Do you like watching sports that are fast and furious? How about sports that are full of hitting, vicious rivalries, and last-second heroics? Well, then look no further because the National Hockey League wants you.

Professional hockey has a long history, but the current era of the National Hockey League (NHL) actually began play in 1942, when the league’s “Original Six” era started. At that time, the league consisted of the Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs. This group made up the entire league for the next 25 seasons.
As the sport’s popularity in the United States grew – it had always been popular in Canada, of course – the league expanded to twelve by adding six teams for the 1967-68 season. The league continued to grow throughout the 1970s as it added 10 teams during the decade. In the 1980’s, the league’s popularity grew even further – perhaps sparked by the scintillating 1980 Olympic Hockey Team (aka, the Miracle on Ice) – though this popularity did not result in the addition of any new teams. The 1990’s and 2000’s saw the league grow and expand into areas of the country that do not have winter sports like hockey, but that can support a team. This expansion made the NHL a 30 team league with a 31st team set to take the ice for the 2017-18 season in, perhaps, the least likely place in the nation for hockey: Las Vegas. Only time will tell if the desert will be able to handle the expansion Vegas Golden Knights.
Locally, the Washington Capitals began play in 1974 and though they have never won the Stanley Cup, they advanced to the Finals once and are a perennial playoff team. In recent season, (aka – the Alex Ovechkin-era) the Caps have finished on top of the league’s regular season standings several times and have been true Cup contenders.

If everything I’ve said so far has not convinced you to tune in to the NHL, let me go a bit further by giving you my top five reasons you should be watching the NHL.

The fifth reason why you should be watching the NHL is the speed of the game. When you are watching hockey, you have to watch the puck the entire time because if you don’t you are going to miss something. Also, when you are watching hockey it is the most exciting sport -other than football – with non-stop action. It is fast and you can’t help by be impressed by the speed and skill the players have as they make nice passes to set up their teammates.

The fourth reason is the rivalries. There are many rivalries in the NHL that are not to be missed. These include the Canadiens-Bruins, Blackhawks-Blues, Penguins-Capitals, and Sharks-Kings. These teams have so much history that when they play against each other the hate and dislike between them is palpable. In the NBA there are rivalries, but there are no traditional rivalries that you talk about like the NHL has.

The third reason is the physicality of the game. The truth is, there is a lot of hitting and fights. When there is physicality in the game of hockey, it is exciting. When you tune in and see fights, it is exciting because you realize that these players are settling their differences with somebody right there on the ice instead of just shoving each other around or trying to fight after the game. Also, the refs will let the players fight until somebody gives in, goes down, or the players fatigue – which is awesome.
The second reason is hockey is the ultimate team sport. Of course, the league has superstars like Sidney Crosby, Ovechkin, and Connor McDavid, but those guys don’t get the shine without their line mates. Hockey teams usually play four lines (3 players make up a forward “line”) that each has a center, a left wing, and a right wing. These players are joined by two defensemen (defensive “pairings” consist of 2 players) and every player has a responsibility. A player comes on the ice for his “shift,” which only lasts between 30-50 seconds before he returns to the bench. While some players can take over a game with their skill, in most cases they rely on their line mates to make plays, which is why hockey is such a team sport.

The first reason why you should be watching the NHL is the playoffs. Trust me, there is no other sport that has a playoff season as exciting as the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Any team in the playoffs could play the best hockey at the right time and win the Stanley Cup. Also, you have sudden death in the playoffs, so that means the team that scores first in overtime wins the game. There have been some long overtime games like in the 2000 playoffs when the Penguins and Flyers went to five overtimes in Game 4 before the Flyers’ Keith Primeau to give the Flyers to win and tie the series at 2 games apiece. In 2003 the Anaheim Mighty Ducks beat the Dallas Stars in 5 overtimes as well. Of course, most overtime games end earlier, but the pressure and the excitement is amazing.
Ultimately, there is no favorite in the Stanley Cup Playoffs because when the playoffs start everybody is just 16 wins from the title.