Tim Noonan
Life is a random lottery. None of us choose where we are born and I feel like I won the lottery because my passport has a maple leaf in it. We are welcomed with open arms in basically every country this side of North Korea because Canadians are generally inoffensive.
I mention this because they will officially be dropping the puck this week and starting the 2010 National Hockey League season. Now don't run away people because I know this may not mean much to many of you. You can go back to your Manchester United or the All Blacks or cricket tests or Formula One or whatever it is that floats your sporting boat. But hear me out for a moment because this is Hong Kong, where our multicultured society is protected by law through the Equal Opportunity Commission. So if you stop reading this column, you are basically breaking the law.
There are more than 30,000 Canadian passport holders here and for many of them hockey is their life. Like any game that is more national heirloom than sport, there will be those whose passion manifests itself in illogical, jingoistic zeal and many Canadians are no different when it comes to puck. Some will call you a traitor if you like baseball or root for a hockey team that does not play its home games in Canada. I am guilty of both, a treasonous offence among puckish patriots. These 'Hosers' will drink, vent and spew, and one of the things they spew about is the fact this newspaper does not have nearly enough hockey coverage in its sport(s) section.
Wow, such a sense of entitlement. Granted, I know you can sniff out a good jelly doughnut and fill your belly with some tasty Canadian brew around these parts so that may make you feel pretty homey. But let me ask you, when your brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles and nieces and nephews are shovelling the snow out of their driveway back home in a few months, what will you be getting up to? Maybe off to the beaches of Phuket or Boracay for a week? Trekking in Kota Kinabalu or riding the waves in Bali? I think its pretty clear Hosers: You ain't in Moose Jaw or Medicine Hat anymore. I'm not asking you to stop obsessing about puck, far from it. As far as I'm concerned, there is no sporting event that rivals the non-stop, scintillating action and drama of playoff hockey. Nothing. But a little balance, a little understanding and a little love wouldn't hurt any of us Hong Kong Hosers.
After all, what a great year it's been for the nation of puck. Canada held serve and won a gold medal in hockey at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, inspiring a hurricane-like exhale from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Hornby Island, British Columbia. A little more than three months later a Canadian team won again when the Chicago Blackhawks raised the Stanley Cup for the first time in 49 years as the top professional team in the world.
Eh, what's that? Chicago's not in Canada? I never said it was, Hoser. I said a Canadian team won and with 16 of the 23 players on their roster born in Canada, it's pretty obvious. Hawks captain Jonathan Toews is the pride of Winnipeg, Manitoba, and talk about making his country proud. Toews won a gold medal for Canada in Canada and was named the top forward at the Olympics. As captain of the Blackhawks he not only got to hoist the coveted cup first, he was also named most valuable player for the playoffs - and all of that at 22 years of age. Now put that in your Moosehead and drink it, Hoser.
'Early in your career you might think about playing in Canada,' says Barry 'Bubba' Beck. 'But then you realise it's a business and you are just happy to be playing in the NHL.' A native of Vancouver, Beck had a memorable NHL career - most notably six years as the captain of the New York Rangers. For the past three years he has made his living promoting and developing hockey here and on the mainland for the Hong Kong Academy of Ice Hockey. He remains a devout Rangers fan. 'It was a different era for us,' Beck said. 'There was not as much player movement so loyalty to a team came easier.' All this despite the fact the Rangers beat his hometown Vancouver Canucks in the Stanley Cup finals in 1994, the last time either team made it that far.
Doesn't matter if your name is Barry Beck, Jonathan Toews, Jim Carey, Mike Meyers, James Cameron or Neil Young. Canada's been exporting hockey heroes, funnymen, movie directors and iconic musicians for years now. You go where the best gig is. I mean, isn't that why you and me are here?
And while you naturally take a piece of home with you, it's folly to think that home comes with you. The people who have been running hockey leagues around Hong Kong the past 20 years have done a remarkable job growing the game not only here but throughout Asia, despite the dearth of quality facilities.
For those who don't dig the joy of hockey, go see a game live. You will never be the same. So be happy ye Bamboo Hosers of the Orient. Whatever form it takes, wherever it's played and whoever plays it, Canada's game has never been better. And naturally the patriot in me is rooting for that Canadian team in Chicago to repeat as Stanley Cup champs this year. Naturally.
