Recycled Rant – ESPN and the Original 6 Hockey Teams
I haven’t created a blog post in several months. Life has been busy. Even though there are a lot of things I want to write about, finding the time and inspiration to sit down and type it out has been hard.
I was reading through some old Facebook rants I wrote over the years and thought I would resurrect some of them here. I’m hoping this will inspire me to get some original posts done.
This is a rant from November 2014 when I was upset with ESPN for challenging the notion that the Leafs, Red Wings, Buins, Rangers, Canadiens and Black Hawks were not the original 6 teams. I guess this was a phase in my life that I didn’t have any real problems to rant about…
Heads up. This rant concludes with me saying “fuck you ESPN”. If you are satisfied already then you can stop reading.Otherwise…
Begin rant about ESPN’s on going ignorance about hockey – Here is further proof that Americans don’t understand hockey. This video is an ESPN commentator creating the impression that the concept of the NHL original 6 match ups are historically incorrect and allegedly… a marketing strategy. His point is that the Original 6 we know were not the original teams in the league when it was formed. He is correct. For more than 25 years after it was formed in 1917 the NHL floundered with teams coming and going. There were probably 20 teams that arrived and disappeared while the NHL was finding it’s footing. Until 1942 the NHL was in constant expansion and contraction and often in turmoil.
But starting in 1946 there were 6 teams; the Original 6 as they became to be known. The reason they are called this is not because they were there at the founding of the league but they were the ones that ushered the NHL through its golden era and lead to the expansions that started in 1967 and have lead to the league we know today. For 21 years those 6 teams competed and generated all of the greats of the game. Let’s face it. Who knows more than a couple players. who played in the league prior to the 40’s. If I need to list the legendary players between ’46 and’ 67 I will but I’m sure you get the point.
Anyone who knows the history of the game knows what is meant by the Original 6. They’ve been called that for 47 years after a previous 21 years that they were indeed the only teams in the league. This isn’t a marketing scheme, it’s the way it’s been for decades.
So fuck you ESPN for trying to downplay the history of the teams and history of the league. And fuck this guy for mocking the NHL as a secondary league less important than MLS.
Apologies to my American friends for lumping everyone in the same category but ESPN is yours. The Canadian TV never claims the Original 6 is a farce. – End rant about ESPN’s on going ignorance about hockey
The Cult of Opinion 