Entry FeedBefore I met Husband, I had never watched a hockey game. I had zero interest in hockey. With only sisters, none of us played. My mother used to watch Hockey Night in Canada, though I never understood the appeal. To me, though hockey was our national obsession, it was a bunch of goons with sticks.
I never wanted to date a hockey player. Word around town was that they drank, were aggressive, cheated (slept around) and general treated girls / women poorly.
Then I met Husband. He is the anti-goon. Intelligent, soft spoken, strong but gentle. Even as a large defense, he would get a penalty maybe once every 5 years - and never for fighting. I fell hard for Husband watching him skate, before I even got to know him. The power, speed, agility translated to such grace.
I started attending as many of his games as possible. I really enjoyed watching him play, though I still didn't watch it on TV. With work I got to attend some Leaf Games in the box, but I was really there for the free food.
Husband warmed me up to hockey on TV. We would watch the Olympics - Men and Women, and the Juniors. It was much nicer hockey to watch then the NHL. Now, he will even have me watching the Stanley Cup playoffs, but it was a long road. Heck, last spring we even let the boys stay up late on a school night to watch the finals!
It is funny how much time I now spend thinking about hockey. The boys both play, and select tryouts for both of them are coming up. Daughter wants to play, and Husband just packed up his equipment for his first practice of the season.
Now even I play hockey. I really don't know how that happened. Never in my entire life did I want to even learn to skate, let alone play hockey. This fall, I am talking about playing twice a week! Are you kidding me? Twice a week?
Girls, when I was growing up, didn't play hockey. I still remember lawsuits of girls trying to play in different leagues which were all-boys, and having to go to court to fight for their rights of equality. Ringette - what a crazy sport! Why didn't they just get to play hockey? Not to mention all of the girls who did figure skating just because they wanted to skate, hating the short skirts.
It always makes me laugh when people outside of Canada ask me to clarify our hockey as "ice hockey". Can you imagine boys here playing field hockey? (I once heard that Men's Field Hockey was the only Gold Medal that India has won in the Olympics... fact or fiction?)
Our group is looking to run some daytime hockey in Bloor West on Monday mornings. And I have signed up for the second hour. Huh? How the heck did this happen?
I guess I have the equipment. And since I really suck, maybe the extra hour will help me out. Plus it is sort of fun - at least to socialize...
However, learning to play hockey has made me appreciate it so much more. The skills required to puck handle, skate, and play the game - WOW! My kids made it look too easy. Will I ever be great? Nope. I just hope that this helps me skate a little.
I managed to grow up without hockey in life. Now, hockey is such a major part of my life and my family's. Yes, we are a Canadian family obsessed with hockey - the bug has bitten.