work that can be done for new fans, it’s hard to pick out just a few. The NHL started to restore some of the fun and credibility to the game, and now they have to build on that.
Lowering ticket prices would be a huge step. It’s something that has been batted around a lot, and for good reason. Make the game accessable to the common man, and they will get more fans. Baseball doesn’t draw fans just because it’s baseball, but the tickets are really affordable. I hear stories about fans going to the game for five dollars, hanging out with friends, and having the time of their lives. Those days are gone. The NHL needs to make the game available, and the fans will write their own stories around it. This many games at these kind of prices are a recipe for disaster.
If the NHL and individual teams can get their egos out of the way, they will be able to see the path. Look at the minors. Those guys do nothing but try and reach fans. It shouldn’t be too hard.
Q.9 – What would your dream jersey consist of (team, player, autographs, etc)?
I’m so glad you asked. My dream jersey already exists. Ingmar W. Bergman of Ingmar Bergman Shoots…And Scores designed a Jerseys and Hockey Love jersey for me. He put a ton of thought into the design, from the colors to the font for the names. Talk about flattering. Frankly, it’s one of the best looking jerseys I’ve ever seen. Ingmar has an excellent site, with great analysis, humor, and he’s a bit of a photoshop genius. He has a lot of different jersey designs on his site. Any NHL team looking for a new third jersey should look him up. Now I just have to get a few JAHL jerseys made. And believe me, I will.
Q.10 - Is there any hockey blog or website that you look to for inspiration?
You bet there is. There are so many good blogs out there, I can’t read them all. But I have a few that inspire me everyday. Zanstorm and Hodge at Waiting For Stanley have really embraced me as a blogger. I get to bounce things off of them, and love their sense of humor. (My name is) Earl Sleek at the Battle of California is another. He has the only Battle site with only one person posting to it. Reality Check at Eyes On The Prize has some of the best storytelling in hockey blogging. He talks about hockey history with flair and excitement, without sounding pompus. Great stuff.
Alanah at VCOE was the blog who got me started. Reading what she had to say, and them bantering with her in the comments section, really got me thinking I had a few things worth saying. Frankly, she’s one of the best. She has also made a great foil.
Also, I want to mention American Hockey Fan. I wish I was half as funny as those guys. They bring more humor to the game, while having something real to say on top of it.
BTW: have I mentioned your blog? I read a lot of Behind the Blog before I started mine. And the fact that you bring a lot of yourself to the writing and perspectives make for a great read.
Any additional comments?
It shouldn’t be hard to become a hockey fan. It’s the greatest game ever. But, for a new fan, it can be daunting to get into. Not just understanding the rules, but also finding out about the game’s rich history. So often, when new fans talk hockey, they find out how much they don’t know rather than enjoying hearing the stories. Most of what I heard from people was how hockey was so much better in their day. We are looking at hockey with a new flair, a new excitement, maybe a better game then there was ever. If you have a new hockey fan in your life, get them to a game, and take them under your fandom wing.
Also, there is so much good writing about hockey on these blogs, people should be clicking around, checking out what is being said. Take in some personallity, chat with these people, let them know you are interested. The blogs out there are making me an even bigger fan of the game. With the season getting close, it’s only going to get better. Click around, look at who they like, read some of the archives. Don’t miss out on some of the best hockey writing out there. These people aren’t unreachable either. They are real fans, not just a reporter behind a desk. Post a comment yourself, let them know you are out there. Get in the conversation.
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2 Responses to “Behind the Blog: Jerseys & Hockey Love”
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September 12th, 2006 at 12:50 am
Yeah, TL, we’re all about support and stuff. HAHA
Hey, nice piece, and a great thing by Behind the Jersey to do this kind of thing, especially on a Wings-based site!
I really thought you would have picked Sakic as your 1st fave overall. I was suprised.
Are you ever going to sell any of your jersies? You may make a fortune one day.
September 12th, 2006 at 5:15 pm
Hey TL, thanks not only for the plug, but for pointing me to another great site. The Wings have been my #2 team since aquiring Rogie Vachon one Leaf Cup drought ago. As a Habs fan I must say that red jerseys and Stanley Cups go together like centerfolds and erections, so I’ll be coming back here for sure.
Aebischer? You can have him back for Wolski, even up!
Loved the “without sounding pompous” quote. It counters my “with no checks on arrogance” salute in my profile nicely. Now no one should know what to make of me, and I like that!