Killing Time Between Games

Hockey is such a great sport. Fast-paced. Hard-hitting. I love this sport. I eat, breathe and live hockey.

Sadly, the New Jersey Devils do not play hockey 365 days a year. Sometimes with the way games get scheduled, we’re lucky to get two games a week. There can be lots of downtime in between games leaving us going through Devils hockey withdrawal.

What are we to do in between games? Are we supposed to freeze ourselves like Cartman does in that episode of “South Park”  while waiting for the Nintendo Wii to come out? I wouldn’t recommend it.

Personally, I have several things I do in between Devils games.

The one thing I HAVE to do when the Devils are not playing, I also do on days when the Devils are playing. I play NHL 11 habitually. There’s a simple joy in playing against another user online, and winning the game as the New Jersey Devils. Playing this game is sometimes even more stressful than watching the real Devils on television. Video games should not be stressful, but being swept by the virtual Philadelphia Flyers will make any Devils fan mad. Losing to the Flyers or Rangers whether in real life, or virtually, should NEVER happen.

As I’m playing, I tend to pause the game for several minutes as something distracts me: Twitter. Almost every moment of the day, I’m on the micro-blogging site refreshing my feed to find out the latest news. I honestly believe this is the perfect way to pass time between games. What could be better than interacting with fans all over the world, as we discuss the sport that we are all passionate about. Several discussions can happen on the site. One minute we are debating about who should start the next game, and the next we are discussing whether Jacques Lemaire will return as coach next season. You’d be surprised how many users participate in a conversation. While a conversation may begin with only two people, it can end up involving six others.

Last, but not least, I PLAY hockey. Not only do I play virtual hockey, but I also play on the streets. Remember being a child, playing roller hockey with your friends? You would pretend that kid down the street you didn’t like was Eric Lindros and you were Scott Stevens. I’m not ashamed to say I’m 22 years old and I STILL like to imagine being a favorite player as I just shoot a puck around with friends. It’s the closest I will be to ever becoming a NHL superstar.

I’d love to hear about some of the things you do in between Devils games. Post a comment to this blog telling me if you play NHL 11, or if you’re an active Twitter user, or if you like to imagine you’re Ilya Kovalchuk snapping a goal past Henrik Lundqvist, or anything else you do to pass the time. I look forward to reading your responses!