Who Will Win The Cup?

The anticipation for the playoffs this season is killing me! I am so excited to watch the action and see who comes up big in the end. I've been thinking about this quite a bit and I came up with a small list of NHL teams that I think will win the cup this year.

1. Chicago Blackhawks
2. Washington Capitals
3. Anaheim Ducks
4. Tampa Bay Lightning 

The Hawks are my favorite, having won three Stanley Cups in the past six years, it's no secret that they got talent.Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Artemi Panarin, and Duncan Keith and big time players for the Blackhawks and make them extremely difficult to beat, especially in the post season. But because of this that makes them "the team to beat" so every team wants to knock them off and slightly dislikes them (jealousy).
The Capitals, however, are doing extremely well this year. Having acquired forward TJ Oshie, they are not to be taken lightly. They are number one in the league currently and show no signs of slowing down. They haven't won a cup in a while so they are definitely hoping this is their year.
The Ducks last won the Stanley Cup in 2007. A couple of their players from that team are still on the team today. This brings them a lot of experience and is useful to help show the younger players the ropes. Anaheim has good depth this year in the roster too with names such as Perry, Getslaf, Selanne, Koivu, and Cogliano.
Tampa Bay came really close last year to winning the cup, losing to the Chicago Blackhawks in the end. With many players returning this year to the lightning they will be just as much of a threat.Steven Stamkos is a remarkable young player and is capable of leading his team to a cup I believe.
But anything can happen in a sports game as you all know and that's what keeps things so interesting and why I enjoy watching sports, hockey in particular. If anyone has any predictions of their own feel free to share!

March Madness Merchandise Mayhem

Open the Door to Hockey is having a sale in honor of Spring! Come on down to our store Monday the 21st through Friday the 25th for a huge March Madness Sale. There will be discounts up to 40 percent off on all apparel in the store. This include t-shirts, sweatpants, jerseys, hats, gloves, and more.Everything you will need to get ready for the post-season coming up you will find here! Dangles opens up at 8:00 a.m and closes at 7:00 p.m, don't miss out!

We will also be having a very special guest appearance from, NHL's Chicago Blackhawks, Patrick (Patty) Kane! He will be giving a motivational speech and then signing autographs and taking some pictures. Kane has been nice enough to donate a couple sticks of his to us that we will be auctioning off later this week.

Also since Spring is here we will be celebrating with a pick-up three on three tournament that starts on Tuesday the 22nd and lasts till Thursday the 24th. And each night for this week only we will be having the rink open for an open skate starting at 7:00 p.m and lasting till 9:30 p.m. We hope you all will come down to Open the Door to Hockey and enjoy all the fun with us!

Stick Em Up

The topic is hockey sticks, there are so many of them available how do you know what stick to get? You should never buy a stick just because it's brand new and just came out. You should base your decision on what works for you, what feels best in your hands? Everybody is different, people shoot the puck and stick handle in many different ways. There isn't one stick out there that you can buy and it will make you automatically good at hockey. You need to find what is comfortable in your hands and what gives you the best results.
Now there are many different brands to choose from, I personally prefer an Easton or Warrior stick. Other brands that you can't go wrong with are Bauer, CCM, Mission, or Reebok. Of course there are many more to choose from, these are just the more popular ones that come to mind. All these brands are used today in the NHL so even the pros are using this equipment.
At open the Door to Hockey we offer a selection of sticks and equipment from Easton, Bauer, Warrior, Reebok, CCM, Mission, and more. At our pro shop, Dangles, we have a area set up where you can test out your shop with different sticks on some artificial ice and a net. We have a variety of sticks from various brands taped up and available for you to test out. This is very helpful when you are torn between two sticks and don't know what one to buy. You can always listen to your friends or read some reviews online. But the best way to decide what works best for you is to actually try it out for yourself and compare. We make this possible for you to do at Open the Door to Hockey, so don't be shy and come on down today!