Thursday, February 20, 2014

Miller Time Friday: The Good Old (Women's) Hockey Game


Yes, I know it's not Friday yet....But forgive me if I am a little giddy....and forgive me if this veers very much away from the lifestyle vein I usually choose...



You know, I often forget how much I love hockey...

When I was a kid growing up, hockey was on every Saturday night.  There were fewer teams and you knew who every player was.  I still wish I had my Phil Esposito and Bobby Orr hockey cards.

My brother was a goalie and we watched a lot of hockey tournaments and my parents were very proud of his proficiency on ice.  My dad was a huge hockey fan, although if truth be told, his tendencies were more to being a baseball statistician.  He read The Sporting News cover-to-cover each week and knew all of the standings in baseball and hockey.  And lucky him, he lived long enough to see his Beloved White Sox win the World Series.

In my twenties, we were all about The Great One.




My daughter still jokes about the day Wayne Gretzky retired and how I cried and cried.  A couple of years ago, my friend Lee got me a puck autographed by Wayne Gretzky and I was giddy for days!




Neither of my kids are hockey players or fans.  My brother's boy and girl are both good players ( my brother actually coaches them), as is our other nephew.  My sister-in-law Nanc is an awesome hockey mom.  I would not be surprised to see her showcased in some Olympic spotlight in about 20 years, with her children raving about what a great inspiration she was to the two Ds when they get their medals!

But of course now I mostly just see hockey during the Olympics.  And today our Women's team won against Team USA which will be a game that will go down in the ages as one of the biggest comebacks ever.  There was screaming from coast to coast about an hour ago and yes, I was a big part of that screaming....

In Canada, even people who don't like hockey, like hockey, at least around the Olympics.  We are a small country of only 30+ million and we live in a place that is either really really cold or really really hot and when it's not cold or hot it's buggy.  Our ancestors decided that this was the place to stay.  And there was plenty of ice to go around.

Remember this:



Well this afternoon it was this:



Yes, those are 5-6 feet high snow banks...

The walkway this afternoon...




We are nice people.  A bit more self-effacing than our neighbours to the south, a bit more emotional than our friends in the UK.  And we take a lot of pride in our ability to play hockey.  A LOT of pride.

So while I feel very badly for those lovely American girls who saw their 2-0 lead eviscerated in the last three minutes of the hockey game, and snatched away in Overtime, I must say that tonight, after our Women Curlers won gold followed by our Women Hockey Players, Canada's going to walk with a swagger.  Okay - who am I kidding?  We'll shovel with a swagger....


 

Until tomorrow afternoon, when we will suck in our breath and yell and scream all over again when the men's hockey team plays in the semi-finals.  I may be breaking my only drinking one day a week rule this week.....

In honour of our Women's Team, let's have a cocktail shall we?


Canada Cocktail

 


Scale ingredients to servings

Pour into an old-fashioned glass filled with broken ice and a sprig of mint.

I hope you have the nicest Friday possible and stay safe out there!


 

24 comments:

  1. Well boo! We have been fascinated with the Curling and every time we watch it is always Canada...so we are actually rooting for them. Have a lovely week end.

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  2. Yes we'll be holding our snow shovels with pride!
    It was an amazing game that held all of the drama that is possible with hockey. All Canadians love hockey it is so true.
    Those Canadian women were quite something today! I'm still giddy as well, we're going out (in the blizzard, walking don't worry) to celebrate!

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    1. oh good for you! We just made home made pizzas for all!

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  3. too funny! I got a gretzky hockey shirt but gave it away bc i didn't know who he was...I don't really get hockey and to be honest I dont get curling but it is funny. But I am sure no other country can appreciate olympic gold like you guys! so congrats :)

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    1. Naomi - I suspect its like your love of football and cricket. Football (called soccer here) is getting more popular, but the slap of a puck against a stick makes my heart sing!

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  4. Half the moms were almost late for pickup as they were engrossed in the game!

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  5. Oh my gosh that gave me chest pain. I can't believe they pulled that off.
    Looks like we're going to be up early tomorrow for the men's final.
    We watch the CBC and Claire always tells me about the storms out East...but a picture tells the story. That's a lots of snow!

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    1. And now Claire is leaving and heading back to BC - what will Peter do without her?

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  6. I really like to watch the winter olympics,but hockey is not really my thing(sorry Wendy), but congrats!
    It is finally starting to look like spring here and we were in the low 70's today,but thunderstorms are in the forecast:(

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  7. Yay Canada! (You know all about my secret crush on your country, right?) I heard Gordon Lightfoot on the radio tonight and thought of you all. :)

    I don't give one little tiny fig about hockey, but crazily enough I have a ton of friends here in VA who are DIE HARD hockey fans and OMG the incessant Facebook chatter about the Capitals just about does me in every fall-spring. LOL. But I get it, so I keep my mouth shut since they are so much better than my Facebook friends who are diehard Redskins fans.

    Stay warm, hon. All that snow. Oh!

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    1. that is too funny! Yesterday on Facebook ALL my friends and acquaintances and strangers were going NUTS on line!

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  8. I have not been watching the Olympics...yes, for shame. I grew up on the Curling rink sidelines watching Mum with her "witches" broom going like crazy. Bobby Hull was my hero! OK, I've officially carbon dated myself as a dinosaur. I learned to ice skate at two, on the sidelines of the neighbors back yard ice rink where my brother's were trying to kill each other. I don't think I can try your cocktail tonight. I'm on my third glass of wine trying to recover from today's double root canal. Shoot me know or take my keyboard away.
    Goodnight, one and all :-))

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    1. Jennifer, I remember Bobby very well. Double root canal! Oh my god, they scare the bejesus out of me and I guess for good reason!!! Hang in there!

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  9. As you know I loathe the Olympics but I played our kind of hockey at school, so that and the cocktail are my only way into this conversation! Ground stick ground stick ground stick bully!

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    1. I can just see you walking those other gels in the shins! Go Tabs!!!!!

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  10. Congratulations to your team! I didn't see it, but that is quite exciting for you Canadians (sad for us Americans!!)! I'm pretty much a sports-event-only drinker so I approve of your Olympic drinking (that makes it sound like an Event, hey there's an idea! lol).

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    1. Cate - I think you are on to something! They kept showing pictures of sports bars all over Canada during the game!

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  11. Congratulations! Nice national boost for Canada. I can't really figure out the rules for hockey; my daughter played field hockey for 4 years, and I still could not tell you why the penalties.

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  12. Congrats!!! I have been watching a bit of the games the last days while away... We haven't had any snow this year and I miss it so much!

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  13. I am going to remain neutral, and tell you that I actually took my son out of school early so he could watch the men's game- he begged:). He is a little unhappy because the US lost, but probably still happy that he missed school this afternoon!

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  14. Everyone LOVES Canadians (and no I'm not going to say like everyone loves bacon that would be a cliche) Cannot believe the change between the green and the white powder. I have yet to venture down to San Jose to see the Sharks, I do like prof hockey though...last time I was near the ice we were playing inebriated broom hockey

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