“Leaving Here”

“Beware my friends as you pass by,
As you are now, so once was I
As I am now, so you must be
Prepare my friends to follow me”

“Mary Jane” – Megadeth

 

As anyone that has been watching for any length of time will tell you, being a Hockey fan (or a fan of any other team sport I suppose) isn’t easy if you take it seriously.  It can be fun at times, frustrating at others and the whole thing comes with a learning curve with a number of different stages, something I’ll explore in a slightly different way in next months blog (said post was something that was in it’s final draft stages and ready to post before the bombshell that Matt Beca wouldn’t be returning next season and inspiration took hold.  I feel some of my better posts are written spontaneously and usually inspired by a particular event – see the “Good Times, Bad Times” post for the most recent example, the bulk of which was put together at 5am in the morning following the Playoff Quarter Final defeat to Fife )

I’m guessing that there are times that being a long term Hockey fan are similar to being a parent in that that you can pass on your experiences and advice to those friends that are still fairly new to the sport.  It’s good to know that some of those low points that you’ve been through can be used at some point, and as I’ve become friends with people that are in their first few seasons of watching, I’m in a position to help with times like this

Someone once came up with the theory that when it comes to sports team fandom, it’s best to follow either a team or a particular player as the law of averages would dictate that you can’t follow both and be happy.  I can’t imagine what the percentage of players that play for the same team for their entire career is, but it must be infinitesimal.  I’ll openly admit that I was hoping that Paul Swindlehurst would become something of a “franchise player” for the Storm (probably best to conveniently forget his time with the Nottingham Panthers at this point, obviously). This was set to be a story with a bit of everything – grew up watching Storm at the arena, wears the number “23” in tribute to a Storm legend, played in an exhibition game with the Chicago Blackhawks, returns home, ices for his home team, etc. and then… signs with Belfast.  Don’t get me wrong, he’d be daft not to (because lets face it, I’m sure many of us would have done the same in a similar situation) but there was also the part of us that also wanted the “traditional Hollywood ending”

Going back to the stages of fandom, in the same way that the Fife game could be considered a “lesson”, the departure of Matt Beca can be seen as a similar experience for some of his passionate fans at Storm (a number of which I know personally and to whom I dedicate this post).  To use a phrase I used many times in the Fife game blog, it happens.  I still remember when Curtis “Cujo” Joseph left the Maple Leafs for the Detroit Red Wings in the early 00’s and how it felt at the time – despite being an adult and old enough to know better (you would think), I sulked for the best part of a week (something that I really wish was an exaggeration).  But you know what?  The sun came up the following day, life went on and the “pain” passed in time

The thing to note here is that despite that, I still kept the assorted paraphernalia I’d collected over the years – the jerseys (my first NHL shirt was naturally a Joseph #31 one plus I have a personalised 2002 Team Canada sweater) were still worn and the large print I have of his goalie helmet was displayed and currently takes pride of place in my hallway (or my “Hockey Hall of Fame” as it’s affectionally know) and everything else was kept (someone actually bought me a Cujo/Redwings bobble-head that whilst not exactly my most prized possession, still takes its place in my memorabilia collection).

At this point, it may also be worth mentioning that Cujo made a brief return to the Leafs a number of seasons later as a back-up (albeit as part of “the bleaker years” – funny how things turn out)

I guess that one thing  that some people may need to learn is just because a player has left the team for pastures new, there is absolutely no shame whatsoever in wearing said shirt to games in the future (some may say with the possible exception of a Davey Phillips shirt, for rather obvious reasons).  In the words of Herb Brooks, “the name on the front is a hell of a lot more important than the one on the back”.  Let said jersey be a reminder of a particular season, as believe it or not, I doubt many people generally care whose name you wear on your jersey.  Even if you don’t wear it for a year or two, keep hold of it for future seasons (I was lucky to be of a “certain age” during the arena years so a lot of my old shirts still fit).  Of course, if the jersey is “cursed” (you may have to bear with me here), that’s completely different (I’ve a couple of shirts that I’ve owned over the years – one I wore for training where every time I wore it I had a ‘mare and a Storm shirt that seemed to result on us getting beat every time it was brought out of the wardrobe – both are currently stored safely away, a bit like the arc of the covenant at the end of “Raiders of the Lost Arc”…)

So yes, when your favourite player leaves, it can be a painful time, but if you’re in this for the long haul, it’s just a bump in the road and as they say, time is a great healer – it’ll be something you look back on and possibly laugh about in later years.  Think of it as another step in the “stages of Hockey fan” (something I really must get around to writing my own version of at some point) and you’ll be fine.  As much as you don’t tend to forget a favourite player (especially your first), you will pretty much almost certainly find another one the following season and the whole process starts all over again, the difference being that you’ll be better prepared for when they leave next time 😉