The Ferris State Bulldogs recorded two conference wins this past weekend as they defeated the Western Michigan Broncos in a two game sweep.

The win improves the Bulldogs record to 7-6-1 overall and 6-4 in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA). The Broncos fall to 2-8 in CCHA and 4-10 overall.

The first game of the series took place at Ewigleben Arena in Big Rapids where the Bulldogs took control right out of the gate.

Sophomore center Cody Chupp notched his fourth goal of the season as he deflected a shot by sophomore defenseman Matt Case 53 seconds into the game to give the Bulldogs a one goal lead.

The rest of the period remained scoreless until freshman defenseman Scott Wietecha one-timed a cross-ice pass from defensive partner freshman Zach Redmond past the Western Michigan goalie.

With a two goal lead, the Bulldogs headed into the second period where junior defenseman Evan Case put up his first goal of the year six minutes into the period.

Senior center Adam Miller and Case rushed down the ice as Miller danced around the Broncos' defense and slid the puck over to Case, who banged it home over the goalie’s shoulder.

Case came through again for the Bulldogs as he tallied his second goal of the night with 12:04 remaining in the third period on a slapshot from the top of the circle. The goal increased the Bulldogs lead to four.

“Defense and goaltending are doing very well for us.” Ferris State head coach Bob Daniels said. “The guys did a really good job of blocking shots and forcing the shots to the outside. I’d like to see another solid defensive effort tomorrow.”

The Bulldogs out-shot the Broncos 37-29 and Case, Chupp, and freshman left wing Mike Embach all notched two points in the game.

One of the highlights of the night was the shutout posted by junior goalie Mitch O’Keefe as he stopped all 29 shots by the Broncos and recorded his second shutout of the year.

“I was really proud of him,” Daniels said. “It’s hard to maintain focus. It wasn’t an easy game to play for a goalie.”

The Bulldogs showcased a stellar performance the next night as they defeated the Broncos at their own rink in a decisive 3-2 victory.

The game took place at Lawson Ice Arena in Kalamazoo, Mich., where the Broncos are usually difficult to beat.

“They play a lot more aggressive at their own rink,” Daniels said.

The Bulldogs opened up the scoring in the first ten minutes of the opening period as junior left wing Brendan Connolly picked up a miscued pass from the Broncos in the neutral zone, crossed the blueline and rocketed a shot off Blair Riley’s pads and into the open net behind him.

Case picked up the assist as the Bulldogs held the Broncos to only four shots in the first period.

The second period proved to be even deadlier for the Broncos as the Bulldogs tallied their second goal of the night with junior right winger Justin Lewandowski picking up the puck from a Western player and skating right into the face of Riley where he surgically placed the puck into the open night to record his fifth goal of the year.

The Broncos wouldn’t be shutout again, as they were able to tally their first goal of the series just a few minutes later, scoring on a power-play goal to close the gap by one.

The Western player skated past the Bulldogs' defense and skated in one-on-one with freshman goalie Pat Nagle, where he was able to slide the puck into the net.

The Bulldogs would score again before the period was out as Redmond recorded his third goal of the season as he banged home a rebound from freshman center Justin Menke’s shot.

The Broncos mounted a slight comeback in the third period scoring their second goal of the night.

Nagle remained strong the rest of the period and held the Broncos at bay as the Bulldogs recorded their victory.

The Bulldogs play a CCHA home-and-home series against the Michigan State Spartans next week with the first game at Ewigleben arena. The Bulldogs travel to Lansing, Mich., the following night to take on the Spartans at Munn Ice Arena.

The Lady Bulldogs are proving they are a force to be reckoned with as they outplayed the Saginaw Valley Cardinals in their GLIAC opener last Thursday 79-68, and overcame some questionable calls on Friday to defeat the Northwood Timberwolves 68-63.

“We knew they would come out ready to come out tough, and ready to play, but we weren’t going to let them beat us the first time we played them,” senior forward Sam Johns said.

The Cardinals came out shooting, beginning the game with a field goal to put the Bulldogs down 3-0 in four seconds. The Bulldogs responded with a layup by junior guard Jenna Guay.

Senior center Rachel “Batman” Folcik grabbed her own rebound and dished it out to Teghan “Robin” Thelen, who stepped up and made the field goal to put the Bulldogs up 7-5.

The Cardinals’ LaTille Ross made a layup to put the Cardinals up four, 13-9, with 13:01 to play in the half. The Bulldogs got hot. Freshman center Andrea Clancy responded with a layup, Folcik picked up a steal and dished the ball to senior guard Katie Loosevelt, who passed it to forward Sam Johns, who pulled up for a three, which put the Bulldogs up 14-13.

The Cardinals responded with a layup but Johns took it one step further as she recorded a fast break field goal in response, to put the Bulldogs up 17-15.

The Cardinals didn’t retreat from the Bulldog attack as they tied the score at 17 all on their next possession. The Bulldogs responded with a 6-0 run to go up 23-17 before the Cardinals’ Brittany Burns pulled up for a three, to make it a one possession game, 23-20.

The Cardinals recorded another five points to claim the lead, 25-23, but the Bulldogs fought them off and quickly went up by seven after junior forward Ashley Fleming converted both of her free throws.

The Bulldogs went into the locker room with a five point lead, 40-35, as the Cardinals converted two points after Jenna Guay fouled the Cardinals’ LaTille Ross.

The second half began just as the first half ended, the Bulldogs in control. The Cardinals’ Brittany Burns tied the score at 40 with a layup. The Cardinals would later score a free throw.

The Bulldogs held the Cardinals at 41 points for six minutes as the Bulldogs went on a 7-0 run.

Johns had a break out game as she recorded a back-to-back three pointer to put the Bulldogs up by 12, 55-43.

“I thought we handled our composure, all things considered. We learned a lot about end of game situations, we practice them, but we learned about them during the game,” head coach Tracey Dorow said.

With 9:34 left in the game, Fleming grabbed a fast break and converted it into two points as she made the lay up. The Bulldogs kept the tempo of the game in their favor until the Cardinals broke out and reduced the Bulldogs' lead to five.

The Bulldogs quickly regained the momentum and shut down the Cardinals as the Bulldogs rolled to victory.

The Bulldogs were led by Folcik, with a double-double, recording a team-high with 20 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and two steals. Johns recorded 18 points, while Thelen ended with 10 points.

The Bulldogs continued to roll on Saturday as they pounced the hosting Timberwolves in a dramatic fashion.

The Bulldogs found themselves down by 10 points in the first half, and chipped away to go into the locker room down by six, 36-30.

The second half proved to be an entirely new ball game as the Bulldogs outscored the Timberwolves, 38-27, in the second half.

Folcik and junior Caitlin Hutchinson recorded a night-high of 19 points. Folcik also recorded nine rebounds and Thelen added 11 points.

The Timberwolves were led by Pam Wilson with 15 points. Both Jodi Ostergren and Sarah Glowacki recorded 11 points.

The Bulldogs recorded their 24th consecutive win over the Timberwolves and Dorow is now 19-0, over them.

Ferris State started off its GLIAC season with a bang Thursday night with a last second basket to upend Saginaw Valley State University 68-66.

Freshman Darien Gay proved he was a force to be reckoned with as he took control with time running out, driving the lane and sinking a pull up jumper to lead the Bulldogs to their first GLIAC win of the season. “Our players played hard. We had mistakes but it was a great total team effort,” said head coach Bill Sall.

The Bulldogs took the lead in the beginning of the game and never looked back. Pulling ahead by 10 during the middle of the first half, Ferris State ended the first half with a 37-28 lead.

The Bulldogs shot 61.5 percent from the floor and 75 percent from behind the arc in the first half. Ferris started strong in the second half, but due to turnovers, SVSU pulled itself back into the game with the three ball. Coming up short, the Cardinals fell to their first lost in the GLIAC season.

Leading the way for Ferris State was its youth and bench. Coming off the bench for the Bulldogs with 20 points was freshman DeJuan Wright. Wright shot 77 percent from the field to go along with six rebounds, one block and one steal. Wright was also 10-13 from the free throw line.

A dominating paint presence came from freshman center Justin Keenan and junior forward Aaron Hincka. Keenan muscled his way for 19 points, seven boards and shot 73 percent from the floor. Handling the ball dodging Cardinal defenders, freshman guard Darien Gay had seven points, seven assists, two steals and soaked up 29 minutes of playing time. C.J. Van Wieren led Ferris with his senior leadership.

Van Wieren covered the floor for 32 minutes, had five assists, two steals and six rebounds.

Overall, Ferris State shot 55 percent from the field, 57 percent from behind the arc, 17 assists and 36 rebounds. Ten points off turnovers and 28 points from the paint helped prove that the Bulldogs look to stay on top in the GLIAC.

Saginaw Valley State was led by power forward Mike Zuiderveen and Lawrence Ross. The Cardinals shot 42 percent from the field and 37 percent from behind the arc. SVSU holds a 3-2 record and is looking to rebound to get back on top of the GLIAC.

Ferris State looked to string together consecutive conference wins Saturday, traveling to Midland for a contest with Northwood University. The Bulldogs jumped out to an 18-13 advantage midway through the first half, but the Timberwolves forced 17 turnovers in the final eight and a half minutes, outscoring Ferris 30-8 to take control of the contest 43-24 at the break.

The Timberwolves never let Ferris State back into the game, leading by as many as 26 points in the second half enroute to an 86-68 victory. The turnovers proved to be the decisive aspect of the contest as Northwood turned Ferris’ 27 into 20 second chance points and 14 fast break tallies.

DeJuan Wright and Darien Gay were the only Bulldogs in double figures, scoring 11 and 10 points respectively. Jason Holder, Aaron Hincka and Justin Keenan all pulled down eight rebounds apiece. The Bulldogs were 0-5 from the three point arc in the first half and only shot 39 percent from the floor. Although they came back to shoot 51 percent in the second half, Northwood hit 56 percent of their shots and finished with a 53 percent average for the game.

Forward Mark Barnes led all scorers for Northwood with 25 points. Aaron Simpson added 21 and Antonio Harrison hit for 14. The Timberwolves ball handler also recorded five of Northwood’s 20 assists on the night. Barnes pulled down 11 rebounds for the only double-double of the game.

Ferris State, now 3-3 overall and 1-1 in conference play, does not play again until Saturday, when they travel to Tiffin, Ohio. The Bulldogs make the long journey north on Dec. 15 to face conference foe, Lake Superior State. The remainder of the schedule through the holiday break includes a game at St. Joseph’s College of Indiana on Dec. 17, and another road game at Southern Indiana on Dec. 19.

Ferris State will spend its Christmas holiday in Alaska, participating in the AT&T Alascom Jamboree in Anchorage on Dec. 28 and 29, before heading home to play Kuyper College on Jan. 3.

No, that is not a typo in the headline. I will only refer to them as the Lions when they have an above-.500 record. Anything less this season and they are the "Loins".

What can I say anymore? The defensive players I had been praising let a rookie run all over them. When they did stop the run, they were thrown on. The game was in Minnesota, but I think the defense was stuck in Chicago, or in that snow storm on Sunday morning.

On offense, we don’t run the ball enough and our passing game isn’t good enough to not run the ball. We need to establish the run.

My dad always asks me, “Why does everyone say they have to establish the run?” My explanation is this: If we show that we can run the ball, our opponents may move more guys into the box to stop the run. This opens the door for the play action pass on short yardage situations, giving our supposedly good wide receivers single man-to-man coverage down field.

Without establishing the run, the defense comes out in dime formations all day and two of our four wideouts are double covering. Kitna can’t decided who to throw to and he either throws a pick or gets sacked.

You can blame the offensive line for giving Kitna no time, but it was the same offensive line that got us to 6-2. But the reality is it’s getting hard to point fingers. We are supposed to have the talent and the coaching staff but no one is producing. I’ve run out of things to say.

Short and sweet this week, so here we go.

Miami at Buffalo
The bad teams don’t get much recognition here…and today is no exception.

Miami gave up 42 points to the equally bad New York Jets last week and Buffalo is coming off a last second field goal win over the ailing Washington Redskins.

Buffalo is starting to look like a professional team but still has a ways to go.

My Pick: Buffalo.

Dallas at Detroit
The Cowboys are one of the most dominating teams in the league this year and the Loins are the Loins. Tony Romo will launch missiles all day to Terrell Owens.

I just don't see Detroit scoring that many points on offense, or stopping Dallas on defense.

My Pick: Dallas.

Pittsburgh at New England
The Patriots are the Patriots. They will continue to do what they want against teams even if they almost lost to Philadelphia.

Pittsburgh’s defense has been shaky lately and the offense isn’t much better. It won’t be the team to upset New England’s season.

My Pick: New England.

Last week I went a dismal 9-7. That brings me to 99-53, dropping my season average to 65 percent. I’m still doing better than some of those professional analysts.

This edition of NFL Picks is dedicated to the memory of Sean Taylor. Please see the column on this page for further remembrance.

Editor’s notes: results of the Monday game were unavailable at press time. ESPN.com was used as a resource.

Washington Redskin safety Sean Taylor, 24, died early Tuesday, Nov. 27 from a gun shot wound to the leg. Police reports indicate that on Monday, an intruder entered Taylor’s Palmetto Bay, Fla. home, breaking down the bedroom door and shooting twice.

Taylor protected his girlfriend and newborn taking one of the two bullets in his leg, severing his femoral artery which caused massive blood loss.

When emergency services arrived, Taylor was treated and airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami where doctors performed surgery. Later that evening, he reportedly was able to squeeze a nurse’s hand and hope was raised that he may pull through.

Passing away early Tuesday morning from blood loss, Taylor left behind a girlfriend and an 18 month old baby. Taylor had become a changed man with the birth of his daughter. He went from being a young star in the NFL to a responsible father.

Sean Taylor was a graduate of Florida's University of Miami, where he majored in criminology. Playing free safety for the Hurricanes, Taylor used his speed and size to make himself known within the Big East Conference and the rest of the college football nation.

Following in the footsteps of other NFL safeties from the University of Miami, Taylor played in 10 games his freshman year with 26 tackles. Taylor’s defensive presence helped the Hurricanes win the 2001 National Championship. A year later he proved to be bigger and better. Being named All Big East first team, Taylor was third on the team with 85 tackles.

The Hurricanes made it to the National Championship game for the second straight season, but lost to Ohio State University in double over time. Leading the defense, Taylor had a career high of two interceptions and 11 tackles against the Buckeyes. Taylor’s junior season was his last at the University of Miami. He was selected as the Big East defensive player of the year and a Jim Thorpe Award finalist.

Taylor was drafted fifth overall by the Washington Redskins in the 2004 NFL draft. He was the first of six Hurricanes taken in the first round of the draft. Taylor made a name for himself as one of the NFL’s hardest hitters. Starting as the Redskins safety through his four seasons, Taylor piled up 55 games, 299 tackles, 34 pass deflects and 12 interceptions.

The Pro Bowl safety was honored by the Redskins and the NFL last weekend. Washington will be wearing a patch on their jerseys and his number 21 on their helmets. There was a moment of silence before every NFL game in his remembrance. News and statistics on Sean Taylor were provided by ESPN.com and wikipedia.com.

No. 5 AP ranked Wisconsin took a mighty fall to un-ranked Illinois. 2 USC fell to Stanford. Miami lost to UNC, and Texas fell to Oklahoma after getting rocked by Kansas State. All this after Appalachian State stunned Michigan back in week one.

As we approach the end of the college football regular season with more than 15 top 10 teams falling to un-ranked teams, both No. 1 Missouri and No. 2 West Virginia lost this past weekend to lower ranked opponents.

The number in front of the team’s name used to bring intimidation, it used to stand for the program’s excellence and it made the team almost untouchable. Rankings used to have intimidation.

After this season we’ve found that the number in front of the team is just a number, with no significance.

Yes, it’s been a crazy football season, and many analysts are trying to figure out how the polls could be so wrong. I don’t think the polls were all that wrong. I think Appalachian (App.) State set the tone for the season and quickly became motivation for under dogs across the country.

Every un-ranked team quickly took the mind set of “if App. State can beat the powerhouse Michigan, we can beat USC, West Virginia and all other top ranked teams.”

No, rankings no longer hold the intimidation they once did. The NCAA has limited how many scholarships football programs can give out to players each year to 65. Yes, 65 is still a lot, but it has prevented large programs from grabbing players so their opponents can’t have them.

By capping the scholarships, teams such as UNC, Illinois, Stanford, and App. State are able to get in there and recruit quality ball players instead of taking the left-overs.

The cap has evened the playing field and has allowed for some of the craziest and unexpected upsets in the last couple weeks of football. Illinois, known more for its success in basketball then football, is now 3-0 in the Big Ten for the first time since anyone can remember.

Wisconsin was the third fifth ranked team to lose to an un-ranked opponent, Michigan to App. State, Texas to Kansas State, and now Wisconsin to Illinois. Let’s not forget the academic elite school, Stanford, who knocked off USC, who has made a comfy home at number one for the last couple seasons.

Announcers are calling it upsets, players and coaches are walking around stunned, watching their goal of a national championship fading away, and the “under dogs” running around celebrating repeating the same thing, “we knew we could do it.”

Yes, you could. We’ve known for quite awhile that rankings are just a number, and as there are three different rankings, the coaches poll, the AP poll and the BCS poll, no one knows who’s ranked what. This led to a nice controversy around the Thanksgiving Day table and will lead right into the ball dropping in Times Square.

The debate of the season is what game was the biggest upset, Michigan, USC or Wisconsin. Michigan’s game was voted as being the most stunning.

I don’t want it to seem like I am picking on Michigan, because I’m not. Michigan has built a reputation as being an athletic powerhouse, one that is expected to win championships. Michigan is known across the nation and internationally as a top school in the classroom and in athletics, which is what makes a Michigan loss so stunning.

Please remember the announcers were praising Wisconsin and picking them to be in the top three at the end of the season a week prior. Michigan’s upset in my opinion gave inspiration to all the smaller programs that have to have the Goliath team.

If App. State can beat the all powerful Michigan, and Michigan is a strong program, anyone can win on any given Saturday.

And that’s exactly what happened in 2007 NCAA football.

There’s a time once every year, when men, women and kids around the country dig out their camouflage jackets and orange hats. Michigan is no exception, myself included.

The festivities began for me in the summer when my dad and I went up north to build a new blind. It took us all day because we didn’t have schematics, or any idea what we were doing. But the “Sheraton” as it was dubbed, was completed and joined the ranks of the “Hilton” and the “Marriott” my uncle’s and cousin’s blinds respectively.

As the months started getting colder, we put out the automatic corn feeder along with other bait like carrots and sugar beets. The area showed good signs for a buck; lots of noticeable foot traffic and buck rubs, which is what is left when a buck rubs his antlers on a tree.

So the week came upon us. It was Nov. 14, the day before firearm season began. I notified my teachers I wouldn’t be in class on Thursday or Friday and departed for Boyne Falls, about two hours north of here.

My dad had sat in the Sheraton that morning and said he saw a good sized buck come through the bait pile and go back into the woods. Unfortunately, he couldn’t take the buck because it was before the season started and we don’t believe in poaching. So it was up to nature to lead that monster back into our pile over the next few days while we hunted.

The next morning brought a fierce change in weather. It was incredibly windy all day, cold but not freezing, and I witnessed every kind of precipitation known to man. I got to the blind just after 6 a.m., and took a snooze in my chair until the sun rose. Immediately, I saw a doe to the right and a few more does later that morning. Some walked past me only 20 yards or so from my blind’s window.

I thought the signs of does in rut, which means they are ready to mate, would attract the aforementioned buck, but there was no sign of him. We went in for the night after logging 12 hours in the Sheraton and had dinner, then we went over to my uncle’s house were we would get some surprising news.

My cousin Tim had gotten a good sized eight-point buck early in the afternoon and was preparing it to take to the butcher. We had a nice family gathering in the barn and helped finish up the deer. Seeing someone else get a deer pumped me up more for the next day, but what I saw next would blow my mind.

We had gotten word that my cousin Steve had gotten a huge eight-point earlier in the day. As his truck pulled up to the barn, we were all transformed into kids in a candy store. This buck was huge, with a 20.5 inch spread. It was probably the largest deer I had ever seen in person. It might not be that big for some, but for this city boy it was a sight to see.

But, unfortunately for me, the next two days would prove to be the same in nature. I saw countless does and that elusive buck never made it back to my area. All in all I logged about 34 hours in a four by four box that wasn’t high enough to stand up in, with nothing but a chair, my iPod and a loaded rifle. Sound brutal? Maybe it was, but it was an absolute blast, and I can’t wait to hear Fred Bear calling my name again next year.

Editor's note: The following article represents the views of the writer and not those of the Torch. It contains phrases and references that may be found offensive.

To Whom It May Concern:

I write to you in regards to Kevin Barnes’ letter entitled “Hockey Game Chants-Profanity.”

I was told my freshman year that Ferris’ hockey arena was considered one of the most intimidating places to play, not because the Bulldogs dominate opponents, but because of the fans.

By not allowing the college students to continue with the original cheers, you are taking away an important intimidation factor.

By silencing students (all but four cheers are swear word free), you are taking away Bulldog hockey.

It was claimed that the cheers were found offensive. During my first season of Ferris hockey, I struggled to understand what we were spelling and yelling, and I was in the section. I don’t know if the cheers become clearer the further you are from the students, but if you can understand them, then I give you much credit.

You are at a sporting event where guys are skating at 40 miles per hour and crashing each other into the boards, and breaking into fights two or three times a game, and you are concerned about the cheers?

I’ll have you know that Ferris’ cheers are practically G-rated compared to other CCHA teams. When Michigan’s opponent is sent to the penalty box the entire student section, the length of the ice, yells a long string of explicative vulgarities.

And Ferris is considered inappropriate?

Have you heard Michigan State’s football student section? When State records a first down its “One - Two - Three, first down b****” Or how about how the F-word is thrown around at large arenas and stadiums?

Compared to those two schools, the Dawg Pound spelling out "condom" seems like kid stuff.

I can understand the concern about exposing younger children to such vulgar language, but if the children already play hockey, go to school, watch TV, read bathroom stalls, overhear someone talking, or watch their parents try to install new kitchen cabinets, they might have heard some of the same language, maybe worse.

Many of us are paying good money to go to this university. We as students, are entitled to support our team, our class mates, our friends, and we do that however we can.

We hear over and over that we aren’t supportive of our athletic teams, that we don’t go to games and we don’t cheer. Then when we do go and support our team, we cheer and it isn't always appreciated.

I’m sorry sir, but you can’t have it both ways.

You can kick every last one of us out of the student section, you can ban us for life from Bulldog hockey games, you can even call our parents and tell them we were bad at school.

We as students, are prepared to pay the consequences to support our team. You may not agree with our tactics, and you may want the student section to turn into seating meant for retirement home residents, but we sir, are here to stay. We will support our team and continue to cheer, louder and louder and rowdier and rowdier, if we must.

We will host Michigan State in two days, and I will no longer be able to proudly say I’m a Bulldog hockey fan if the student section remains silent against the defending national champions.

- Mo McNeil

Hockey was born of blood, sweat and ice.

It is played by men with no fear and no regard for their bodies.

Born in Northern Canada, it is a sport that fashions missing teeth and stitches for show and scars are worn proudly like trophies. Fierce competition drives hockey and its players are fueled by the distaste they have for their opponent.

Then there are the fans. Yelling, screaming and chanting the home team’s name. They are as much a part of the game as the men on the ice. They pack into a cold arena, shoulder to shoulder, some know each other, some are strangers, but they all have one thing in common. They’re hockey fans.

It’s a game where friends and foes gather on common ground. They may be celebrating the win later or cursing their team for breaking their hearts.

They live and die with their team. Every time the puck drops, and the sticks start to fly, and the bodies start crashing into each other, they feel at home. They invest their souls into the game and lay it all on the line, sitting on the edge of their seat for 60 minutes.

Hockey has a different breed of fans, unlike any other in sports. I once saw a player jump over the boards of the penalty box to chase down a fan that had thrown ice at him.

He caught the fan and beat him with his own shoe. The player was ejected from the game as the fan wore a bloody smile. You see, he had done something special. He had gained his team an extra two minutes on their power play, something to be proud of.

Now it seems that there are people out there trying to change us. They say we're too vulgar and rude. They say that we offend other people. They say that our actions disrespect the other team. I say thank you for the compliment.

Hockey fans have never been shy or reserved. They are vulgar, rude and offending. How can we be expected to be anything else? We live for a game where the blood flows and the teeth fly. A game where two players will square off and battle with no style or finesse, just fists flying through the air, hoping they hit their mark as the fans scream louder with each hit.

It sounds barbaric, I know. But that’s hockey. It is barbaric. So, why would you expect anything different from the people who watch it? We may not be the best sort, we may scream a little too loud and get a little crazy. But, we're not there for anyone else. We're there for our team, and I’ve never met a hockey player who would tell a fan to shut up.

They play for us and we cheer for them. That’s how it’s always been, and that’s how it’s always going to be. They don’t care what we're cheering, or whether or not we're being courteous and cordial. They just care that we're there.

So, I’ll be at the next game, yelling and screaming for my team. No reserve or candor, chanting them on until the last whistle blows. I’ll never change, because I can’t change what I am. A hockey fan.