I am watching a man in a pink suit ramble on the verge of incoherency, there’s fear in his eyes and a little bit of glee.
I’m not watching some dude on a street corner in my downtown core. No, I am Canadian and today is the first day of the NHL hockey season. His name is Don Cherry and if hockey is my church, he is my pastor.
That may be taking it a little far, but at the end of the day, the concept remains the same. It’s the first day of the hockey season and my friends and I are going to spend the next four months glued to TVs at home, in bars, at friend’s houses and in the the windows of major electronics retailers and whatever else we can get our hands on to get our fix. Canada’s religion is hockey, our pope, Don Cherry and his church, the Hockey Night In Canada studios.
My friends and I are going to disappoint a lot of people over the next few months as our availability on Saturday is going to drop off dramatically. Hockey Night in Canada on the CBC is back and every other Saturday night (at least when my beloved Vancouver Canucks are playing) will be devoted to losing our voices, commenting on legendary colour commentator Don Cherry‘s latest fashion faux pas and living and dying with Roberto Luongo, the Sedin Brothers as they blaze across our TVs and computers.
I can’t help it, I’ve lived and died with the Canucks since I was eight. They’ve blazed across my TV since the days of the mighty Trevor Linden’s rookie season, they’ll never stop and I’ll likely not stop avoiding doctors appointments, jury duty and dates to see them play and to hear what the good Rev. Don has to say.
Gooooooooooooooal!
You’ll forgive me, I need to get back to the game, we’re losing 3-1.