Making It Up As I Go Along #252

MONDAY...
— Not much out of the ordinary at or away from work.

TUESDAY...
— Work is okay. I spend time telling my team that I’m likely going to be heading back to AFIS soon and, therefore, giving up the supervisor role. They seem somewhat surprised by it but with my year’s experience just about in, I’m pretty well ready to move back.

WEDNESDAY...
— Things at work improving. I have a talk with a friend that was long overdue and it’s good to get it over with. Pizza for supper... some ice cream cake later.
— I’m officially going to be out as CNI supervisor very soon. There will be some weirdness giving up the responsibility and being able to listen to music as I work again... but after a year of handling the extra responsibilities, it’ll be good to just handle my own work. I’ll start training Megan for my job on Monday.

THURSDAY...
— Quiet evening at work. Not much out of the ordinary.

FRIDAY...
— Real quiet night. Only Louis and I are in CNI tonight with Dave working in another section. I am invited to join my team to be (when I return to AFIS) as they take Megan out for supper before she leaves them for my job... but I don’t really feel like it’s my place to be there since I’m not on the team yet and I also feel like it isn’t a good night to leave CNI for a long supper when it’s only Louis left to do the work. Sounds like the restaurant wasn’t so good anyway... although Laura gets a gift certificate for her troubles after a phone call to the manager of the place. She’s a daring one that Laura.
— Louis pops by for a few hours after work. It’s nice to hang out and chat.

SATURDAY...
— Hockey Day in Canada at Derek’s is a good time. Of course, I wear my Montreal jersey and watch them lose badly to Ottawa 8-3. Everyone else there are Ottawa fans so I have trouble with that one. Good food and fun though.


Hockey Day is Here Again
Hockey Day in Canada has become a tradition. This is the eight year that the NHL has held such a day in the season where all six Canadian teams face off against each other in back to back to back games.

While I lived home, this day didn’t hold any real special place for me. I’d watch the games but there’d be no big party or planned event around it. But now, here in Ottawa, it has become one of the few planned events on my calendar.

Each year, Derek hosts about fifteen of us for the day. We all bring whatever alcohol we may want and a dish for the group to eat and then we let the most Canadian part of Canada rule the day.

For the second straight year, I’m responsible for the vegetable platter. It’s an easy thing for a single guy to do. And I do a change in the jersey I wear.

In a house of Ottawa Senator fans, there is no bigger insult than to wear a Toronto Maple Leaf jersey. Last year I did it and, with another Leaf supporter, we laughed as Montreal beat Ottawa, and Toronto went on to win their game right after. It was sweet victory against the crowd.

This year, I play nice and wear my Montreal Canadiens jersey instead. Even though Montreal is playing Ottawa, Senator fans are not insulted by Montreal support... it’s a complex dynamic.

But my support of Montreal goes for not. They surrender goals early and often and end up losing to Ottawa 8-3. Senator fans are most pleased.

But the games are only a part of the day. In a country as diverse as Canada, there is little that can be looked at and seen as purely Canadian. Hockey is one such thing... I challenge you to name three other things that are really Canadian and not just borrowed from another culture. In fact, I often remember back to a Cultural Geography class I was in back in university. The class was basically stumped when asked by the professor for examples of Canadian culture. I mentioned hockey with laughter from the rest... the prof was straight faced and nodded. She quickly silenced my fellow students... and cultural geography became my specialty.

Hockey brings us together. Most of the supporters are men but even among the women who don’t care about the game, they join such events to support their husbands or boyfriends and to just share in a fun time with others.

Stories are often told, both by fans and their supportive partners. Times when remote controls put holes in walls after the wrong team scored during the playoffs. Times when NHL stars were met back in their junior league days. Some of these players were nice and down to earth... others were arrogant and acted as royalty. And your left watching them there on the TV, wondering if they’ve changed from the time your sofa neighbor is describing. There are stories of comeback victories. There are also stories of a year ago, when we were all gathered in this same place and how the wrong teams for some (right teams for me) won the day.

People are dressed as children. T-shirts and jerseys. Hats with logos. Even wrist bands are donned to support our teams. This year, Derek has even done up the house for the day. Hockey table clothes and napkins. Flags of his favorite Senators stuck up behind the TV. Posters of players around the room. I’m in the house of the enemy but it remains a friendly visit in hostile territory.

Conversations are mostly light and of the game we’ve come to celebrate. We talk about how our teams and players are doing. Of how this guy has let me down in my hockey pool because of an injury... of how another guy should have been named to the league’s all-star game... and of how the new rules of the NHL have either made the game better or worse. Many a passionate discussion can be had when a non-Senator fan tells the Senator loyalists why their team will never win the Stanley Cup. Traditionalists damn the advent of the shootout while others call it the greatest part of today’s game.

Hockey Day in Canada is more than the NHL games on TV. They broadcast the day from a small town somewhere in Canada. They tell stories of hockey in that region of the country and show how that region is both different than and the same as all the rest of us.

Last year, Hockey Day was hosted by a small town in Newfoundland. Camera shots around my home province had me sitting and daydreaming for a few minutes at a time (or until the next round of hockey teasing occurs among rival fans). That event made me a host within another host’s home. I answered questions and explained circumstances that were touched on by the cultural aspects of the television broadcast.

This year, a small town in BC (Nelson) is host and my sister and her family are supposed to be there to take in some of the festivities. Nelson is only a half hour from Edena’s hometown and I’m left watching the events broadcasted there with memories of my visit to Nelson with the family... and with an eye on the people walking the streets, just in case a familiar face comes into view.

Yes, Hockey is a vital part of Canada. It doesn’t matter if you enjoy the game or not, it’s a part of where you come from. And on a day like Hockey Day, fans are brought together with the indifferent... supporters of rival teams share laughs and good humored fun... and families separated by thousands of miles are brought a bit closer in a common theme.

And I leave Derek’s after a day of Canadiana... with talks of next year already taking place.