Hockey

Yes, I grew up in Canada, and in a change from my usual anti-stereotype mind-set, I'm willing to admit that this is probably why I have always liked hockey.

It started with my long-time best friend Danny Stoltzfus, who was obsessed with hockey. Visiting his family was where I was first introduced to "Hockey Night in Canada" around the age of 8. I never watched a whole lot of hockey, mostly because I didn't have a TV in my house until I was 24. But it was always cool to watch a game, as long as there wasn't too much fighting.

I don't remember when I started playing "boot hockey", but by the time I was in 7th grade, me and 10-20 other boys at my tiny school played every recess (that's about an hour a day, 5 days a week), through-out the hockey season. This was where I really fell in love with the game. I think it was the low pressure, casualness of the games, combined with the inherent fun of chasing a ball with a stick, and feeling included as one of the guys... Whatever the reason, I LIVED for those recess games.

Skating is a big part of hockey, but I remember many times as a kid wishing I had more opportunities to practice the skill. Many winters I would say to my self, and/or my parents, THIS is the winter I want to go to the arena every week! But I never did. Occasionally, there would be a frozen pond nearby to skate on too, but even so, I never did get to skate as much as I would have liked.

I took a long sabbatical from sports during high school and college. During these 10 years I focused on music. The exception was the year after college, when I moved back to Canada for a year, and lived mostly by myself, without very many friends around. I watched a LOT of TV during that time, and when the Stanley Cup playoffs came around in May, I got really into it. I was especially impressed with 5'9" NHL player Martin St. Louis. Not that I ever had any remote dreams of making it as a professional hockey player, but if someone my size could play pro, there was no reason I should be afraid to brush up on my skills and play again someday. It being the middle of summer then, I went out and bought some roller blades and started cruising up and down the street.

I got distracted again when I moved back to Goshen and got married. I also started singing in a professional choir, and got into filmmaking, both as a hobby with my own camera, and working as crew on other people's films. But the Winter Olympics in Vancouver CANADA, with the promise of exciting hockey to watch, and my entire native country rooting for hockey gold, piqued my interest again. Around the same time, my pastor Karl Shelly got his backyard ice rink up again, and invited people to come play hockey.

Oddly enough, in spite of my lifelong interest in hockey, this winter, at the age of 30, was the first time in my life I actually played hockey ON SKATES! I was a little nervous, but I found it surprisingly easy to combine the two skills. I played 4 or 5 sessions of 3 on 3 hockey on Karl's half-sized rink before spring weather hit. About a week later I realized I wasn't done with this ice-hockey thing, and I started hunting around for an organized league. I found one in South Bend, and was hesitant at first to drive so far, and to invest so much money in equipment and ice fees. But with encouragement from friends and family, I felt myself moving steadily in that direction, and last Saturday finally took the plunge and ordered a full set of hockey equipment.

Practice starts next Sunday, and a few weeks after that, I will be playing my first ever game of REAL, ORGANIZED ICE-HOCKEY!