“62” by Dawn Violet Todd

Abstract

Hockey is a sport whose only constant is chaos. It is a spectacle; A nonstop barrage of insanity that assaults all normality. The prime example of this is the Stanley Cup Playoffs, an annual bloodbath that reminds us of the instability of our world. The antithesis of this would be the regular season, where everything can feel predictable. Of course, there are interesting things that happen throughout the season, but rarely are there remarkable results. There are two exceptions to this. In “62” we will explore two of the most baffling regular seasons ever played in the National Hockey League. In 1996 the Detroit Red Wings finished their season with an astonishing 62 wins. This high mark stood alone for 23 years, and then in 2019 the Tampa Bay Lightning matched it. These two teams share the NHL’s win record, and their immaculate seasons are worth further exploration. They merit this exploration through no particular worth of their own, but rather that we might learn along the way what causes so many to be infatuated by hockey, and how a sport can tell its own stories.

Dawn considers the following video the trailer for their presentation below.

Dawn’s Presentation (Microsoft Word)

---