How long have you been a hockey fan and.....

[muskiesfan]

Who's your favorite team?

I've always like hockey, I just don't know anything about it. :lol: My team is the Columbus Blue Jackets.

I just recently started collecting hockey and thefatguy (Jesse) and pghbuccos (Dave) have sent me some Blue Jackets to help get my collection going. I hope to pick up my first Blue Jackets game used or auto soon.

I'm originally from Cincinnati and I used to go watch the Cincinnati Cyclones play. I think are an EHL team.

What about you?

 

[gonzagacubs]

I honestly didn't really get into hockey until towards the end of 2006. I remember watching Sidney Crosby highlights on Fox's Final Score one night, and it just kinda snowballed from there.

My team is the Chicago Blackhawks. There is no team in Oklahoma, and I can't stand the Dallas Stars, so I went with the next best thing. My mom is from the Chicago area, and we have family there so the Hawks were a perfect fit for a team to root for. However, I will say this, Jarome Iginla is easily my favorite player to watch.

 

[200lbhockeyplayer]

I started playing hockey in 1976...and my first Blackhawks game at Chicago Stadium was the 78-79 season.

I'm still a Hawks fan.

 

[sffanmike25]

San Jose Sharks

Have been a San Jose Sharks fan since the Bay Area was awarded a NHL expansion team in 1991. I was 9 at the time, so before that, I hadn't really followed the game beyond its big name players. Man, those first two years were brutal.

Hoping for the best this postseason, but would be an idiot to not be fully prepared for the worst.

 

[JackLondon]

When I was a kid in the 70's, I was a casual fan of the L.A. Kings. A friend of mine got me interested in them. I still have fond memories of Dionne, Goring, Vachon, etc. Have a couple autos of the guys I remember.

But, the biggie for me was watching the Miracle on Ice team at the 1980 Olympics. Still one of the two or three most exciting sports moments for me, ever. Even have a complete set of the Signature Rookies Miracle on Ice autographs, too.

Though I don't follow hockey very closely any more, I still enjoy occasionally picking up cheap cards of my old favorites.

 

[sabresfreak]

I first got into hockey around 1996. This is when the Sabres were moving into the Marine Midland Arena along with the new logo. I was given a puck with the old Sabre logo puck and I was hooked. My first favorite player was Matthew Barnaby. I went to 2 games in 96 once against the Rangers and the other against the Ducks both in the 300 level. The game against the Rangers I dropped my slice of pizza in the row in front of me and that put a damper on the rest of the game.

As far as collecting goes I got a pack of cards whenever I would finish reading a book. The first packs I remember recieving were 96-97 UD Collectors Choice packs.

 

[sabresfreak]

sorry double post

 

[Sly]

I've always been a hockey fan, but it always took a back seat to baseball and football...though over the past two years, it's surpassed football and I honestly am at a point that I almost enjoy watching it more than I do baseball (and I've been a baseball guy since I as born!)

I must say, NHL Center Ice is the absolute greatest invention in pay-for cable television!!! Especially considering I'm a Bruins fan, and I live in Washington State...only way I get to watch the B's!!!

 

[G $MONEY$]

Im a life long Hockey fan. I learned how to skate before i even learned to walk :lol: . I grew up watching Hockey in the 80's and was always a big fan of the Calgary Flames, with the first ****** coming in 86 when we knocked out the mighty Edmonton Oilers from the playoffs (That series win was actually better than our Stanley Cup win :lol: ), then of course the Flames won the Stanley Cup in 1989. Hockey here in Alberta was just unreal in the 80s and early 90s as an Alberta team (Calgary or Edmonton) went to the Stanley Cup finals eight consecutive years, winning 6 Stanley Cups in that time :shock: .

Nowadays along with the Flames i am also a big Pittsburgh Penguins fan. I was a fan of the Pens in the early 90s when they had great players like Mario Lemieux, Ron Francis, Paul Coffey, Kevin Stevens, John Cullen, Jaromir Jagr Etc. but became a super fan in 2003 when the team drafted Marc Andre Fleury. I had been following Marc Andre Fleury for about 2 years in juniors and the WJC's he played in and that was just about the time when i was really getting interested in Hockey cards and collectible again. So long before MAF was drafted i had already decided that i was gonna collect him when he enters the NHL and become a fan of the team that drafted him. As history turned out, that team to draft him was the Pittsburgh Penguins and everything worked out perfectly.

I am also a big fan of the CHL and my favorite Junior team is the Calgary Hitmen.

 

[pghbuccos]

I too have been a lifelong hockey fan. my love for the Pens came from my step-dad who has been a fan since the franchise was formed in 1967. my first memories of collecting Penguin cards and memorabilia are when my step-dad brought home the 1987-88 team calender from the home opener. I have followed them ever since and even though I stopped collecting cards from 1996-2006 I still have all my cards from when I was a kid. I attended my first game in 1992 to see the Pens take on the Flyers and have attended at least 5 games every season until my buddy and I purchased a half-season ticket plan in 2005-06 (Crosby's rookie season) . now we attend at least 21-25 games a season.

 

[jarcar]

Been a hockey fan since I can remember. Saw my first live game when I was 5 at the Montreal Forum with my Dad. We lived in Montreal until I was 8 then we moved to Vancouver but I was still a Canadiens fan until I was about 16, then I became a Canucks fan. I have been a Canucks fan ever since.

 

[UGLY STIK]

Ive been a hockey fan since 1971 , when I played my first street hockey game in Granit city , Il.
My older brother lived there...he was a blues fan and I liked the Red Wings. I was raised in Milwaukee , wi.
and followed the AHL Milwaukee Admirals and Wisconsin Badgers. My favorite players are Sergei Fedorov &
Chris Osgood !

 

[Hoominaga]

I've been a hockey fan since as early as I can remember. I haven't been to a game in at least 10 years, but that's mostly because I always went with my dad and neither of us have gone since moving to NC. I'm a Flyers fan (from Philadelphia).

 

[KC37]

I was a casual fan in the mid-80s as a kid, but watching the 88 Olympics in middle school, and then having the Bruins make deep playoff runs right after that is what really cemented me as a fan.

 

[PhillyPuckNut]

Been a hockey fan since my Uncle took me to my first game when I was 8 years old at the Spectrum. I've always followed the Flyers but have also been a fan of guys like Gretzky, Lemeiux, Roy, and some others.

 

[Card Magnet]

I was watching hockey longer than I can remember since my parents were on the fan club committee of the local ECHL team, so I was a fan at an early age. Nothing beats the smells the arena used to have, including the horrible stench coming from the goalie at the visitor's bench taking a breather. If I wanted a drink, I'd make sure the goalie wasn't in the bench area :lol: .

As a kid in the early 90s, I was a Pens fan by default since I live in SW Pennsylvania, and they're the popular team here. As I got a little older in the mid 90s, the Lightning came around and I became a fan.

Since then, I follow the Lightning as much as I can, and they are without a doubt my favorite team. I still casually follow the Pens since they're always televised here, and it's hard to not like them. As long as their winning doesn't interfere with the Bolts, I root for them.

I have to admit I'm pretty ignorant on anything not related to the Lightning or Pens though, which is one of the main reasons I don't post on the hockey boards much. I don't have much to bring to the table as far as discussion goes.

 

[lumm0x]

I begin playing hockey in the mid 70's and watching Mark Messier play junior for the Spruce Grove Mets. Grew up and stayed a Flyers fan.

 

[EricChavezCollector3]

I started going to Cincinnati Cyclones games when I was 4 and had season tickets every year up until the original franchise left Cincinnati in 2002 I believe. Luckily they are back and had a lot of recent success (2 Championships in 3 years). My NHL team was always the Canadiens up until NHL came to Columbus. So now I have a split allegiance but head to head I have to go with Columbus.

As a child I befriended the Cyclones mascot "Mr. Cyclone" basically a player with no skates and a "Jason" type mask. When he retired/being replace he gave me his original ECHL jersey (He gave my sister his IHL jersey). Hockey is and always will be #1 in my heart for many many reasons.

 

[AK11]

Since the mid '90s. Favorite team would be the LA Kings now, but it was the Ducks when I first became a fan. There is no NHL team here in Houston, just the Aeros of the AHL. I went to one game with my family and we had front row seats next to the glass and closer to one end of the ice. It was great. I wish the Kings were televised a bit more, but between the NHL network, the NBC game of the week, and FSW, I see nothing but Stars and east coast teams. Only when the Kings play in Dallas is it televised here in Houston. Hockey is just as exciting as football to watch, but just has limited fanfare.

 

[pghbuccos]

I am glad this thread got bumped as I am enjoying reading how everyone became a hockey fan.

for those of you that live in different cities than your favorite NHL teams you can watch games online on adthe.me or justintv (I'm sure most of you already know this).