So August 1st is almost here which means the NHL restart is almost upon us. There'll finally be hockey on TV and it'll almost be a March Madness type format with games staggered throughout the day. Even though my team was one of the seven eliminated from the return to play I'm still pumped to watch hockey. Just wondering what everyone else is drinking or what they prefer to drink while watching a game and who you're cheering for.

My Hefe won't be ready by the first games but I picked up a 30 rack of Labbatt Blue. I've spent a lot of money on beer lately so figured I'd get something cheaper to appease my wife but Labbatt has always been closely associated with hockey in my mind. Maybe cause it's Canadian, maybe because I'm from Buffalo (basically Canada according to other Americans) and we grow up drinking Labbatt like the rest of the country drinks Budweiser. Either way it's boring but that's what I'll be drinking for the play-in round. My proxy team for the play-in will be the Blue Jackets because I lived in Ohio for several years and I typically cheer for anyone that plays against the Leafs.
I included NBA because I know the NHL is more niche. I'm a Lakers fan because I grew up watching Kobe but I won't be watching closely with so much hockey on.

 

Your first second choice?

I get it. Of the big mass produced, mass market beers Labbatt is near the top of my list, used to be the top. However now that I live in Rochester (home of the Genesee brewery) I drink a lot of Genny and Genny Cream ale. If you haven't had any of them though their seasonals are pretty good, I really like their strawberry lemon cream ale they just started making full-time in the last couple years and their brewhouse pilot batches are pretty good. They've been on a mission the last few years to prove that a big brewery can make craft beer. They do pretty well with it too.

 

Yes but I had my money on them being the first to fail. Not going with a bubble setup was a huge mistake IMHO. I'm cautiously optimistic for the NHL and I think they're there most likely to succeed because they are in two bubbles and they're both in Canada where the virus is actually taken seriously and the curve is flattened.

 

The Bruins are the only team that rival the Leafs in terms of dislike. Last year's final was tough for me because it was either Boston who I hate or St Louis which meant Sabres fans would never stop complaining about the Ryan O'Reilly trade. It was a stupid trade but don't need to be reminded of it every day. There was a time I hated the Sens the most in the Alfredsson, Heatley, Spezza days when they represented our biggest challenge in the division and conference. People in Buffalo still talk about the brawl with them in 2007. Years of both teams sucking though killed that rivalry. Be nice to get back to the point were another teams fanbase actually has reason to hate our team.

 

I hope so. They have solid core pieces in Eichel Dahlin and a few others but years of mismanagement has left them with little else to work with.

 

So basically you're saying Alberta is the Florida of a Canada? Please don't ruin this for the rest of us

 

I'm not allowed to be the mask police at work so I just glare at customers not wearing one. Seems to be pretty effective.

 

Yeah our employees get it. They aren't the problem. It's the customers. Corporate doesn't want us to do anything because they're afraid we'll be assaulted or something

 

Beat those Habs! Like I said before, totally not bitter about them getting the final play-in spot.

 

Same here with the younger crowd but we also have our president turning it into a political issue causing division and many people not to take the virus or precautions seriously. It's very frustrating living in a state like New York that effectively crushed the curve and seeing numbers in these states that reopened early continue to skyrocket. Honestly if Canada wanted to annex western and central NY I'd be onboard.