Oh Canada…
Last Sunday, I was, just like many of you, glued to the TV for the men’s hockey game between USA and Canada. We all knew it was a big game for the both countries. Although it was just a preliminary match, this game took on all the importance of a medal game. Perhaps it was one of the biggest days for hockey since the US/Canada gold medal game, in 2002, in Salt Lake City.
I was in Toronto again last weekend and visited my mom; she is still in hospital after three weeks but is doing much better. While in Toronto, all my relatives thought Canada would win the match up with the US; that did not surprise me. As expected, the Olympic craze is on “big time” in Canada. Olympic merchandise was flying off the shelves everywhere. We could not find any clothes left, with the Olympic logo, at The Hudson Bay store in Toronto. We were told by far the most popular item has been the ubiquitous red mittens, which cost C$10 ($9.60 US). They’ve already hit the 3 million mark in mitten sales. My daughter bought me some mittens during an earlier trip north and at that time there were ‘tons’ of them available, but now since they became so popular, apparently stocks throughout the country were sent to Vancouver to help meet the demand for souvenirs and they are in short supply elsewhere throughout the country.
Back to hockey, as you know, it is essentially a religion up there. All my nephews have been playing hockey since they were little kids, as well as my niece Tiffany, who in grade 11, is a super star in her league, and is playing highly competitive hockey and looking forward to playing at the college level, perhaps in the USA.
On Sunday morning, my daughter and I left Toronto early in the morning to be at home in time to watch the first big game. We arrived just in time in Hadley for the game at 7:00 pm. I was a bit surprised it was on MSNBC, a cable network, rather than NBC, and had to watch the standard definition. HD for televised sports makes such a big difference, me anyway. In Canada, it was on the national network.
It turned out to be a great game for the US, at least; I think they had a better goalie and played a smarter game. My family was a bit disappointed and after the game, but personally, I am ok if either Canada or the USA comes out on top. Canadians and Americans are close neighbors and good friends. We have many similarities when comes to food even; chowder is as popular in New England as much as the Maritimes in Canada, and Mac and Cheese is a popular comfort food for both countries – Thanksgiving is a big feast either side of the border (just in different months) and Turkey is the main dish. It should be no surprise to know that both Canada and the United States share a number of similar traditions, pastimes and desires — including winning hockey games, especially against your next-door neighbor!
This is Ken Toong and thank you for keeping UMass Dining at the top.
Ken Toong
Director
Contact Ken at ktoong@mail.aux.umass.edu
You can follow Ken Toong on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/KenToong