my boy's gonna play in the big leagues

It's been an all hockey, all the time weekend. I went to my nephew's game yesterday where his team clinched the league championship. His team is named after the Toronto Maple Leafs, and unfortunately that's probably the only championship we will see the Leafs winning any time soon.

Today, it was an OHL game, the Brampton Battalion were playing. Our Prime
Minister was seen dropping the puck at the World Pond Hockey Championships this weekend, and the NHL schedule was full.

I've never understood the rapt fascination that Canadians have with the game of hockey, sorry make that "our" game of hockey. Sure, when I lived in Toronto, you get wrapped up in the playoffs, and I'm sure that when the playoffs were on, if you had cut me, I would have bled blue. However, I never had the sense that hockey was at the core of my being.

In fact our obsession with hockey can be silly; our national pride does not
ride on the nation's accomplishments, but on the actions of a few well-paid, over-indulged hockey players during the Olympics and World Cup. The country is crushed if they don't come back with gold. They come home with bronze or no medal and it calls for national soul-searching as to what's wrong with hockey in our country.

There are some interesting benefits to this national obsession. My hometown, Brampton, has quickly become one of the most multicultural cities in Canada. And my nephew's hockey league reflects this. In fact, the team captain's family heritage is only or two generations from India. The ice rink is like a little united nations. Hockey may prove to be the integrater of society.

Maybe the lack of hockey at my core resulted from not playing . I played
street hockey (CARRRR) as a kid, but never made it on to the ice. The reason, I'm a Canadian who can't skate. Yes, we are a rare breed, but we do exist. It's considered a disability in this country but we soldier on and survive, coming up with other excuses for not hitting the rink so as not to reveal our secret. As a result, we will always be on the outside looking in at our country's most popular game.