Disclaimer: These are not the only  five reasons I like hockey.  Like many of you, hockey for me is wrapped up with a lot of good memories having to do with my family.   Like a lot of people who played the game as a kid, I remember fondly  Mom and Dad taking me to my own games and practices, along with a lot of other childhood  moments that most of you can probably relate to in some way:  playing road hockey with other kids in the neighbourhood, learning to love the game by staying up late and watching the Leafs on Hockey Night in Canada, taking shots on goal in the basement with my grandmother in net.  Wait, what?  That one might not be so commonplace.  The fact that she consistently showed me top cheese and then beat me with her glove hand said more about my talent level, I'm afraid, than it did about hers.

Like many of you, the game has long assumed a place of prominence in my life, and is also wrapped up in a lot of the happiest times in my more recent life:  playing beer league hockey with my buddies, busting each other's balls in the room about a meaningless game against our arch-rivals (the carpet installers' team) in the Chesswood Sunday afternoon Men's "D" Division league, going to Leaf games with my brothers, watching any number of games with my Dad, etc. etc.

All of those things are very treasured parts of my lifelong passion for the game, but - reading many of the fantastic entries you folks have all submitted for this "Five Reasons I Love Hockey" contest - it occurs to me that my own memories are nothing but highly particularized manifestations of recurring general themes. The compilation of these posts has permitted us to explore the very essence of our love for hockey.  Not to sound too much like Ken Dryden, but basically, it seemed to me that we were collectively approaching a kind of Zen understanding of our relationship with he game through this exercise.  Submitted for your consideration, then, are five facets of the game essential to a fan's passion for matters of puck and stick.

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I'm so happy that SBNation has decided to supplement its excellent roster of team-based communities with a blog dedicated to Manchester City.

I've been a frequent visitor to Pension Plan Puppets, the SBNation site devoted to the National Hockey League's Toronto Maple Leafs for about two years now.  One of the best features of the SBNation blogging platform is the Fanpost and Fanshot capability;  I thought I'd break the ice and make the first Fanpost here because I would like to encourage those of you who know more about football and Manchester City than I do (and that would be everybody here, as I'll explain in a moment) to make use of this excellent feature to discuss some topics of interest.

As I mentioned above, I'm a fan of the NHL's Maple Leafs.  I'm a Canadian living in Paris - a little town in southwestern Ontario, not the worldwide epicentre for Gauloise-smoking afficionados of Edith Piaf.  I only recently decided to begin following English Premier League football in general and the Blues in particular.  I chose the Citizens after a discussion that I had via Twitter with some of the other community members over at Pension Plan Puppets, namely "Godd Till", "MattBlack" and "PPP".  I have gotten to know those folks as well as you get to know anyone that you've only met via screen quips over the last couple of years, and their interest in EPL football sparked my own.  In the end, when it came time to choose a team to follow, I sought out their advice about which side would likely be a good fit for me.  My Dad had suggested that I consider supporting Chelsea because (as a Maple Leafs fan), I had a strong predisposition towards any club whose colours are blue and white.  My discussion with the folks from the Pension Plan Puppets community, though, had me convinced that Manchester City's history and fanbase were much more likely to be familiar to me*.  I also wanted to adopt a team that had a great song or two, and GoddTill (himself a City man) filled me in on Blue Moon.  My decision was made, and here I am.

The point of the story above is really less about how I came to be a City supporter (though I'm sure that is a topic of immense interest throughout the world), and more about the friendships I've managed to establish through another SBNation community because of the way these places are set up.  I'm looking forward to meeting the folks who come here, and I'm looking forward to learning about the history of the team and the mechanics of the game from all of you. Very soon after I decided to support City, I went looking for a virtual community dedicated to the team because I wanted to be able to learn about the team and the game from its most dedicated students, the fans.  

I've found SBNation sites to be universally entertaining and informative, while at the same time remaining generally free of the inane crap that so often clutters chat rooms and message boards in other corners of the Internet.  In these places, I've found, discussion is encouraged, differences of opinion are tolerated, and there are always a few laughs to be had.  Some of the most insightful things I've read about hockey and the Maple Leafs have been written either at the Pension Plan Puppets site, or by bloggers who frequent the site and participate in the ongoing discussion.

Consequently, I'm looking forward to the writing that all of you will contribute on the site.  I'm asking for your help in getting up to speed as a City fan - GoddTill and another PPP member Clawson have been terrific in helping me along so far, but I need all the help I can get.  So help me out, here people, I'd really like to see some fanposts on the following topics:

•  
  • What are the top 5 moments in Manchester City history?  Five events (they don't have to be matches) that every self-respecting Manchester City fan must know about?
  • What is the most important tradition for a new Blues fan to be aware of?
  • What is the most revered City team of all time?  (When I used to be a baseball fan, I followed the Detroit Tigers.  The Tigers started the 1984 season 35-5, led the American League wire to wire and to the surprise of no one won the World Series that year, but to real Tigers fans, that team has always been second in their hearts to the '68 squad.  Is there a comparable universally-loved City team, and if so, why?)
  • I've only watched a few matches so far.  I've been very impressed with Tevez and I quite like Craig Bellamy too;  how does the current squad match up, talent-wise, with the other clubs in the EPL and how realistic are City's present hopes for a championship of some kind?

I'm looking forward to seeing what you all come up with.  Remember, take it easy on me - I'm a hockey fan trying to learn what I can.

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*As I understand it, there are some broad parallels between City and the Maple Leafs.  In both cases, a significant period of time has elapsed since the club last drank from the cup of victory, and each has a red-and-white clad major rival that has enjoyed an infuriating relative excess of success, the frustration of which is only exacerbated by the arrogance of their fans.  In Canada, any Saturday night on which the Maple Leafs square off against the hated Canadiens is a guaranteed ratings success for the broadcaster because the fans of each club despise the other.

Editor's Note: jrwendelman continues his assault on the front page with another excellent fanpost examining the upcoming deadline and the likely outcomes. He balances abundant hope with harsh reality and provides a perfect template for anyone wondering just what these fanposts are all about.

Here's the lowdown on the must-see command performance of the season:  Brian Burke goes to work at the trade deadline.

Artist's rendering:  Burke demonstrating how to do a proper hernia exam.

via farm4.static.flickr.com

This year, for Leaf fans, there is one command performance that we are all  waiting to see.  Strangely, the exhibition we're awaiting will not be given by any skater dashing up the ice with stick and puck.  Rather, the demonstration of skill and excellence we await will be accomplished in an office using phone, fax and email.

Our angry Irish overlord is the only truly high-priced, blue-chip quality talent that we have in Maple Leaf blue and white this year.  In truth, everything that has happened with the players on the ice to date this NHL season is but prelude to that which is about to unfold before our eyes.  Burke's handling of Pogge, his resolution of the Sundin situation, the acquisition of Brad May, the waivers of Stralman and Bell - all of these matters were mere preparation for the Bellicose One.

The eyes of Leaf Nation are upon Brian Burke at the trade deadline.

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Editor's Note: After the laughably short Witt suspension was announced (over/under on the number of games Hagman misses is at 7.5) Junior took a look at the Islanders' schedule. I'll bet that you will never imagine who his fist game back will be against or in what hockey-mad city...

Newsflash:  The NHL prefers bucks to brains.  It's no big surprise.  So why the hell am I losing my shit about this tonight?

From the Globe and Mail story about Witt's suspension:

The 34-year-old Witt will forfeit US$74,372.75 in salary and is eligible to return to the Islanders lineup on March 10 against the Maple Leafs.

You've got to be f&%king kidding me.

via farm3.static.flickr.com

Look into your respective hearts, NHL fans, and tell me that you honestly and truly believe that this is a coincidence.  Tell me that you believe:

• that 5 games - no more and no less - is the clear, obvious and well-established sentence for a hit to the head like this (and clearly not, say a $2500 fine like Janssen got for this hit or a 2 gamer like known shit-disturber Jarko Ruutu got for this classy little gangland slaying of Max Lapierre);
• that it's a straight-up, no-holds-barred, are-you-shittin' me, don't that put the dink in co-inky-dink fluke that Brendan Witt's Islanders will face off against the Toronto Maple Leafs exactly five games from now; and
• that the collection of tall foreheads in the NHL's supplementary discipline department resisted the temptation to put down their thick primary school pencils long enough to take a wee gander at have somebody's Mom read them the schedule.

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Editor's Note: I promoted Junior's fanpost because it takes a great look at the ridiculousness of the NHL's disciplinary system.

Remember this? 

For those of you behind the YouTubers filters, I'll spare you the suspense.  It's video of Tie Domi's gratuitous elbow on Scott Niedermayer in the 2001 playoffs.  We knew this was wrong in 2001 and we weren't surprised when Domi was suspended for the balance of the playoffs and - because the Leafs were eliminated by the Devils in that series - for the first eight games of the 2002 season.  At the time, Colin Campbell had this to say about Domi's elbow:

''Mr. Domi's actions have no place in our game and are being punished accordingly,'' Colin Campbell, the N.H.L. executive vice president and director of hockey operations, said in a statement. ''He has forfeited the privilege of further participation in this year's Stanley Cup playoffs.''

...

Campbell, interviewed in Toronto, said Domi's attack on Niedermayer was ''beyond the bounds about as far as you can get,'' even by hockey's rugged standards. Campbell reviewed the incident yesterday with Domi and Pat Quinn, the Maple Leafs' coach and general manager, in a formal hearing at the league's branch office in Toronto.

Presumably, even with the passage of time, Mr. Campbell will feel the same about Brendan Witt's elbow to Niklas Hagman's head on Thursday night.   Otherwise, the NHL's Wheel of Justice is a farce.