pond hockey

There is no sport close to the freedom of pond hockey. There is nothing like gliding on ice and firing off a puck into the top corner of a net. Granted, I do understand the popularity of soccer where the only equipment necessary are a couple of shin pads and cleats. Soccer (or football as the rest of the world calls it) is a beautiful game! I also love NFL football simply for the complexity and passion of the game (even the CFL occasionally has moments of glory). But I come from Canada - the land of ice & snow and so hockey is a part of my heritage, my blood.

I have not played organized hockey since my school days but I still love to put on a pair of skates, grab a stick and shoot the puck around with friends and family. I played some good pond hockey with some relatives over Christmas in North Dakota - a good ol' Yankee versus Canadian cousins' & uncles' game! We had to clear ice without a zamboni!

Hockey in my humble opinion is best played on natural ice on a river or a pond and not in the high tech NHL venues of the 90's and now the new millenium. Hockey as a national sport finally died in the mid-nineties when the Winnipeg Jets were sold and the league continued its southerly expansion to such exotic locales as Arizona & Florida. Hockey was already dying shortly after the Oiler dynasty (we all loved/hated Gretzky didn't we?) in the 80's when the wonderlust of American entrepreneurs (who thought hockey would be the next big thing in the US) took the reins of the sport. Unfortunately for them, the only real fans live in the places where snow and nice naturally occur, where hockey can be played outdoors on a simple pond with some sticks, skates and a puck!

We see glimpses of the game of "Canada-past" when NHL players trade in their disney character uniforms and wear their country's heritage on their jersey during the World Cup or winter Olympics. But if you want to really see and understand hockey, meet me at the Friesen pond on long lane farm! We might lose a puck or two in the snow bank but at least we won't lose the game to some corporate sponsor!

Rant on...

G