A National Obsession

I Think My Title Is Justified Already...

Hey everyone, my name is Victor and I'm a first-year Broadcast Journalism Student. This is the first of what I hope will be a weekly column on "An Outsider's View of Canada." Do feel free to give me your feedback.

I've been living in Canada for a little over four months now. I come from India, a country where hockey is non-existent. We do have a hockey team in the country, but they virtually do not exist. In India, cricket is a massive sport. In my opinion, it's the biggest thing to ever happen to the country. Winning the 2011 Cricket World Cup on home soil drove the country crazy. I used to often face a lot of criticism from my friends because I was never a huge cricket fan: soccer was always my sport back home. Interestingly, though, it was a similar story when Canada won the hockey Olympic Gold on home ice in 2010. The whole country was united in hours of celebration as Canada's beloved Sidney Crosby scored the winning goal. That game is still stuck firmly in my head; I remember staying up late to watch that game (at an unearthly hour because the time difference between Vancouver and India is 13 and a half hours in winter.)

It's events like these that led me to do hours of research. Like I mentioned, I've been in Canada for four months and I've already been to four hockey games (and counting) so far. That's more than the number of cricket games I've been to!

I used to always think that hockey was Canada's national sport, but it turns out that I was wrong! So what is it that makes hockey so special? To be very honest with you, I do not have a definite answer to that. I imagine, however, that it has something to do with the ice and the icy conditions that are so prevalent in the country.

I've never actually played a proper game of hockey, except for NHL games on the Xbox, of course. I have always called myself fortunate because I used to follow a little bit of hockey while I was growing up in India. It all started with NHL 2002 and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. Yes, I can and will proudly call myself a Ducks fan. I know they aren't performing well this season, but that is beside the point here.

Coming back to the reason why hockey is so popular in Canada, I happened to stumble upon a website called thephysicsofhockey.com a few days ago. The Physics of Hockey website has a few interestin  points as to why hockey is such a national obsession. I won't mention all of them here, but a few of the points mentioned there have opened my eyes quite a lot. Like "Canada's number one export to the U.S.A. is NHL talent – that's ahead of timber," or something like "Hockey keeps the Canadian dental industry healthy." I guess it's only fair to mention here that the only reason why I had a small inclination towards hockey back home in India was the numerous fights that I witnessed on SportsCenter.

Hockey is quite the phenomenon in Canada, just like Don Cherry's suits, which have fascinated me time and time again. Hockey and Canada are like two peas in a pod: inseparable, as they always have been for several years now. I'm living with a Canadian family at the moment and it's hockey that brings them together on numerous evenings. What's even better is that their hockey night makes me feel like part of the family: it makes an international student feel at home. I'm glad that I grew up following hockey; it makes me a little more Canadian day by day...

Originally written for the Interrobang: http://www.fsu.ca/interrobang_article.asp?storyID=7835&sectionID=2&issueID=191

Image Credit: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Team_Canada_fan_at_women's_ice_hockey_gold_medal_game_-_US_vs._Canada_at_2010_Winter_Olympics_2010-02-25.jpg
History Was Made Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R81fgWglOg&feature=related
Five Telecasts Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8z0W1MUv_c4&feature=related