Living
in Montreal, Quebec, Canada I have been exposed to
the game of “hockey.” It is virtually impossible not
to know what hockey is if you live in Canada. Canada
is described as “our game,” just as baseball is America’s
past-time, hockey is ours. Every where you look there
is something that has to do with hockey; whether it’s
the numerous arenas in big cities and small rural
towns, or on national television or radio, hockey
is everywhere. Canada takes its hockey very seriously,
from the little leagues all the way up to the NHL
(National Hockey League). Canada has 6 NHL hockey
teams, Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver
and one being in Montreal called the Montreal Canadiens.
Clearly, hockey is truly Canada’s game, from coast
to coast.
Dealing with all this exposure and hype, it was hard
for me not to get attached to the game of hockey.
From the age of 2 I began to start skating and the
rest is history. Skating was my passion. I loved to
skate around the ice and, in no time at all, I became
fairly good at it. However, at 2, I couldn’t play
hockey, I was too young. Though I continued to skate
and improve, I even went as far as taking up figure
skating to better my skills on the ice. When I reached
grade 1, I could finally start playing hockey. I immediately
loved it. I loved skating with the puck, shooting
and scoring. It was the best feeling in the world.
I became obsessed with hockey. All I wanted to do
was play hockey, all I thought about was hockey and
all I spoke about was hockey. I began to collect hockey
cards and memorabilia. I watched hockey games on TV
all the time. The Montreal Canadiens soon became my
favorite hockey team. I can vividly remember going
to the historic Montreal Forum to watch the Canadiens
play. I loved to watch the “Habs” play.
Throughout my childhood up to the present day, I still
follow hockey and I am actively involved in the sport.
In my elementary years I played inter-city hockey
for my town; inter-city hockey is played between other
towns and districts throughout Montreal. It is a high
caliber league and it gets pretty competitive. As
I reached High School, I quit playing inter-city hockey
because of too many politics. I just wanted to play
hockey, so I decided to play here at LCC for my school.
I have played four years of hockey at LCC. This year
I am playing on the LCC Senior hockey team.
Hockey is like no other sport in the world. I think
it’s the high speed and tempo of the game that makes
it so exciting. There are rarely any breaks in the
game like many other sports. The constant action makes
it an easy game to watch and want to play. The hitting,
fast skating, a goal and fighting makes fans go wild.
However, for me, hockey is much more; it’s the game
I have been playing since the age 5, which I have
loved for so long. I prefer the pureness of the game,
just playing for fun, shooting pucks around and not
taking things too seriously. I love hockey not for
how it’s played, but for what it is. Hockey will forever
be with me and will always be “my game.”
