Sometimes On The Road To The NHL, You Need To Wear Ridiculous Jerseys
I think it’s safe to say that pretty much anybody who has ever played hockey before has had the dream of making it to the NHL. For most of us, that dream immediately died after graduating from high school, if not much sooner than that. For a very select 1% of players in the world, that dream becomes a reality right after high school or maybe after a few short seasons playing in the NCAA or major junior or whatever. Either way, about 90% of us get to just rip that band-aid off right away and have our dream to make it to the NHL die before it ever had a chance. And 1% sees it happen pretty much right away. That still leaves about 9% of the playing population in Hockey Purgatory, and most of Hockey Purgatory is spent in the ECHL.
Here we have a photograph from a game between the Indy Fuel and the Cincinnati Cyclones from over the weekend. It was Nickelodeon Night at the game which would explain the SpongeBob sweaters, the official uniform of Hockey Purgatory.
It sucks because I don’t think any of the guys out on the ice necessarily saw their hockey careers going this way. They didn’t go out in the driveway as little 8-year-olds and pretend that they were playing in the ECHL while wearing jerseys depicting cartoon characters. But that’s just the fuckin’ way she goes some times. All they want to do is keep the dream alive. They grew up with a dream to make it to the NHL but unfortunately for them, they just weren’t terrible like most of us. They were too good to stop playing after high school or club. But they also aren’t elite enough to make the jump to the NHL right away. So they just have to grind away for a few years and pray their number gets called one of these days. It’s not like success stories from the ECHL to the NHL are completely unheard of. It’s just kind of rare.
In the meantime, however, they’re stuck wearing these ridiculous jerseys but they can look at them like a badge of honor. Maybe a little piece of them dies every time they have to wear some gimmick jersey, but it also fuels the fire to get the fuck out of the ECHL. I’m just glad I sucked so now all I have to do is pay for my own beer league jerseys along with shelling out a few hundred bucks for league fees.