John Buccigross on hockey music

Fun column from John Buccigross, with a bit of a rant and an idea about music in hockey arenas. (Note to John - a few teams already do have player goal songs, Detroit and Ottawa for example.)

Yes, music and hockey -- the two are perfect linemates and two of my favorite things. Both continuous, both physical, both creative, both emotional and both attracting passionate followers with creative tattoos. Their marriage was destiny. I revel in the union. Music has the rhythm, and hockey has the Blues.

As a teenager, I found this implementation of music at NHL games breathlessly cool and invigorating... When there was a stoppage in play, I would turn the sound up on the television to hear what song was being cranked in the arena. The cooler the music, the more I liked that team.

Then, as music videos made their pop culture imprint in the early '80s, changing music forever, it was only natural that sports music videos would follow. And few can match the JumboTron feeding hockey-related highlights for the way they feed and lovingly bombard the senses. Check your local YouTube listings and watch any pregame pump-up presentation before you attend your next NHL game. It's a great reason to get to the game early.

But it's time to introduce something new into the NHL/music experience with something unpredictable. I mean, how many times can we hear "Welcome to the Jungle" and really get fired up? It's starting to sound like hearing, and then instantaneously dreading hearing, Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock and Roll" at the 37th consecutive wedding from 1983 to 1992 to the present. We can blame Tom Cruise for this, too.

Anyhoo, I propose having my, my, my generation of NHL players, or someone else in their organizations, choose a song to play in the arena when a player scores a goal at home. A goal song. NHL players actually have better taste in music than baseball players, so they probably could handle the selections themselves. This would give the player a chance to express himself in a league that desperately is trying to connect its young, great athletes to a larger fan base and would save us from hearing the same tune over and over again at NHL arenas during a 7-1 Edmonton Oilers loss.

Read on for some song ideas...