It’s been a long time between blogs…

In my last blog I mentioned the need for me to keep my eyes on the ball. There was however one more luxury that I had promised myself I would indulge when I got to Canada.
The hostel sells cheap tickets to Canucks games. What is a Canuck? Well a Canuck is what Canadians refer to themselves as (e.g. Australians are Aussies). The Canucks is also the name of the Vancouver ice hockey team that plays in the National Hockey League or NHL (North American pro league, what NBA is to basketball, NHL is to ice hockey). I’m not sure that ironic is the word but I’ve always thought it silly that there are the Vancouver `Canucks’ and the Montreal `Canadians’ that play in the same league.

As I have always followed the NHL somewhat, it was very exciting to go to my first NHL or any other North American pro sporting match. Before the match the people from the hostel met and had a quick bite to eat while a girl from the hostel explained the rules of hockey for the benefit of those new to the game.

There was some hoo-har surrounding this match as it was the first home game for newly acquired player Mats Sundin who was a legend with the Toronto Maple Leafs (yes I agree it should be Toronto Maple LEAVES).

The Canucks ended up losing a close match that had some questionable officiating in the finals minutes and there were some very irate fans. This game also started a very large losing streak for the Canucks (including about 9 in a row at home) from which they have since recovered.

The highlight of the match came at the end of the match. As we (and the entire stadium) got up to leave, an Australian girl next to me asked “where are you going” as if we were all heading for a hot dog or some other gross arena `food’. I told her that some people were heading out for a drink but that I was heading back to the hostel. She then asked “What about the fourth quarter?”

In case you didn’t get that last joke, ice hockey is probably the only sport in the world that has three periods of play. You are forgiven if you didn’t know this.

Another blog soon crew. Plenty of time still on my hands…

-Tee

Sport