Hockey: A Common Passion

1972 – Summit Series – Paul Henderson – Canada wins. Who has heard about it, seen it on replay or seen it live. I thought so. I’m here today to talk about ... Hockey: A Common Passion.

Canadians: quiet, reserved but not at a hockey game. Isolated, distinct from one another, but not at a hockey game. Hockey is part of life in this country. Hockey makes Canada feel more Canadian.

So much sets Canadians apart: distance, climate, language and culture. What links us seems to be hopelessly overmatched: power-lines, rivers, and railways cannot create bonds. What links us are feelings, things that we have in common, things we care about, things which make sense for us out of who and what we are. It is the game of hockey that brings Canadians together. In Canada, hockey is an instinct, a need, an expectation passed from generation to generation. Hockey is a religion of convenience linking communities together, town to town, region to region, for young and old – something to talk about, a distraction from the long idle winters. Hockey is that something to share, that something which creates and strengthens bonds. Hockey’s a passion. For Canadians it is a common passion.

We often seem in Canada to have a shortage of world class events: wars and major catastrophes, the kinds of moments that make time stand still, that give you reason to recall where you were and what you were doing – JFK’s assassination, Neil Armstrong setting foot on the moon, the first hour of Desert Storm. But only one Canadian event has left a similar trail of memory: Paul Henderson’s goal with 34 seconds to go that won the Canada/Russia Summit series. It was the most incredible hockey series every played, pitting the best professional talent from Canada against the finest from the former Soviet Union – an eight game extravaganza between the world’s hockey super-powers.

Moscow, 1946. The first hockey game every played in the Soviet Union. They learned how to skate from a game called Bandi. They were so far behind us, we thought they could never catch up. While we summered on golf courses, they trained, more hours a day, more months a year. How good could they be? We never cared to find out.

1972, the Summit Series. We knew we were the best, but more importantly the world had to know. There are many special things about Canada, surrounded by countries richer, older, and more powerful, but we cling to every symbol. In 1972 nothing could have meant that much, but to Canada it did.

The Russians exposed us so utterly, playing a different game of finesse and speed. The game and the series was being taken away. Then with one last desperate attempt, faces and players alike, that magic moment in time: “Henderson makes a wild stab for it. Henderson! Henderson has scored for Canada!” That moment, forever written in Canadian hearts. We had won! We as Canadians had won.

Now the Soviet/Canada hockey war is over. The rivalry is gone. Almost twenty years after the ’72 series, Russians allowed their stars to join the NHL. The mystique of defeating the Soviets is gone. Oh sure we’ll play them again, but look around. The world has changed. One may say that it’s a far better world now and because of it, the game will never be the same. Hockey no longer holds the monopoly of time and attention it once held in this country. There are now so many other ways to tame and escape the winter, yet if water, pavement, airways, and steel are instruments of community, so is a hockey rink.

Hockey is part of life in this country – kids dream about making it to the pros, fans cheer for their favourite teams; people hope to have a sense of belonging. You will most likely recognize the this theme song. Just tune into Hockey Night in Canada and you will join millions of other Canadians watching hockey. But one may ask: how about the Winnipeg Jets and Quebec Nordiques? They were forced out of the league due to financial reasons and not a lack of support from Canadians. Even to this day, there are over half a million websites dedicated to the Winnipeg Jets. Hockey is our common passion.

On the ice there are no issues. Canadians are as one. No difference between English and French – Clarke to Orr to Roy to Gretzky to Lemieux to Kariya. It is what links us together that is more important, not what separates us. What is important are the things we have in common, things we care about, things we share, things we are proud of. Hockey is that thing. For all Canadians, it is a passion, a common passion.