If you’ve spent any amount of time living in Canada, there’s a good chance that you’ve spent time watching a hockey game at one of the thousands of arenas that dot our landscape.
And there’s also a good chance that you’ve spent time at a minor hockey game.
You might not have kids in minor hockey (or kids at all, for that matter), but you likely have been invited to watch the child of someone you know play a game. Perhaps it’s an initiation game, and they’re just learning to play the sport.
Or maybe the neighbour kid is in the provincial final, and while you’re not a big hockey fan, you wanted to see the kid play, since you remember when that kid was firing pucks at a garage door in the dark in the middle of January when it was -15 C outside.
Or perhaps you just enjoy watching minor hockey.
Regardless of whether it was as a player or a spectator, you likely have a memory of hockey.
This sport is often what unites us as Canadians. Older fans remember cheering when Paul Henderson scored with 34 seconds to play in the third period to lift Team Canada to victory over the Soviet Union in the 1972 Summit Series.
Fans in my generation remember Mario Lemieux’s late goal to beat the Soviets in the 1987 Canada Cup, or Sidney Crosby’s game-winning overtime goal against the Americans at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
But for most of us, our introduction to the game came when we were kids, learning to skate on an outdoor rink, getting the full set of equipment for the first time, and joining a minor hockey team at around the same time we started school.
Minor hockey is where so many friends have been made, memories have been gained and lessons have been learned. It’s where kids learn to love a sport, and develop skills on the ice.
And you learn a lot of other things through hockey when you’re young.
(Note: I learned a lot about geography from watching hockey. I knew Taipei was in Taiwan because that’s where former NHL all-star defenceman Rod Langway was born. I learned where teams’ minor league affiliates were located. I even learned a lot of tough name pronunciations because of hockey. Not all of those tough names were for players from European countries).
It might be clichéd to say there’s a level of purity or innocence in youth hockey, but families pay for kids to play the game, rather than having kids paid to play. It’s the point in which coaches and managers are volunteers. In many cases, the officials are serving as referees or linesmen for the first time.
Watch a kid score, especially if it’s that first goal, and you’ll see that excitement in their eyes.
It’s the level in which teams will play two or three times in a day, and rather than grumble about how tough these games are on their old bones, they’re eager to get out there for the next game.
Yes, there are the parents and the coaches who cause problems. There are the parents who think their talented young player is going to play in the NHL, and push him too far. There are also the parents who take the game too seriously, and use hockey as a licence to verbally berate anyone on the ice.
There are the coaches who put too much of a premium on wins and losses, and lose focus on the fact that the top priorities for youth hockey need to be developing skills, having fun and finding a love of the game.
Most of the kids, parents and coaches you meet in the game are good people who want to see kids love hockey.
The kids will talk about how they dream of playing in the NHL one day, of how they want to don that jersey of their favourite NHL team, and possibly even line up alongside their favourite NHL player. They’ve all dreamed of scoring the winning goal for the Stanley Cup or the Olympic gold medal.
Most will realize, as they get older, that the dream of playing in the NHL, or even in a professional league, is actually a fantasy. Only a select small percentage get to play at the highest levels. But many will stick with the sport because they love playing the game, and they gained that love of the game while playing minor hockey.
This week’s edition of Lifestyles features our annual Tribute to Minor Hockey. You’ll find photos of local youth hockey teams. Lots of photos. Lots of photos of kids who are smiling, and kids who will love this game for the rest of their lives.
Hockey is the greatest game on Earth. Minor hockey is where kids find that love of the game. And that’s what ultimately needs to be celebrated when it comes to kids’ hockey.
