When I got wind of the fact that there was going to be an exhibition hockey match between Canada and the United States IN SYDNEY while I was living here I knew I had to make it happen and that a Canada jersey would be packed in my suitcase. Last night the long awaited game took place at Allphones Arena in front of 21,000 wild hockey fans!
Seeing all of the Canadian and NHL jerseys really was awesome, people were super excited about this rare display of winter sport in the land of footy. I have to admit it was a lot different than watching a game at home. Despite their highlight reels featuring Don and his jackets, the woman didn't get our anthem quite right and the buzzer to end the periods was feeble. The sounds of the skates on the ice and the boards were comfortingly familiar but the songs played at the stoppages and goals were not. The most entertaining thing was listening to the Australians around us talking about how many 'quarters' there were and making comments about the 'ball'. There were quick 101 videos of the rules of the game displayed on the big screens and throughout the night we kept hearing it called ICE hockey, an important distinction as field hockey is the preferred version of the game in this country that very rarely sees snow!
Our trumping of the United States 9-6 was not surprising given our 'amazing-ness' at the sport ;) and I left with a maple leaf shaped heart, a ton of Canadian pride and a definite excitement about returning to such an amazing country.
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