Why do I have to choose?

As I sit here, watching the Bruins on TV, the Stars on my laptop, and the Hawks/Pens game on my phone, I think about the grief I get for liking more than one team. How dare I cheat on the Bruins by following and rooting for other hockey teams? Why am I not allowed to recognize and support the amazing talent and skill in other hockey players just because they don't wear the spoked B? I want to learn everything I can about this sport, and I truly enjoy watching games every night. Which is definitely a perk when you follow more than one team. Except for tonight. Too much hockey!

Now there is an order of favoritism. The Bruins are always first, but are closely followed by the Stars, then the Hawks, the Pens, and I recently added the Sabres. I wanted an underdog team to root for, so I'm slowly learning about the Sabres. I'm just reading the NHL alerts on that game tonight since my electronic devices are all in use with the other four teams. Who made this schedule? Don't they know that trying to focus on four different games is difficult?!

Back to the grief...who made these ridiculous rules that you can only follow one team? Yes, I understand rivalries, and I will never root for the Habs, but I can acknowledge that their goalie, Carey Price, is one of the best goalies in the league, and with his numbers last year, he's probably one of the best goalies ever. It's amazing to watch him, even though I should hate him as a Bruins fan. *Side note - see post on our visit to Montreal and my shirt of choice*

You can find articles on ESPN and other sports sites stating that true fans are the ones that only support the home team. I think that's ridiculous. I support teams that I want to watch. That I have a vested interest in multiple players from each team. And yes, if more than one of my teams makes the Stanley Cup playoffs, it will be a nail-biter, but I will root in order of my favorites.

So when people tell you it's wrong to support more than one team in each sport, ignore them. As long as you take the time to learn about the players on each team, watch the games, and take a vested interest in their results, you could follow all 30 NHL teams. Not that I'd suggest that. That would be a lot of freaking hockey!