I couldn't have been the only one...

Ignoring Jordi's direct order a few posts down, I offer you my response to the topic of the week.

I was in grade school, and discovered that knowing a thing or two about hockey was a good way to break the ice with the cute boy sitting next to me. Of course, this was real basic stuff...I knew what a center was, but it was enough to give me an edge (but not enough of one) over the better looking 8 year olds.
There was a lapse somewhere in my later formative years where I watched no hockey. It was probably around the time the Leafs weren't doing so well, none of my preteen lady friends were that interested, and hockey is a sport to be shared, darn it!
Thankfully, I grew out of that awkward stage, first by becoming a playoff fan, and eventually when that wasn't enough for me, I moved into watching the regular season.

A lot of this has to do with living in a hockey-mad country...and city, in particular. It's an acquired taste, and I'm relatively certain that if I lived anywhere outside of Canada, I'd probably be into baseball or football or something.