Today is Hockey Day in Canada. Much is made of how central hockey is to the Canadian soul. It IS absolutely central to our understanding of what it means to be Canadian. Who of us does not remember where he or she was when Paul Henderson scored that mythic goal that won the summit series? Who over forty anyways? For our parents generation it was the Richard riot. Canadians are hockey mad! That Americans are not is blatantly obvious. They call it "Ice Hockey"! Hockey does not need a qualifier. Do they play 'Grass Baseball"? Of course not. Field hockey, underwater hockey, air hockey, street hockey, and roller hockey all require their qualifiers, but not good old hockey.
When we were kids we knew the names and numbers of every player on our favorite team. For me it was the Montreal Canadiens. The Habs.To me the world was unfolding as it should when, the Habs were the Stanley Cup Champs, Ali was the heavyweight champ and Pierre Trudeau was Prime Minister. When these factors were in alignment then the forces of good were winning. Well the Habs haven't won since '93, Pierre is gone and Ali, alas has been silenced by Parkinson's. Today players in the NHL are like chips on a poker table. They are traded and spent like plastic counters. They seldom stay with one team long enough for the fans to build allegiances. Players make staggering sums of money that distance them from the fans. Performance enhancing drugs call into question the prowess of athletes. The longer seasons make the new records they create a devalued commodity. One wonders if they should have asterisks after them.
Some days I wish that Guy Lafleur (#10) and Yvan Cornoyea (#12) were streaking down the ice, backed up by big Ken Dryden (#29). The good old days... Nostalgia nowadays sucks, when I was young we had real nostalgia...
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