Anyway I'm getting off track here. So since our arrival it has been hard not to be emerged in the hockey culture. It is always on TV, people are passionate like crazy and everywhere you look you’re surrounded by it. Naturally being the sporting fans we are, in the substitute of football, it has became our new passion. And in all fairness I have found a new appreciation for a sport I didn’t quite understand.
Slowly the rules and understanding of the game are coming to us, and I’m starting to understand the finer details of the game. Although very different to footy, there are quite a few wicked things about the sport. For one it’s pretty physical and rough, which is always interesting. It’s fast paced; there are hits and bumps that nearly rival footy collisions. But without a doubt the best feature of the sport would be the punch ons between the players. Although all in brawls are quickly defused by the officiating ref, if two players decide to settle a gentlemanly score they pretty much have the green light to go ahead and smash the suitcases out of each other. As long as it stays one on one and they don’t hit the ice they can punch on as savagely as they want. And these happen quite regularly, sometimes up to half a dozen times a match. It truly is fantastic. And the resulting penalty...2mins each in the sin bin...then straight back on. 15 weeks suspension...unlikely. Back on the ice in 2 mins and back into it...unbelievable.
So after much organising in the first couple of weeks getting the house and such done we decided it was time to go to our first game. We got tickets through the hostel, even though we weren’t staying there anymore. We were off to the Vancouver Canucks hosting the Nashville Predators at GM Place. The game was at 7.30 so we decided to go to a bar close by and have a few skewies in preparation for a big night. It was also Andrew’s last night in Vancouver before he was leaving on the rest of his travels, so it was also destined to be a massive one.
When we got to the stadium it was just like rocking up to any other sporting event. People hocking tickets in the walk up to the ground, buskers trying to score that extra generous dollar and people selling ‘official’ merchandise on the street for half price. We got in and weren’t exactly sure where to go. From the beginning we’d been talking about buying jerseys so the first thing we did is go suss that out. After purchasing a jersey we got some beers, found our seats and then got ready for the game. Being there live was so much better, it was unreal. The crowed atmosphere, the little local chants we didn’t understand national anthems and lots of banter. It was weird though because 95% of the crowd or more are passionate Canucks fans so it’s a completely unified crowd. When the game is being played its dead silent, not a sound. If the opposition scores sometimes you barely even notice it because there is cheering, however if the Canucks score the place literally loses it shit! So the game continued, and to our disappointment the Canucks lost they had been doing so well, but lost out on our first trip. We were quite disappointed, but quickly got over it as we continued to consume copious amounts of local brew. The rest of the night pretty much followed the same pattern and then elapsed into the early hours of the morning. All in all a wicked experience.
Just recently we also were fortunate enough to attend another game. Once again we hit up the hostel for dodgy tickets. Wonder how long we can get away with that one for. This game was the Canucks hosting St. Louis Blues. Lucky for us this time we got a victory beating them in a tense game 3-2. Even saw a bit of hustle and bustle. Definitely getting massively into the hockey. Thought I’d be missing footy a lot more, but we’ll see how it goes.
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