Anybody who knows me knows my two favorite sports are soccer and ice hockey.I've often thought the two sports had many subtle similarities (note how the Eastern European influx increased the use of such maneuvers as passing into space, combo play, movement off the puck, etc.), so it seems reasonable to find out that NHL players often warm-up with a kick.
The bad part is I actually knew all of this from when I used to get locker room access to do St. Louis Blues interviews at the old Arena, way back in high school. Sometimes, they didn't even use a ball, just a big, immaculately fashioned ball of stick tape. I think I even have a black and white photo of Doug Gilmour and Jocelyn Lemieux kicking one of those tape balls around in a box somewhere.
Why didn't I think of this story? Duh.
Still... it makes me wonder... which NHL stars might have made great footballers? Hmmm. The first thing that comes to mind is: something tells me Ilya Kovalchuk would make a deadly winger (yes, such a stretch I've chosen!).
Anyway, here is Penguins star Sidney Crosby and the boys having some indoor soccer practice time...
- Greg Seltzer
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3 comments:
i have always felt there were similarities between hockey and soccer.... for one i manage the ticket office for the Indianapolis Ice, and all the visiting teams (as well as the ice) tend to warm up juggling a soccer ball in the hall ways of the Arena.... not to mention they tend to use their feet while on the ice to move the puck just about as much as their sticks (ok, not quite that much, but they do kick the puck quite often)....
True.. and that reminds me... Jaromir Jagr is quite a good footballer. He often makes hockey moves using his feet. The same goes for Teemu Selanne.
So what do you think Greg, is St. Louis getting an MLS team? Are you in touch with those guys?
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