oil crisis

"You said you didn't give a fuck about hockey
And I never saw someone say that before"

last night i got a phone call from sarah. yay! we talked about too-expensive shoes, making big moves, jobs, and surprisingly, hockey.

everyone knows that i love hockey. i grew up on it... maybe a bit weird, but my (german) dad was a big Habs fan; growing up in a small town in b.c. all the boys played hockey and the girls watched their crushes; and of course we only had one channel for a good part of my childhood... the CBC.

the first time i really really followed the NHL season, the canucks didn't make the playoffs (this was during a huge slump for the nucks, i'll call it P.L. as in, pre-trevor lindon) so the team i picked were the flyers. they didn't win that year, but i was hooked.

sarah, who was never really into hockey before, is converted, just before she moves to san francisco. and i think she likes it.

canada is a country where our most popular coffee shop is named after a hockey player. it's also a country where it's been 13 years since we last held the cup; we go on by saying that most of the players are canadian anyway, but you know that as a nation, we want the cup back.

of course there are people who don't care about hockey, who live in canada (see jeffy's blog, which i read halfway into blogging this) but even he admits to internally cheering for the canadian team when accidently watching the game.

here's the thing: canada gets bullied by the u.s.. generally they win more medals in the olympics, they went to the world cup... we didn't, they have more people... blah blah blah. when it comes to hockey and health care, we know we're better... we just have to prove it when the opportunity comes up, because it's about who you are representing. remember the outrage when wayne gretzky went to the kings?

hockey is a sport that truly represents canadianism... its very nature is canadian. a team game that requires a toughness to survive the elements. it's the level playing field that everyone in canada can participate in... pick a team and cheer your heart out. it even ltches on to this inherent geekness that is canada... the games out back on the homemade rink or on the frozen lakes and rivers. going to the pub to cheer on your team, and bonding with strangers... what's not fun about that? hockey is such a part of the canadian psyche, that songs are written about it, art, movies and tv shows are created in celebration. and some of our most famous canadians, are our hockey players.

am i sad the oilers didn't win? of course! not only are they canadian, they're west side! the good news? hockey's back, and it's as exciting as ever! and to top it off, it's recruiting fans that i never thought possible.