Hockey: A Sportsman's Challenge

A big part of sports is trying to establish which is most difficult and yields the best athletes.  

It's not a difficult contest for Isaac Berky, who says hockey is "hands down" the most demanding sport he's played.

“I think [ice hockey] requires a certain skillset and a certain amount of toughness that other sports don’t necessarily require,” Berky said.

Berky ought to know. He played all the traditional US ball sports before playing ice hockey all four years of his undergraduate career at Michigan's Adrian College. Nothing ever held his attention like hockey’s pace and the complication of adding ice and metal blades to an already complex stick game. Berky says no sport matches hockey in terms of sheer physicality. 

He’s not entirely wrong, either. An ESPN panel ranked hockey the second most demanding sport based on a set of criteria such as hand-eye coordination and conditioning demands. Berky says the demands of the sport foster a tightly-knit community. 

The NHL has a notoriously rabid fan base in the face the lowest viewership of the four major US sports. To Berky, passion for the sport trumps the tally of purchased seats.

“Whether they know it or not,” he said, "all hockey players have this kind of bond with each other.”

DJ: Hi there.

IB: How’s it going?

DJ: Pretty good. You want to spell your name for me?

IB: Isaac Berky, I-S-A-A-C B-E-R-K-Y.

DJ: Isaac, what do you do?

IB: I’m a graduate student in the BDJ program here, with a sports column emphasis.

DJ: Why sports?

IB: Growing up, I always loved sports. I played just about everything you can imagine as a kid. Everything from soccer, baseball, football, hockey. Sports have always just been a part of my life.

IB: And which of those was your favorite?

Hockey, hands down. Ever since I started playing I never could stop. I played all four years of college.

DJ: Why hockey?

IB: Just the fast pace of the game, the physicality. It’s a game that I feel truly tests your mental and physical toughness and strength. I think it’s one of the toughest sports out there to play.

DJ: Tougher than football, tougher than basketball.

IB: I believe it is.

DJ: What aspects in particular?

IB: I think it requires a certain skillset and a certain amount of toughness that other sports don’t necessarily require. I feel like it’s a tougher sport to play overall because you have the addition of the ice. I just love the game.

DJ: So is the sport’s difficulty the thing that attracts you most?

IB: No, I don’t think so. There’s just something about the game itself. I’ve never met anyone who’s attempted to play the game who hasn’t fallen in love with it. There’s just something about the sport. It creates a bond among everyone who plays. Whether they know you or not, all hockey players have this kind of bond with each other. I love the speed of the game, and the physicality as well.

DJ: What is the cement of that bond between hockey players?

IB: I think it’s passion. I think it’s truly passion for the game.

DJ: In what way would you like to be involved with hockey?

IB: I would love to work for an NHL club as either an analyst or a play-by-play guy. I would just love to work for an NHL club in some form or fashion.

DJ: Do you think that passion is something the NHL lacks and may be part of why its viewership has been declining recently?

IB: I don’t think overall the passion among the players isn’t there. Actually, I think the passion among the players is something that is higher than a lot of other professional sports. I feel like in the NHL you do, more often than in a lot of other professional organizations, see or hear a lot of guys take pay cuts to have an opportunity to either stay in a city or go somewhere where they have a chance to win a championship. There’s a bond among teammates in the NHL that I don’t feel like you necessarily always see in other sports because you truly can’t have a one man team in the NHL. It has to be a team made up of, it has to be a true effort in order to be successful.

DJ: Do you think that the addition of large amounts of money into other sports, MLB, NHL, NBA who receive very large paychecks, NHL not so much. Do you think that the passion of the sport has a little bit to do with how little money people are getting paid to play?

IB:I think that the funding and amount of money in the NHL compared to, say, the NFL, MLB, NBA, reflects the US more than anything else. I think it shows to the US, because basketball, baseball and football have truly been around for longer, they’re sports that are more valued in this society.

DJ: All right, that’s a wrap. Thanks Isaac.