I love my country and I love hockey. I can’t help it; I’m Canadian. What can be said about Canada that hasn’t already been used as a punchline?

Well, I finally watched, in its entirety, the 4 hour movie made in 2006 about the Canada-Russia 1972 Hockey Summit Series. As a boy growing up in Canada there were very few events that gave me the kind of pride I felt from watching (but not understanding) Canada beatin’ them Russians at our homegrown sport. As I got older, I vaguely remember overhearing adult conversations about the tactics we had used to win and other disparaging remarks tarnishing our wonderfully modest Canadian demenour. I insulated myself from that reality for a very long time. Then I saw this movie.

It’s one thing to crush the spirit of a seven year old boy, and quite another to crush a ‘forty something’ grown man, but this blow hurt me just the same. With all the sugar coating removed, during that entire hockey match, we Canadians acted selfish, stupid and unbelievably egotistical. Why? Because we knew deep down in our souls that we really don’t have anything to brag about except for hockey; and unfortunately in the grand scheme of things, that ain’t much. I know a lot has changed and we have far more to be proud of now, but back then, hockey was a way of life.

That’s what people in other countries don’t understand about our pride in hockey. We played it here for 8 months of the year and got incredibly good at it because that’s all there was to do when I was a kid growing up. It was too damn cold to do anything else!

There was a movie made right here in a small town in 1973 that completely explains our “National Pastime”. It was called “Paperback Hero” and starred Keir Dullea and Elizabeth Ashley. See if you can find it, watch it, and my promise to you is that you will be entertained and educated. Then I’ll apologize to you. It’s what I do because, after all, I am Canadian.