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Editor's Corner

Week 5: No love for Sharks and Kings

What I’m finding with these NHL documentaries is that they (well, the ones I have watched so far) are structured to make you fall in love.

Fall in love with the game, the cities, the teams, the players and everything else that comes with the NHL – the history, the rivalries, the ice hockey culture.

It’s an incredibly smart move because as anyone who has been in love before will know, once you’re in love it’s hard to let go. NHL makes you fall in love with it, and by doing so, hooks you for life.

This week I watched the four-part Road to the NHL Stadium series, which focused on the San Jose Sharks and LA Kings. It was released in 2015.

Much like All Access Quest for the 2016 Stanley Cup, the documentary series I watched last week, Road to the NHL Stadium was laced with emotive narration that weaved a tale of rivalry, stunning visuals, behind-the-scenes footage, locker room banter, and one-on-one interviews with players.

Road to NHL Stadium Series also followed players into their past-time activities (deep sea fishing, playing with zoo animals) and family lives. It’s all to give you a glimpse into what it’s like to be an ice hockey player and what being part of the NHL involves – the highs and lows.

This series had everything you could want. But, at times I felt lost. It was the narration that lost me. All the clichés and platitudes delivered in the narration detracted from what the series was meant to show – the rivalry between the Kings and Sharks.

I got lost on the road, I suppose you could say. I saw a lot of snippets of hockey games, saw some really good hockey, coaches pushing their players, some animals and heard lots of swearing.
But I didn’t get any sense of the rivalry that is meant to be between the Kings and San Jose – aside from being told that it’s there.

As for the Stadium. I don’t recall it being mentioned until the end of episode three.

By the time the Stadium game rolled around, I wasn’t feeling what I undoubtedly meant to be – swept up in the awe and rivalry.

Instead of rivalry, what I ended up seeing through Road to NHL Stadium were similarities between the two teams.

The Sharks coach – then Todd McLellan – and Kings’ coach – Darryl Sutter – were really hard on their teams; really pushed them to do better. Did I mention lots of swearing?

Both teams had their tales of heartache, triumph, injury. Neither had the kind of season they had wanted. Both clearly want the win.

The Stadium game was great. That is when I finally got the sense of awe, charm and rivalry. It’s disappointing that I only got it right at the end, but the series wasn’t a waste. It did give me a good look at the two teams.

But, I didn’t fall in love with either.

I got the sense LA is a lot more polished. They’re a real high-end hockey team.

Whereas the Sharks, I got the sense that they thrive off being seen as battlers. Though, they have really cool additions to the game – like skating onto home ice from a Sharks head. And their fans wearing (foam) shark heads.

I am not disqualifying either team, but right now I neither love or hate the Kings or Sharks.

So, five weeks in and I still have no idea who my hockey team should be. This is a lot harder than I thought it would be! The search continues.

Oh, fun fact. US President (he’s still the Pres) Barack Obama is a Blackhawks fan.

Ellie-Marie Watts is a journalist for Grassroots Sports, Newcastle Northstars (AIHL team) and Fairfax Media. She has a passion for sport, in particular grassroots sports such as ice hockey, gridiron and roller derby, and telling stories about athletes, overcoming adversity and triumph. Through Grassroots Sports Ellie hopes to help promote the emerging sports she loves into the forefront of the Australian public’s mind, chart their rise, take a few photos (another passion of hers) and tell the stories of the people who made it happen.

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