Hockey

I learned to ice skate when I was 2 and I started playing hockey when I was 4—at least, that’s what my mom told me. I guess it’s true, because I cannot remember a time when I did not skate or play hockey.

I was a show-off. Once when I was 6 (?), during an open skate time down at the Rec Center, I wanted to show mom how fast I could skate. I blasted down the length of the rink, but was a little too confident on the turn. I slid into the boards and broke my arm. I remember some stranger picking me up and bringing me over to my mom and saying, “I think he broke his arm.”

When I was barely 10, we moved to Texas. Fortunately, my mom found a hockey league in which I could participate. It was awesome because I was like Wayne Gretzky compared to those Texan hicks. I registered a hat trick in practically every game.

The first winter I knew Heather we went down to the hockey rink on campus. Of course, I took the opportunity to impress her with my stick handling and shooting. My need to show-off still hadn’t worn off. Maybe that’s why she married me…

Nowadays, I don’t get to play any hockey and I honestly miss it. Recently, I had the chance to watch part of a playoff game on TV: Minnesota vs. Colorado. The game went into overtime and Minnesota won. I was in heaven.

Being a Canuck, hockey is in my blood. It’s only fitting that I married a man from Minnesota so that we could infuse our children with double the hockey fever. So far it’s working; our kids love the “Mighty Duck” movies. If we lived in the US or Canada I’m sure Nic would be enrolled in peewee hockey.

I grew up hearing stories of my Dad’s hockey escapades. He played hockey even after he married my Mom. I know that on more than one occasion she got called to the emergency room because someone had skated on his face. Or some other body part. Fun and games, people, fun and games.

I didn’t really have a Hockey Team until I moved to Minnesota when I started rooting for the Minnesota North Stars. But then, in a tumultuous turn of events, the Stars moved to, of all places, Dallas! Say what? That was just wrong on so many levels.

For awhile we were Colorado Avalanche fans since we moved to Colorado and Minnesota still didn’t have a NHL team.

But hurray, now we have the Minnesota Wild! And they have a sweet place to play, the Xcel Center in St. Paul. A few years ago Troy and I went to a game there, and it was awesome. I think they lost, but we had a blast.

I’ll leave you with this tidbit: hockey is SUPPOSED to be rough. In Canada we say “We went to see the fights, and a hockey game broke out.”