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Three Fav Moments From Yesterday Click Here To Comment!

One might think I'm almost as obsessed with hockey as I am with Really Good Coffee. Soon(ish), I will move onto a new topic … three fav moments from Hockey Day In Canada …

Wearing The Sweater: All the women playing in the tournament used the same curtained off area as a "dressing room". So, you were just as likely to be sitting beside someone who was about to be your opponent – this certainly added to the fun and the spirit of the event, especially before the "Championship Game". There are no uniforms for shinny but, in order to tell teams apart, the convenor provided really nifty "pinnies" to wear over our sweaters.

However, no one seemed to want to go with pinnies for the last game. A coin was flipped and the other team got to decide about pinnies or colours. They decided they wanted to be "dark", which meant we all had to find shirts that were "light". Most women had a selection of shirts – I didn't bring a light coloured shirt. I brought a blue one and a green one.

However, I heard from across the room, "Hey, Venus, you wanna wear this?" It was GW, holding up her prized replica old-style Toronto Maple Leaf jersey. It is made of thick wool, unlike the light nylon jerseys worn these days. I'd seen her wear it earlier in the day and covetted it. But, more important, GW is – head and shoulders – one of the best female hockey players I've ever had the pleasure to watch – graceful in movement, smart, focussed. Furthermore, she is a fine and generous person who is far happier celebrating a play that results in a newbie scoring her first goal than she is tooting her own horn. I really admire that, and am a bit in awe of her.

Did I mention that GW was playing for the other team in the Championship Game, and that I took the opening face-off against her? Wearing her sweater?

I *did* give the sweater back … after we won. 🙂

"… but, your other arm still works, right?": During the last game of the day, the "real" game, someone on the opposing team fell awkwardly into the boards. I was on the bench at the time and the play was on our side of the rink, so I didn't quite see what happened. Play was whistled down and the player lay writhing, in obvious pain, on the ice for several minutes. It looked like a shoulder injury, perhaps – something amiss with her left arm. She did get onto her feet and, although she favoured the arm, she appeared to be not as badly injured as it first looked. As she skated by our bench towards her own, my good friend (and brand new Voxer) Thumper, always ready with the bon mot, said, "You can still hold your beer in your other hand, right?" which made the injured player laugh out loud.  Laughter is healing, they say … I believe I saw that player back on the ice fairly soon after.

Overheard in the dressing room: After the last game of the day, someone asked a player what happened to result in her getting a penalty …

    Someone: Hey, DC, how come you got that penalty? What happened?

    DC: Well, I was trying to force her to the outside so she couldn't shoot, and then our sticks got crossed, and somehow our legs got tangled and we fell into the boards …

    Me and JK (in unison): Ah … the passive voice! … (laughter) … Sometimes, shit just happens.

OK … it really is time to move onto a new topic … um … how 'bout those terrible Leafs?

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