It's Hockey Night Tonight!

🎶Hello out there, we're on the air, it's hockey night tonight!
Tension grows. The whistle blows, and the puck goes down the ice!🎶

Now wait! Before you close the page just because you're not a hockey fan, give me a chance to explain to you the beauty that is Hockey. Any sports fan should be able to appreciate the actual game itself and the skill it takes to play it. But allow me to help you understand the whole culture behind it and why we Canadian's love it so very much.
To understand my love for hockey, it requires us to go all the way back to the year I was born...

April 28, 1996. Winnipeg, Manitoba. Winnipeg Arena.

Photo cred: http://thehockeywriters.com/ode-to-jets-fans/

The Winnipeg Jets played their final game as a franchise after announcing their heartbreaking move to Phoenix Arizona. Jet's fans around the country came to see this final game. Including my dad, who drove 13 hours across the country, while my mom was 8 months pregnant with me. Now before you judge him, you have to understand that he grew up watching the Jets and they were the pride and joy of him and his whole city. It is not a small thing to lose a sports team. (Currently, Raider fans understand that most 😢)
So my dad cheered his heart out at that game and even though he lost his team that year, when he came home, just a few weeks later he gained me. I don't know if he told me about that final game as he changed my first diaper or fed me my bottle, but somehow he passed along his love of hockey to me because by the time I was two years old I was watching hockey with him every night. By the time I was three I was going to hockey games, cheering and fully aware of what was going on. By the time I was four I could recognize the music for Coaches Corner with Don Cherry and looked foward to hearing him yell as he wore the most ridiculous suits. And from whatever age it was that I learned about the Winnipeg Jets, I was a fan and longed for the day I could go to a Jets game with my dad. I even wrote it on my bucket list for a school project and though people laughed at me saying it was never going to happen, I didn't lose hope.

I still remember the day in 2011 when it was announced that Winnipeg was getting a hockey team once again. I can hear the cheers from the other classrooms that found out before my own 9th-grade class. I can feel my phone vibrating with a text from my dad, elated that hockey was back. Though we didn't know at the time the team would for sure be called the Jets, we had a feeling it couldn't be any other way. And we were right.

On September 20th, 2011 I stood beside my dad as our beloved Winnipeg Jets skated out onto the ice in their new uniforms. I had never heard such a deafening roar of cheers around me and I had never seen my dad smile so big as he did in that moment. I dare say the excitement of it all even brought a tear to my dad's eye, even if he won't admit it 😉.
It was an unforgettable night. To see our city once again full of the life of hockey. To see our big bruiser Dustin Byfuglien crushing bodies against the boards. To see our rookie Mark Shieflee dancing around players and making goals happen. And most of all to hear the roar of the crowd every time our team scored (which happened to be 6 times).
The night came to a close at the buzzer which couldn't even be heard because of the already cheering fans. After the team congratulated each other, they skated to the center to raise their sticks in salute to us. This brought an even louder cheer I didn't know possible because it was precisely what the old Jets team did that night they played what we thought to be the last.

Every team has their own comeback stories and amazing games that make the fans so dedicated. All around the country on game night you will find thousands of fans dressed up in their jerseys and facepaint proudly cheering on their boys in the chilly arena. Even if it's a work night and the game goes into overtime, it doesn't matter because there's hockey being played that demands to be watched. There is goals to cheer for, bad calls to boo at, and high fives to be given to strangers just because you're cheering for the same team.

Following the comeback of the Jets, my high school years were filled with going to many games because my dad ended up getting half a season of tickets. It was always the highlight of my week when I would get to go and even when I couldn't, I would watch the game at home. Hockey turned into an obsession and I quickly became the only girl in my class who could name all of the players on the team as well as their line, position, and number.
Because of how invested I was in hockey growing up, you can imagine why it is so hard living in California. Obviously, I can not have season tickets in Winnipeg while living here but in addition to that, hockey is not appreciated nearly enough! Despite California having three hockey teams, the love for the sport is severely lacking. In Canada, almost everyone has a team. Even if they don't watch every game or follow them that closely, they know where their loyalties lie. Just like American's do with their football, baseball, and basketball.
Whenever I actually do meet another hockey fan here, even if they're not a Jets fan, I feel an instant connection. The converstation quickly becomes one of "who's your team?" "did you hear about that rookie?" "they've got a good chance at play-offs this year" and so on. I leave the conversation feeling refreshed and as if I've gained a friend.
I was very happy that when I met my husband, it wasn't hard to turn him into a hockey fan. It just took him watching a couple games to realize how awesome it was and now I even come home to him watching hockey sometimes. I was even happier that he didn't have a team already so that no big rivalry was bred in our marriage.
Well I could go on forever but I think that covers most of what I have to say about the greatest sport there is. If I haven't made a fan of you from this article, even after reading about the culture and love behind it all, then go get some skates, a skinny stick and a hard rubber puck. Try skating, stick handling, and watching your surroundings all at the same time while also avoiding a 250 pound guy coming at you and see how you do. Then maybe you'll at least gain an appreciation for the skill of the game 😉