It's hockey night tonight

The important thing today (important in maybe a shallow way) is that the Edmonton Oilers are playing tonight in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals, and if they lose then the Carolina Hurricanes will win the Cup and this city and many, many of the people in it will be very sad. Some might think it’s pathetic that we get so worked up about hockey (or about a game in general), but I’ve seen it uniting people over the past few weeks. I once wrote an essay for Schelhaas on Canada’s obsession with hockey and I think that one thing I wrote about is that it really isn’t so strange that hockey unites this country - after all, community often comes about through shared interests and common experiences. I love watching hockey partly because I grew up watching my dad and my dad’s friends play it, and every winter my parents would build a little rink in our backyard and that’s where my sisters and I learned to skate and play hockey ourselves. When we got older we started playing with cousins and friends and some of my greatest memories are of dark winter nights on lighted ponds or lakes or outdoor city rinks. My sister works at a soup kitchen/street church and on hockey nights, the place is packed to watch the games on the big screen they have set up. From what I hear, the unity it brings is amazing. For a lot of those people, I think those nights are a bright spot in an existence that otherwise often involves homelessness and drugs and alcohol and being treated like dirt. But for a few hours they have this community with people who may have nothing else in common with them other than that they love hockey. It’s the same with soccer and the World Cup I think. Who can argue with the spirit of that?
So, in honor of the Oilers and Canada’s love of the "Coolest game on earth" (not something I made up), here’s Stompin’ Tom Connors, who I’m sure no one outside of this country has ever heard of:

The Good Ol’ Hockey Game (original title, I know)
Hello out there, we’re on the air,
it's hockey night tonight!
The tension grows,the whistle blows,
and the puck goes down the ice.
The goalie jumps,and the players bump,
and the fans all go insane.
Someone roars:"Bobby Scores!"
At the good old hockey game!

(chorus)
Oh!
The good old hockey game!
Its the best game you can name!
And the best game you can name,
is the good old hockey game!

Second Period.
Where players dash,
with skates a-flash,
the home team trails behind.
But they grab the puck,
and go bursting up,
and they’re down across the line.
They storm the crease,
like bumblebees,
and they travel like a burning flame.
We see them slide the puck inside,
its a one- one hockey game!

(chorus)

Third Period.
Last game in the play-offs too.
Oh take me where the hockey players
face off down the rink,
And the Stanley Cup,
is all filled up,
for the champs who win the drink!
Now the final flick,of a hockey stick,
and a one gigantic scream:
"THE PUCK IS IN! THE HOME TEAM WINS!"
At the good old hockey game

(chorus repeat 3 times)
OH!The good old hockey game!
Its the best game you can name!
And the best game you can name,
is the good old hockey game!