A goal is the noise a crowd makes

 

“A Goal is the Noise A Crowd Makes” – Jason Cohen, Zamboni Rodeo

 

League Two Football, Twenty20 Cricket, Test Match Cricket, Club Rugby Union, Even World Championship Lacrosse. Yes, all these sports have been used to fill the live spectatorship void left after the close of the Elite League season.

 

That’s not to say they weren’t enjoyable, the Lacrosse World Championships in Manchester in June went some of the way to fulfilling the physicality shown in hockey, while Rugby provided the familiarity. But when it comes to a game and a league I know and love, it’s UK Hockey and thankfully this weekend I get to return home for our first home game of the season.

 

Having attended the Giants Charity Shield victory over Coventry a few weeks ago. I felt that the Giants have a very strong side this season as Doug Christianson attempts to show the potential displayed in his Edinburgh tenure.

 

A flying visit to the SkyDome provided a mild hockey fix, however the ‘dead rubber’ feel of the game didn’t inspire me to believe that hockey was ‘BACK’ just yet. The trip was filled with chat discussing various teams including our own, hopes for the season and the usual witty jibes between rival fans, but the bite wasn’t there yet. Despite all the talk of fans wanting a “marker laid down” and “setting up the season to come”, the Giants run out to victory, though pleasing, made me pine for the start of the regular season and the real business of hockey.

 

And so here we are. One weekend has passed and the Giants acquire 3 points out of 4 on the road. My intentions were initially to travel to both games in Nottingham and Cardiff. Circumstance prevented both, but gave the opportunity for something different.

 

After dipping their toe with a successful live experiment screening the Belfast Giants victory in the Playoff Final against the Cardiff Devils back in April, Sky Sports have plunged their feet firmly in the water with the announcement of a selection of live regular season games. The first of which saw them return to the NIC last Saturday for another Belfast Giants game, as the Playoff Champions opened their league season against the Panthers.

 

It really is an odd feeling. Standing in a Manchester pub, glass in hand after an entertaining day out with friends, watching your hockey team play live on Sky, realising you’re the only one shouting at the TV.

 

None of my friends that day were in anyway hockey fans. But given the circumstance; a live game, on sky, screened in a pub on a Saturday night, quite a number did pop the odd question and a few brought themselves from the chatting pack toward the TV to join me and see who this “Galbraith” chap was whom my ‘choice’ language was directed at.

 

Sky’s coverage was as impressive as you’d expect from a Sky (or independently done for Sky) production. The game was a great introduction for anyone unfamiliar with the sport and the tense comeback and completion of the competition provided a high level of excitement that gripped not least 2 or 3 or my friends in the pub. Though I wasn’t the only one perturbed by how close Dave Simms and Rick Strachan were snuggled up together in the commentary box at the NIC.

 

 

By the end I had a couple of requests to attend a live game. And this brings me to the crux of my blog. Live attendance at hockey!

 

As fantastic as the coverage was, being able to watch my team live without a 2-3 hour drive, or a flight home to Belfast, the convenience was not an adequate replacement for the experience of watching your team with your own eyes. Television only shows the spectator what’s in the frame of the camera lens. Hockey is a game, however, played right across the ice and even beyond the confines of the plexi-glass.

 

The camera shows the puck action, it doesn’t show the behind the play slash to a young Brit forward. The camera sees the odd man rush, but it misses the cry from the crowd as they notice a defenseman out of position. It shows the goals, it doesn’t show the emotion on the benches. It captures the toe to toe encounters, it misses the feel of the roar from the crowd. A hockey game can be all of these and more besides.

 

And as I stood talking about the game in the pub to my interested friends, I realised myself that as much as I was enjoying the game on the screen and the opportunity it gave me to socialise. I missed being there myself, experiencing all that this game has to offer and has entertained me with across the UK for the 10 years I’ve watched the Giants.

 

This Saturday, thankfully, I don’t have to worry. I checked in last night for my flight back to Belfast. For the second time in a few weeks I’ll see the Giants take on the Blaze, however this encounter differs greatly than the jaunt to the SkyDome. This encounter has value. 2 points in value. And as the League Champions face the Playoff Champions in the Odyssey Arena, faces old and new will settle down in the blue seats around the plexi. While the meaningful action takes place on the ice, the fans in their interaction will all once again partake in the game that we have fasted from for almost 5 months.

 

No Screens, No Cameras, No Simmsy, Just Friends, Hockey and Atmosphere.

 

I can hardly wait.

 

Patrick Smyth

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