| During a sports season where the Dolphins have the | | | | and penalties are generally pretty intuitive (no using |
| worst record in the NFL and the Miami Heat already | | | | your stick to haul someone down, no elbowing people |
| seem hell-bent on a lackluster (or worse) follow-up to | | | | to the head, etc.) Icing occurs when a team shoots the |
| last year's stunning championship win (dropping almost | | | | puck from their side of the ice (behind the center |
| all of their preseason games and then getting | | | | red-line) to behind the opposing team's goal line (the |
| completely trounced by the Bulls during their home | | | | little red lines across either end). Off-sides occurs |
| opener), Miami - Ft. Lauderdale residents might be | | | | when an attacking player goes into their opponent's |
| looking for a team that they can watch whose | | | | defensive zone (past the blue line) before the puck. |
| performance doesn't disgust them. Enter South | | | | Now that you know the basic rules, you can |
| Florida's hockey team, the Florida Panthers. | | | | concentrate on what makes hockey so exciting: the |
| I was born and raised in Alaska, which means that it | | | | action. |
| was mandated by law that I play hockey (and by | | | | Other than the fighting, the thing that people know |
| hockey, I of course mean the variety played on ice, not | | | | about hockey is the prevalence of bone crushing body |
| the variety played on fields by high-school girls and the | | | | checks. The whole stadium will gasp (and then cheer |
| Irish). As such, I developed an understanding of it that | | | | wildly) as two 240 lb. behemoths collide on the boards |
| extends beyond that of the average Floridian - namely, | | | | with a deafening shudder. Many people are surprised |
| that hockey is essentially about large Canadians | | | | that such occurrences are completely legal by the |
| punching each other. While this is an important facet of | | | | rules of the game; the fact of the matter is that, when |
| the game, there is really a lot more to it. It is a precise | | | | done legally, even the most impressive body checks |
| game of individual skill and team strategy that is one of | | | | have very little chance of resulting in injury, and when |
| the most fast-paced games on the planet. | | | | combined with the amazing speed of the game, the |
| If you know nothing about hockey (beyond, of course, | | | | physicality makes it very exciting. |
| the bit about the Canadians punching each other), here | | | | It should be noted that to fully enjoy an ice-hockey |
| are some basic rules and things to watch for: Each | | | | game, you should take some friends in tow and get |
| team is allowed 6 players, including the goaltender. The | | | | some decent seats, as you would with any sporting |
| game is played in three twenty-minute periods, and the | | | | event; and, just like for any other sporting event, many |
| object is to put the puck in your opponent's net as | | | | limousine companies (including Mirage Limo) offer |
| many times as possible. That pretty much sums up the | | | | sporting packages that greatly enhance your trip to |
| gist of the game. | | | | and from the game. |
| As far as some of the finer points - if the referee | | | | In no time at all, you'll be watching and cheering Ed |
| blows his whistle, chances are there is one of four | | | | Belfour's great saves and Ollie Jokinen's fantastic |
| reasons: the goaltender has covered the puck, there is | | | | goals. Hockey is a great game, and now, with the |
| a penalty, there is an icing call, or someone is off-sides. | | | | wintry outlook for South Florida's other professional |
| The goaltender covering the puck is self-explanatory, | | | | teams, is the perfect time to discover it. |