(Ed. Note: Our series "Puck Daddy's Guilty Pleasures" features puckheads from all walks of life answering questions about their own hockey-related guilty pleasures. It will run daily during the month of August. Have a suggestion for a "Guilty Pleasures" guest blogger? Hit us on email. Enjoy!)
Today's special guest: Sean McIndoe of the hilarious Down Goes Brown, creator of the legendary NHL suspension flowchart.
1. The Player You Most Love To Hate
There are probably too many to list. If you catch me at the right moment I could name 15-20 guys pretty easily, and that's just on the current Maple Leafs roster after a loss.
2. Other Than Your Own, The Team You Can't Help Rooting For
I don't have a second favourite team. No real fan does. Hockey teams are like wives: If you have a second favourite, you don't really love the first one.
3. Favorite Fight or Brawl of All-Time
I loved Clark vs. McSorley so much that I not only wrote 700 words about the fight, but also 1,000 words about everything that happened right after the fight. My goal in life is to be the lucky fan who catches McSorley's eyeball when, as physicists estimate, it falls back to earth some time in 2016.
4. The Hideous-Looking Hockey Jersey You Secretly Love The Most
I actually like pretty much all of the old Vancouver Canucks jerseys. Even the "V" was solid, if you could get past the fact that it looked like all the players were wearing bibs. And the Bure-era skate logo was fantastic. I hope the Canucks switch back to it for one of the half dozen uniform redesigns they'll do in the next decade.
5. Your Favorite Hockey Cliché
"He left his feet on that hit."
Still trying to figure out how that's possible. It sounds painful.
6. The Injury You Couldn't Stop Staring At (Non-Skate Lacerations Only)
Not sure if it counts, but I've probably watched the Steve Sullivan/broken nose fan video about 1,000 times. The wife giving the thumbs up kills me every time.
7. Your Favorite Cheesy Hockey Reference in Popular Culture
Like everyone else, I loved "make Gretzky's head bleed". But nothing will ever top Mike Myers going on David Letterman one night and telling an extended story about meeting Nikolai Borschevsky and trying to explain to him that he'd name his dog after him before realizing he didn't speak English.
Letterman had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. It was the greatest comedy Myers ever did.
8. Your Favorite Terrible Hockey Card Or Hockey Action Figure.
I never really got into hockey collectibles. But since we're talking about hockey cards, check out this small article about Patrick Roy's card collection from a 1992 issue of Inside Sports that I found. I nominate it for "Most unintentionally prophetic headline".
9. Finally, What's The Thing You Secretly Respect Gary Bettman For The Most?
As much as I've mocked it, I have to admit that I deeply enjoy watching him do the Stanley Cup presentation while being booed mercilessly. He seems to enjoy it. I really think he has a bit of WWE-style bad guy in him. I hope one day he just cuts the slick corporate salesman persona altogether and does a complete heel turn, preferably by blindsiding the Phoenix Coyotes with a steel chair to the back of the head.