Reflections on Canada's passion: Ice Hockey

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The ultimate release. Fists clenched, screams that painfully stretch ones vocal chords to the max. Furious and desperate hugs with old friends and strangers alike.

This is the description of the utter euphoria of 35-million strong. Yesterday, Canadians across the country and around the world, all held their breath for that single moment, before erupting in the most primal of all frenzies, as the puck, carooming off of Sidney Crosby's stick, made its way through the pads of US goalie Ryan Miller, and into the back of the net.

It's hard to explain to outsiders just what hockey means to Canadians. The passion, the longing, the hopes, the dreams, and worst of all, the EXPECTATION, has become so intrinsic in our identity, that it has moved beyond being simply being a game that we all collectively enjoy. Hockey success has become something that defines us, something that gives our country an identity.

IDENTITY

Like US exceptionalism or French culture, ice hockey success is such a self-proclaimed, intrinsic part of Canada's identity that if denied, the confusion and uncertainty that arise are almost unbearable.

Last year, I was sitting in a sauna in the YMCA in downtown Ottawa. Sweating alongside me were a number of new immigrants, one guy from India, another from China and yet another from Mozambique.

We all started talking about hockey. There was a big game that night between the Ottawa Senators and the Montreal Canadiens. Ottawa-Gatineau, a city with two sides, one French, one English, each one on either side of the Anglo-Franco divide, is split between Ottawa and Montreal fans.

The awkwardness of 4 strangers sweating together in a hot, small, dark, wooden room, quickly dissipated as we all participated in a discussion about something that we all cared about.

All immigrants who come to Canada quickly begin to be wrapped up in the passion and love for the game of ice hockey. It's hard not to. It's everywhere, it's the national obsession.

It may be just a game to others, but it is so much more to us. We consider hockey to be quintessentially Canadian. Anyone who has played the game knows:

-Hockey requires an incredible amount of hard work.
-To be sucessful in this sport you CANNOT go at it alone: you must be willing to buy into the team system, and be willing to sacrifice yourself, even if it means that someone else, a teammate, will get all the glory.
-You have to defend each other, often physically but also skillfully.
-Every team REQUIRES a mix of different styles and skills, in order to be successful.

As far as messages and norms to define a culture it doesn't get much better than this.

In a country of people with very little in common other than a desire to live, safely and prosperously, and a willingness to put up with the vast space, harsh climate and collective mentality that must come with it, ice hockey has become the common denominator. The unifier.

And that is a beautiful thing. Enjoy Canada!