Tonight I watched the Washington Capitals play the Pittsburgh Penguins in the NHL playoffs. I don’t know the name of the game or the series or whatever because I’m not a big enough hockey fan. Hell, I’m a huge baseball fan and I still don’t know the names of the playoffs series but I know the letters. It’s like ALDS or NLCS or something.

So, let’s just call tonight’s playoff the Something Something Conference Regionals.

The Caps were up 3 games to 2 on the Penguins in the SSCR but they were heading back to Pittsburgh and the Penguins are known for breaking Caps hearts.

I can relate being a Tottenham Hotspur and New York Mets fan. My teams crumble under pressure.

It also bears mentioning that I wasn’t watching this game for myself. I was watching for my girlfriend, who is a huge Washington Capitals fan.

I asked her yesterday, “So, do you want to watch the hockey game tomorrow?”

Without even thinking, she said, “No, I can’t watch it.”

I didn’t really understand. Why wouldn’t you want to watch your favorite team in the Something Something Conference Regionals? The could go to States! And face the – hell, I don’t even know anymore – The New Orleans Po Boys or whatever. (What is up with southern hockey teams? Nashville. Come on. And Vegas? Vegas has a team?)

I used to love watching Amerks games with my dad as a kid. The Amerks are the Rochester Americans, an AHL team. I don’t even know if I loved the games as much as the experience. Going downtown at night with my dad, sitting in those seats, watching Jody Gage, always on the cusp of a call up to the Sabres. For a season, we had Keith Gretzky, Wayne’s younger brother, and I’ve never seen such vicious yelling at a player from his own fans simply for being average.

So, I have a bit of a hockey history. Tonight’s game was not how I remember hockey. I remember minor league, Friday night, Rochester hockey with a moose mascot and the smooth (fuckin’ jarring) sound of “Freeze Frame” playing eighty-seven times. But tonight’s game was intense and I quickly realized why my girlfriend couldn’t watch.

Every time either team approached their opposing goal, it was panic inducing. It seemed like every approach was a possible scoring possibility and when the stakes are high – the SSCR, big rivals, one of whom is the perennial winner – it’s nerve-racking.

Spoiler alert…

… this is so unnecessary because if you care at all about hockey, you know the outcome already and you aren’t going to my blog to find out anything about hockey.

The Capitals won in overtime. Ovechkin (he’s on the Capitals) passed to Other Russian Guy who had a breakaway and slotted a goal through the legs of Matt Murray, who is the Penguins goalie. (I also know the names Sydney Crosby and T. J. Oshie, they are a Penguin and a Capital, respectively.)

I texted her to let her know and I said, “I’m not even happy, I’m just sort of relieved.” She was too. It was doubly important for her but that story is hers to tell, not mine.

Sports are about the stories, especially the rivalries. I rooted for the Red Sox in 2004 and that got me into baseball. Maybe rooting for the Caps will get me into the NHL, we’ll see. I watch sports for those times when the underdog (or, rather, the underachiever) finally wins. That’s my favorite story, even when I have to borrow it from someone else.