National Hockey League: An Honest Review

Auston Matthews (No. 34 Maple Leafs) vs. Sidney Crosby (No. 87 Penguins)
Picture taken Feb 16, 2022, courtesy of NHL.com

Ice hockey. No one knows what the hell that is here anyway, in a tropical country that is Indonesia, where ice would melt faster than erasing your browsing history. Yet right now, we will be talking exactly about that, because it’s certainly interesting to watch. Especially the world’s premier ice hockey league, North America’s National Hockey League, better known as NHL.

Ice hockey is a sport where you use a stick that looks like a golf club to shoot a disk-shaped puck into the opposing team’s goal, on ice. That’s it in a nutshell, but there are a few quirks that you will understand if you follow this sport long enough, just like the offside rule in soccer (or football, you British nerds). But now we’ll stick to why you should watch this league.

You might have known that walking on ice is very slippery. Now imagine what if we use a pair of skates on that ice. You’ll be served with a terrifying, but exhilarating experience of tremendous speed right on your feet. And what if we play hockey like that? A fast-paced, frantic spectacle is guaranteed, where the puck would travel rapidly all over the rink, and players would bump and check each other just to possess that.

Since the pace is frantic, so are the players. Tension is high here, and it’s not uncommon to see players fight each other when something slightly goes wrong. Someone body-checks you to retake the puck? Punch him in his face! Being tripped by your opponent? Knock him onto the floor! They're doing dirty tricks whilst the refs aren’t looking? Fight him to submission! Unique to NHL, the referees will not stop a fight immediately. Usually, they will only break up a fight once a player is knocked onto the ice.

NHL is not all about that rush and fighting though. It’s also about players’ excellence. It’s a team sport, after all. You can find anything here, from Alex Ovechkin’s sharpness in front of goal, Sidney Crosby’s excellent game-reading ability, or Marc-Andre Fleury’s spectacular save and antics. Or Liam O’Brien’s ferocity, if you want fights.

Being the world’s best ice hockey league in the world also means that you’ll only find the world’s best teams here. Tampa Bay Lightning is last year’s Stanley Cup winner, while some of the more famous teams include the Original Six (US’ New York Rangers, Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, and Detroit Red Wings, and Canada’s Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs). Vegas Golden Knights are also on the rise, always making the Stanley Cup playoffs since it was formed in 2017.

NHL’s premier match has always been the Stanley Cup Finals, where its two best teams fight for the most prized title in the ice hockey world. However, playoffs and regular matches are just as exciting, especially the rivalries between Original Six side Montreal Canadiens–Boston Bruins and Canadiens–Toronto Maple Leafs. Other rivalries, like New York Rangers–Islanders or New York Islanders–Pittsburgh Penguins are also worth a watch.

Now, I know what you are thinking about. Where can I watch NHL? You can watch it all live or on-demand by Polytron’s streaming service, Mola. The subscription fee is not pricey too, much cheaper than Netflix. NHL’s official YouTube channel is also there for you who want to watch the game highlights.

Thank you all for reading this review all the way to the end, and be sure to give NHL a look!