As a good Canadian boy I’ve:
- played ice hockey at various levels of competitiveness every year of my life since the age of 5 (check out my last post for a vintage pic)
- played every position, including goalie
- now started to teach my oldest child to skate at the age of 4.
Needless to say that with the Olympics being held in Canada this year, I’m super-pumped for the sweet hockey action set to begin this weekend.
During the Stanley Cup Championship series of 2007 I found myself in Atlanta the night of Game 5, where the Anaheim Ducks (chock full of other good Canadian boys) were poised to take the cup with a win over the Ottawa Senators.
Now, I understand that hockey may not be as popular with Americans as football or baseball but that didn’t stop me from asking the bartender at the hotel if he wouldn’t mind tuning the TV to the game.
It may as well been one of those classic movie moments where the record skips and scratches on the juke box and everyone in the joint turns around to look at the loser who has clearly identified himself as an “outsider”.
Fortunately, the bartender begrudgingly accommodated my request, disappointing the other patrons engrossed in an epic battle of womens college softball (I kid you not!).
Fast forward a few years later I’m sitting watching TV when the Nike ad below appears on Canadian airwaves. I couldn’t help but think that as we head into the Olympic season, this video so perfectly sums up the hockey spirit in Canada and why it’s truly in our DNA.
If you haven’t seen it (especially my non-Canadian friends), take note, enjoy and GO CANADA!
