For the third year running, an exhibition series in support of the not-for-profit Stop Concussions organisation, co-founded by NHL star Keith Primeau and European hockey sensation Kerry Goulet (and, as well this year, Brain Injury Australia), has drawn a large number of Sydneysiders to Allphones Arena, a barn bigger than most NHL arenas in North America, for a glimpse of the fastest and most exciting game on earth.
In 2015, the star attraction has been Canadian defenceman (and captain) Brent Burns, the San Jose Sharks blue-liner, whose long season, after 80+ NHL games, has climaxed here in Australia, just a few weeks after helping Canada win World Championship gold. In that tournament, Burns was named the leading defenceman, and has a slap shot to make even the hardiest of goalies worried.
Given that this is an exhibition series, the fact that another giant crowd descended upon Allphones says something about the passion of Aussie hockey fans. Whilst there were two small sections on the top deck curtained off, there was still a sizeable attendance, when you consider that the total capacity there is over twenty-one thousand. The players must have loved playing inside such a large venue, particularly those who play in leagues where arenas are considerably smaller.
The exhibition series, which made a stop in Melbourne on Friday night, and will play games in Brisbane and Perth over the coming two weekends, features a mixture of current and former NHL players led by Burns, Jerry D’Amigo, Matt Frattin and Garnet Exelby, with AHL players who’re at or near the top of the American Hockey League talent class. 500-game NHL veteran David Booth will join the series for Brisbane and Perth.
For those who thumb their noses at the number of AHL guys, try and remember one thing: you don’t have to just be very good to crack the NHL, you’ve gotta be absolutely astoundingly brilliant. The AHL features a lot of very good players, just waiting for their opportunity to crack the big show.
I remember two years ago, social media types declared one particular player, Mike Latta, as being nothing more than a brawling hack. Now, Latta is an NHL player in Washington. My point is that just because rosters don’t have an all-star list of names that jump out at casual fans, doesn’t mean the guys on the ice aren’t talented.
There is a heck of a lot of talent on show and the players here are worthy ambassadors for both the game of hockey itself, and also for Stop Concussions. Anyone who pays even cursory attention to sport of any sort knows that head injuries are a major issue now, and the more recognition that Stop Concussions, Brain Injury Australia and other such charities can get, the better the post-playing future of thousands of athletes in many sports will be.
Overall, it’s a great spectacle, even at a sligjtly slower speed and without the usual battering that goes on in a full-on game, and a friend of mine at the game with me, who’d never seen hockey before, came away incredibly impressed. There was enough feeling in the game to make it interesting. No fights, which was a surprise.
Seeing Team USA’s goalie Garret Sparks with his mask off, clawing at a Canadian skater was worth the price of admission. The Toronto Marlies product was absolute on fire all night, stoning wave after wave of Canadian attack.
Watching Brent Burns tearing it up was a real privilege, too. Literally and figuratively, he’s head-and-shoulders above everyone else. Getting the San Jose Sharks star out here was a major coup for the promoters, and has really raised the profile of both this series and hockey full stop. That’s never a bad thing.
If you don’t go into the arena expecting a contest like we’d see in, say, an Olympic final or the seventh game of the Stanley Cup Final, then you’ll definitely come away entertained. I certainly did! You get goals, you get Kiss Cam and Dance Cam, two staples of the NHL arena experience, and you get to be deafened by a goal horn that may or may not have been appropriated from the RMS Titanic.
Let’s not rag on the players for not hitting the stuffing out of each other – there was a little, but not a lot. They’re here in the off-season for a charity tournament. Some fans expect them to play at full speed, thus risking serious injury. If you’re at the lower end of the totem pole, and you’re injured in the off-season, chances are good that someone else will take your job. The fact that these guys are here at all should be commended. Yeah, I know it’s a free trip, but they still didn’t have to make it.
At any rate, it’s an excuse to pull on an NHL jersey and spend the evening amongst hockey fans, who’re, hands down, some of the best people on earth. Hopefully these games make the NHL sit up and think that playing a game or three in Australia, even pre-season, wouldn’t be such a bad idea. That’s my hope.
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