Hockey Night in Canada

The first ever outdoor regular season NHL game was played today, in EDMONTON ALBERTA! And it was an awesome game! Well played, exciting, emotional. It was a hockey game right down to the last second.

In honor of the occasion tonight we drank Hot Chocolate out of our Heritage Classic Travel Mugs, a hold over from yesterdays practise. It seemed appropriate, and neither of us was willing to go out to get beer.



It was apparently -28°C (with the windchill) on the ice when the game started. I can only imagine that it got a little colder as the night progressed. We enjoyed the game from the comfort of +18°C, although, I would admit, that being offered tickets I would have gladly frozen my ass off to see those games rink side. I might even have offerred a digit or two for the appeasement of the hockey gods.



I couldn't help but wonder as I watched, if we had lost something in modern day Hockey, some tradition found in the frozen pond beginnings of the game. It was a different experience yesterday standing in the cold watching hockey heros skate on an outside rink. It felt right. It was inspiring. It was like standing in a cathedral of the truest religion in Canada - Hockey.

The winters in Canada are long. In a frozen world it makes sense to turn vast expanses of ice into a passionate game that warms you from inside. In the frenzy of the moment, between cheering the play and encouraging your team onwards, no one really has time to be cold.

"And these are the sounds of a village in the lonely heart of winter."