Happy Hockey Day in Canada!

One of the things I admire most about Canada is their national passion of hockey. I don’t believe the United States has anything that binds our society the way that hockey binds Canadians together. Sure, the United States has baseball, but I did not even know what Cooperstown was until about three years ago. Not to mention, the U.S . has a large fanfare for football and basketball and a number of other sports. I mean, I guess variety is good, but I can walk into a bar in Canada, mention hockey and have instant friends. It doesn’t matter what I look like or where I am from. My love for hockey is enough glue to connect me to others.

There is a huge misconception that hockey is only played by those hailing from the European persuasion. Well, let me tell you something. That is a view held in the United States. Around the world people strap on skates and find their way to ice, grab an empty can, tennis ball, puck and sticks and they play hockey. I personally, will tell you that there have been days when Hockey Night in Canada was the only thing I had to turn to. Ron Maclean and Don Cherry have carried me through some tough times. Harry Neale and Bob Cole, along with Maclean and Cherry taught me hockey and for that, I am eternally grateful.

What is Hockey Day in Canada? The best darn celebration of a national sport I have ever seen. Maybe they’ve got something like this somewhere else but I have no knowledge of it. One hour in to the show I have cried tears of joy over a story about an 80 year old woman who’s 83 year old husband drives her an hour every Saturday to play hockey, sniffled my way through a tale of an aboriginal girl who plays on several hockey teams, helps care for her sick sister and dreams of getting a scholarship to Harvard, smiled at the new Canadians from around the world who have gathered in Ottawa to get some free lessons on the national game and listened to how P.J Stock traveled to ten cities around the world in ten days to donated equipment to kids so that they too could come to the common meeting ground that is hockey. That was a mouthful, a total run on sentence, but that was how it felt as I was watching it. Hockey Day in Canada is truly breathtaking.

Well, we are moving on to the story of Devon Troke, a boy in Whitehouse who has had five heart surgeries but still is not giving up on his dreams of being a goalie. My eyes are full. I’ve got to go, but before I do, the Sidney Crosby commercial with the interview of him as a TimBits player saying, "Wouldn't it be amazing to wake up everyday and do the thing that you love?"... yes Sid, that is living the dream. A qoute that Sid the Kid might like: "The only thing that will stop you from fulfilling your dreams is you.” Tom Bradley. Oh how true. No matter what your dream is.