Hockey Banter

[LoneWanderer]

And yes, we are talking of the sport played on ice and skates and all that, not this (

) weird Commonwealth version!

Thought opening a topic like this because I personally had the "honor" to de-rail the topic about 2012 District Conventions. But by the replies received I realized that among all the Yanks on the board there are a few Canadians as well. And as you could except -- at least according to all the stereotypes -- Canadians are crazy for hockey, ice hockey that is.

I guess it's better to continue the subject in here instead of mixing this competitive probably-non-paradise sport with theocratic subjects ;)

I'll soon paste below the quotes of Sis. Sharon and Br. Aelon from the thread mentioned above.

[LoneWanderer]

To set the atmosphere...

@Sharon

@Julius

You know what, I was in many times attended the circuit assembly in French since they got always the first to have the series than the rest of Canada and they have a lots of spoilers. Circuit needs part, they are reminding the brothers always to be neutral in hockey. And the brother's normal reaction? Everybody because they know they fail on this matter. In Quebec, hockey is a religion.

Anyway, I love hockey now and I got sad because the Canadiens is in the bottom.

At least the Flames have been to the Stanley Cup finals THIS CENTURY

( Oki, sorry )

"Reported" and I hope you're better at bible research than you are at keeping track of who has been to the Stanley Cup finals because they were in the playoffs in 2006 and that certainly is in our century

They are correct to be neutral though, we have had riots in Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary. There's a good reason why hockey lovers are called fans.. (Short for fanatics)

I try to be balanced....really I do. It's a little hard though to be viewed as balanced though when I'm YELLING at the tv screen....to the goalie who let in the goal that even I could have stopped.

Just to bring this back on topic though, the district convention here has us scouring Rexall with toothbrush and water pail, it's very annoying when you go to hockey games and you see people cheering and throwing their beer all over. That being said though, we're getting a new arena, which I think will mean good things for the witnesses as a whole.

It's likely we will still continue to rent Rexall, and maybe it will be a bit cheaper because they're competing with the new Katz arena!

I am certainly looking forward to our convention this year, as I always do. It's the one opportunity that I get to see all the people I know from other congregations I've attended and it's always spiritually refreshing.

[LoneWanderer]

Hope the video below makes Br. Aelon feel a bit better

I don't personally really understand the North American franchise system. Probably it makes sure the sport is even more of a business? I prefer the European model of heartbreaking promotions and relegations between series and leagues Admittedly this does create a bigger risk for teams getting bankrupt; lower series means less sponsor money and less TV income, especially in this era when the TV channels pay huge sums for rights to broadcast sports. Like in English soc..football a spot in the highest division (Premier League) is worth approx. (might have increased since I heard of the figure last time) 40 MILLION English pounds per team ONLY in TV rights! Crazy...

Aelon, are there any plans to bring a professional hockey franchise back to Quebec? Winnipeg did get theirs now, after all these years.

A couple of years back (?) in one of the assemblies when there was a demonstration of two brothers going to watch a sports event, in Finland this was applied to the country's ice hockey rivarly with Sweden. At the end of the demonstration the brothers didn't abstain from going to a sports events completely, rather they decided to go there for the sport -- not for the sake of cheering one's own nation for the win (as we have also been counseled, nationalism can for a reason be called a plague)

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Yeah yeah, Sis. Sharon, I didn't look too intently at the birds of the he...oops, the Wikipedia page this morning (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Stanley_Cup_champions). Rats! Didn't notice Oilers there a year AFTER the Flames. Well, at least Edmonton has never been the host of Winter Olympics (I'd venture to say! -- have to add this after my miss of the morning...)

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Hmmh, now I almost am sorry I have already traded in my copy of NHL 12 for another game...

You see, YOU SEE, what the company of evi..sorry, hockey fanatics, does to me! (j/k)

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Edit: Yeah, here too it is not unheard of that Witnesses are considered to be the best tenants for stadium, ice halls and other arenas. It is sad to see at sporting events how few care of the cleanness of the facility. Does make a difference, especially if you've been at a same place for let's say a hockey match AND a District Convention.

June 1 we are going to have the Zone Overseer visit. A while back a letter was read that the brothers have decided to rent Globen for us (or sorry, according to sponsor rights the Ericsson Globe --http://www.globearenas.se/en.aspx ). I was truly fascinated by the idea! It's a pretty famous arena, I guess even people outside Scandinavia have heard of Globen? Going to be a great Friday evening, if only for the facility, kind of dread the crowd... Yes, I know, it IS weird...I can handle better a hockey crowd than being at an assembly/convention... Probably has to do with me almost automatically thinking that at conventions my weirdness is noted by all whereas in a sports event (most of the time) I can just be one of the group.

[Shawnster]

My family and I are going to the Wings vs. Blackhawks game Saturday. My wife, step-son and father-in-law are all hockey fans.

As you can tell from my avatar, I lean toward another sport.

[GrumpysWife]

Julius, I like your sense of humor. But Hockey, NOT

[ReadYourBible]

I seen you reference this, but I totally forgot to go looking for it!

Here's some snaps of me......my fave is to come though. I love hockey. I started playing at the boys and girls club when I was a teen, I played floor hockey then and I was a goalie. Fast forward to 2005, was working for the Department of Medical Genetics when a girl came around asking if anyone wanted to play, they needed a goalie and I thought I'd be a good fit. I ended up playing for Medical Genetics, and for the Stingers in my first official year. I ended up playing a game against a former olympic women's hockey player and managed to glove one of her shots. She was so impressed she said that it had been quite a few years since a rookie goalie had done so. I then played a season with some gals from the army base. The gladiators. I probably offended them when I said that as a heterosexual woman, I didn't go around saying that I %#$! men, so I'd really appreciate if they wouldn't share their lesbian stuff in the locker room while I was around. I quit them and was picked up by Thin Ice who I played with for 4-5 years (good group of gals, all married...or soon to be, except me lol). We often went to tournaments in Jasper, and Ponoka and won money at them as well. Then I started getting bored, wanted a bit more challenge, quit them to play with some co-ed teams, and won a gold medal and a bronze with a couple of those. I actually quit hockey just a couple of years ago, when I got married. I was playing for Sonic and they called me on my honeymoon to let me know they were going to go a different direction and decided that they didn't want me as their goalie. I had been thinking about hanging up the pads and going back to school....and with a new husband to boot, I just didn't have the same amount of spare time I considered it a good choice. I miss it at times, the smell of the ice, the sound of the blades as it cuts it, the excitement......and I miss most the workout. I'm getting pudgy and I hate it. I have always been an Oilers gal. Andy Moog was the first goalie I loved, then Fuhr. Nowadays I'm admiring Luongo's style. My husband is also an Oilers fan, but we rarely get out to watch the games.

[ReadYourBible]

My favorite pic, I wish I could find the original, standing beside me and dwarfing me completely is a 20 year old defenceman who sood about 6'8 on skates. It's a hilarious pic actually. We spanked a lot of teams that year, and that defenceman ran over many of the guys trying to get in my crease. Literally laid them out on the ice. The men on the opposing team would get testy, calling me a b---ch because I'd stop their shots. He recruited another friend and we took the gold that season, because they'd cycle the puck in front of me, and knew I'd stop it if it came down to it. I was never cocky, because there were better teams. We quit that league and went to another one, basically we went from dominating to having our helmets handed to us each and every game. We lost ALL the games that season, that's how good the guys from that league were. One game I faced 69 shots, and we only got a few off, maybe 10?, they scored 22 goals, we only scored 1. Despite the score, it was one of the best games I've ever played in my life. I'm a stand up goalie, I don't do the butterfly because my knees just can't. I had guys coming up afterwards and saying wow, I can't believe you stopped as many as you did, we've played other teams and we've whipped them 30-0...... In one season I went from being one of the only female goalies, with the worst GAA to leading the rankings having the lowest GAA, and beating out guys half my age who had played hockey their whole lives LOL......

[ReadYourBible]

Heh, I accidentally had GPA in there, guess I got school on the brain. Have you guys played hockey? Does your congregation play? Mine in Spruce did!

[ReadYourBible]

[ReadYourBible]

If ever you've been to any concert, or large sporting event you know how loud it can get, but these games.....I was at the Rolling Stones concert in 1994, as part of a crowd of maybe 50,000 and they were quieter than the 20,000 at the hockey game LOL

I've also went out to what used to be known as Red's by myself when I was single to watch hockey. It was a family entertainment eatery, and they literally had couches and a tv set where you could park yourself and watch the game with others. You'd order your chips and dip and there were two or three other couples there and we all bought snacks and shared them. Hockey could be considered the ultimate conversation starter here where I live......

There have been times where I've witnessed people arguing, and I'll yell out .......so how bout those Oilers, the argument will literally stop and turn to hockey LOL!!!!

I started watching the games with my Dad when I was maybe 8? I didn't understand the game, but I sure enjoyed the time with my Dad. He and I would always guess at the beginning of the game who would win.

I seen my Dad last night, since he came to help me to buy a car. I should buy us some tix to a game, he'd probably really like that. We haven't seen a game together in ages.