Hot Take: Don’t Bring Back Hockey

Thanks to the indefinite suspension of the NHL season, society has gotten a taste of a world without hockey. After this eye-opening experience, it’s clear that when Coronavirus dies out, hockey should die along with it.

Yes, this may be a controversial opinion, but let’s be honest: hockey fandom in our cities has spiraled out of control.

Everywhere you look, people are filling out hockey playoff brackets and planning their big Stanley Cup viewing parties. One can’t go to Sunrise, Florida, or Glendale, Arizona, without being trampled by rabid Panthers and Coyotes fans. Meanwhile, arenas in Raleigh and Columbus are bursting at the seams, indicating that people do understand there’s more to life than hockey.

Sure, it’s part of our DNA to cheer on the “boys of fall/winter/spring,” hockey culture has become so all-consuming in society, that everyone’s lost track of what’s important.

When we flock to our air-conditioned arenas by the millions to escape the scorching November sun and cheer on our favorite team, the carbon footprint required to keep the Pittsburgh Penguins chilly murders real penguins in Antarctica.

Cities that host NHL teams have some of the highest rates of violence around. With all the fighting in hockey, what’s been happening in places like Chicago or Detroit comes as no surprise.

With the NHL season paused, it’s not a coincidence that crime and pollution have become virtually nonexistent, while games like NBA2K and Madden have experienced unprecedented users. Society has made great improvements in hockey’s absence. Let’s keep it that way.