And, of course, I finally attained Canadian status by attending a hockey game! It just took me 5 months. Being totally honest, the museum was a *bit* more fun. And I also honestly know little about hockey, so what follows is just my best guesses.
The game is incredibly fast, especially with how the puck can cross the majority of the field in a few short moments. Goals, in the first round, cropped up quite fast, catching me off guard. Though the goals slowed down in frequency in the second and third rounds, they still remained incredibly hard to detect. Hockey is also an incredibly offensive sport, with the goalie seemingly the only properly defensive role.
The game slowed down considerably when the puck was in a corner. People swiped at each other with their massive sticks, which worried me a lot because of the potential for harm. Even worse was the sheer ferocity with which the players would scrape the ice, sending a mini-flurry upwards each time. As the game wore on, people grew closer and closer to fisticuffs, forcing the referees to intervene. It seemed like every time the puck ended up in the corner, the timer had to be paused on account of some penalty.
Following the first round, where the score was 6 (home) to 3 (opposing), there was a stabilization. In round 2, home scored one goal, and in round 3 neither team scored a goal. As the game progressed, the lack of goals became rather frustrating, and the game felt drawn out for a solid 30 minutes, ending past the 9 pm end time I had somehow imagined. My mom and I considered just leaving a few minutes early! In the end, we would not have missed something extraordinary. But perhaps the home team establishing such a lead *is* the most impressive part!
There were some other very strange maneuvers that are strange to even be legal -- at one point, the puck flew straight up into the air. In another case, the puck was hit upwards against the plastic barrier around the arena, causing it to ricochet. And even some illegal maneuvers that were bizarre to see: a 3 person pile up happened in the third round! Again the referees had to intervene.
The home team, and later both teams, seemed very fond of a strategy of moving the puck around behind their goal (when the puck was close to it). This let the players basically build momentum with the puck and launch it off towards the other end of the field.
There was definitely defensive strategies in place. The home team capably passed back and forth between players, both imparting speed unto the puck while delaying the other team. In hockey, the ability to slow down the offense seems to be the best defense. The "opposing" team seemed to have a very difficult time understanding this approach -- they came across as consistently sending every player after the puck, without proper passing at all. (They lost by 4 points, so clearly this did play a role of some kind.) Maybe this was my real reason to root for the home team; of course, they were my university, but I'm not that attached to such a sentiment. However, it was weird when I found myself slightly annoyed at my mom for rooting for the other team. (The opposing team somehow scored a goal early on that looked somewhat impressive.) Maybe I did feel *a bit* of team spirit! But our team did seem much better organized lol.
The announcer was hard to understand, even if the booming voice could definitely be heard across the arena. The music choices were also baffling, including a cover of the Talking Heads' "Psycho Killer" and part of a Marilyn Manson song. There was some sort of theme around 'hard rock' but some tracks were squarely electronic? Maybe there was a goal of keeping the exciting energy, but the music just was not chosen well for the purpose. And where were the Canadian bands? I know there are high intensity Canadian groups -- just think of how much fun the music by Winnipeg's KEN Mode would be in this very arena!
Many aspects of today's game seem rather dangerous, but it was impressive how the game was generally quite fun to watch before the eternal round 3 (where not a single goal was scored). At the least, I understand why people watch this sport so often and so closely! It truly is a visceral experience, perhaps even too much so. Either way, I can feel confident that I gave my time and energy to the true cultural experience of being a Canadian watching hockey! Good job, me.
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