Ice hockey is my favorite sport and I like to watch and play it a lot. Photo by Taylor Ogata.
By Taylor Ogata, Staff Reporter
My name is Taylor Ogata and I have been watching hockey my entire life. I started playing it when I turned eight years old and have grown to love the sport because it is an exciting, fast-paced game to watch and play.
I know all about the game of hockey in North America and I keep up to date with what is happening around the world of professional hockey in the United States and Canada. The National Hockey League (NHL) is the top professional ice hockey league in North America. It currently consists of 31 teams across the U.S. and Canada. A 32nd team in Seattle will join the league in 2021.
On that note, I would like to try and become the commissioner of the NHL when I graduate from CSUDH and try to expand the league to 40 teams. Gary Bettman is currently the commissioner of the NHL and he has not done a good job in my opinion. I hope to take over once he retires and do what I promise to do as the commissioner.
Ice hockey has become a very popular game especially here in Southern California. There are two NHL teams, the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks, nearby and they have made the sport popular here. It has also become more exciting to watch over the years. There is a lot more physical contact than football and it moves at a very fast pace. Also, the players tend to lose their temper often and they are allowed to fist fight during the game only if they agree to serve five minutes in the penalty box afterwards. Hockey is basically the only sport in which you are allowed to fist fight (aside from any boxing or MMA).
As far as famous players who played for the local teams, there have been a lot that are noteworthy. Wayne Gretzky, the NHL’s all-time leading scorer, played for the Kings from 1988-1996 along with Luc Robitaille (1986-1994, 1997-2001 and 2003-2006). The Ducks meanwhile, have had Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne in the late 90s and early 2000s. Both Ducks players were inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2017.
I encourage everyone to check out a hockey game either in Los Angeles or Anaheim once the season starts again in January (it is starting later this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic) and you will see how exciting it is to watch. If they do not allow fans into the arenas this year, you can watch the games on TV, either on Fox Sports West, Prime Ticket, NBC or NBCSN. Just check your TV listings for what is on.
