It’s that time of year again. The time when Canadian beer is at a premium and large, grizzly men grow large, grizzly beards. It’s the NHL playoffs or, as I see it, Grizzly Beards on Ice.

OK, so hockey isn’t the most popular sport, but it may very well be the largest niche sport in the United States (unless you count NASCAR and, in the Northeast, most don’t). And, if you haven’t noticed, hockey fans are among the most devoted of any sport. Those people wearing colorful mesh jerseys around campus are only partly doing it ’cause they’re so stylish.

There aren’t many teams with fans that embody that die-hard attachment more than the Buffalo Sabres. Senior Kristy Birtch goes to Sabres games when she’s at home in Buffalo and gets regular recaps from her brother, who has season tickets. She’s what you could call a “casual fan.”

“My friends from Buffalo are ridiculously intense about the Sabres,” she said. “They have parties to watch the games and when they go to the games.”

Playoff hockey takes things to a new level. Sophomore Michael Polak started playing hockey at camp back in middle school and has been hooked ever since. An enthusiastic New York Rangers fan, Polak went to his first game in 2000. He said nothing compares to seeing hockey in person, something a majority of people don’t get to do.

 “Hockey is definitely the best sport to watch live,” he said. “When the home team scores, the place goes crazy. The hitting is also fun to watch as well as the fights.”

All of which gets kicked up a notch during the playoffs, where every game seems like life and death. It only gets crazier if Gary Thorne is calling play-by-play because there’s always a chance he’ll have a stroke midgame. So maybe you don’t have a favorite team, or maybe you don’t even know if your hometown has a franchise, but who needs ’em?

It’s funny that the current state of hockey means that the Boston Bruins, one of the original six NHL teams, sits at home while a team from Tampa Bay fights for its second Stanley Cup in three seasons. But that doesn’t lessen the excitement. Senior Michael Marfione is a Boston native, but he’s still watching games.

“There is so much more on the line, it’s a better brand of hockey,” he said. “Obviously it’s a better experience if you have a team to root for.”

Hockey: It’s the coolest game on earth — everyone just forgot about it. If only it wasn’t on Versus between bull riding and strong-man competitions, I’d watch more of it.