All across Canada, on community rinks, hockey stadiums and even backyard rinks, people are playing Canada’s national sport; hockey. Hockey is always connected to Canadians collective idea of what it means to be Canadian. It is Canada’s most recognizable symbol. All hockey season long, fans gather around televisions at home or in bars to watch the drama of Canada’s national sport unfold, which only increases when the playoffs begin. However, nothing comes close to when it is the winter Olympics, especially when Canada’s men’s ice hockey team won the gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Hockey has an extensive history with in Canada. Although there is no precise date for the creation of hockey, hockey has become so popular that a number of Canadian cities, such as Halifax, Windsor, and Kingston, have claimed to have created hockey. One of the earliest references to a form of hockey comes from the journal of Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin, October 25, 1825, who states how his men, from his expedition, skated and played hockey on Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories. The game as we now know it was shaped in Montreal according to rules prescribed by George Aylwin Creighton. He is credited with organizing the first recorded indoor ice hockey match in 1875. It was this exhibition which aroused city wide interest and gave rise to the formation of other ice hockey teams and to the rapid development of the game. Hockey’s popularity would rapidly spread across the country and the early twentieth century, the passion for hockey had seized the country and almost every Canadian city and town had its own team. This passion for hockey resulted in Canada declaring hockey as Canada’s national winter sport in 1994.(1) This lengthy history has contributed to the idea of Canada being a hockey nation and hockey as part of Canada’s national identity. The history of hockey is a part of the Canada’s history.

Hockey has greatly shaped Canadian culture over the years. For over 80 years, Saturday nights has been dedicated to hockey. Hockey Night in Canada origins begin in November 1931, when the Canadian National Railway radio network would transmitted Saturday night hockey games of the Toronto Maple Leafs throughout Canada. In 1952, Hockey Night in Canada made its national debut on CBC television, initiating a much loved Saturday night wintertime tradition for millions of Canadians. Hockey Night in Canada has consistently been among the highest-rated programs on Canadian television. Since 2000, CBC has aired an annual special Hockey Day in Canada broadcast to celebrate the game in Canada. The broadcast includes hockey related features all afternoon, leading up to a tripleheader of NHL action featuring all of the Canadian hockey teams. (2)

Hockey even plays an important part in Canadian literature, which is evident since Roch Carrier's The Hockey Sweater is one of the most beloved Canadian children's stories in Canada. First published in 1979, the story conveys the dreams of every child who's ever wanted to become a professional hockey player. Set in 1950s Quebec, the story is centered on a young Montreal Canadiens fan who, to his horror, is mistakenly shipped a Toronto Maple Leafs sweater and forced by his mother to wear it. The Hockey Sweater has sold over 250,000 copies and is considered an iconic work of Canadian literature.(3) It exemplifies the nation's passion for hockey, and the story is popular throughout the entire nation.

In Mackey’s article: Settling Differences: Managing and Representing People and Land in the Canadian National Project, Mackey says that just like in nineteenth century Canada, not all present-day Canadians share the same idea of national identity.(4) Is she right? Is there still division in regards to Canada’s national identity? I would disagree with her, I think present-day Canadians do share a common national identity, and that is hockey. This is evident when Canada’s men’s ice hockey team won the gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics. During the game, the stands were filled with giant Canadian flags and sign waving fans dressed in red and white. The full house was also packed with celebrities, including, Neil Young , Bryan Adams, William Shatner, Gordie Howe, Mark Messier and Prime Minister Stephen Harper. In Canada, the game drew an average 16.6 million viewers, while 26.5 million Canadians, of a population of 34 million, watched at least part of the game. Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium claims that 22 million people, two thirds of Canada’s population, were watching when Crosby scored in overtime, making the game the most watched television broadcast in Canadian history. (5) This shows that Canadians do share a common national identity, that being hockey, since almost the entire population of Canada watched a portion of the game.

In Agnew article, Nationalism, the main concept was that in many places around the world, to this day, nationalism is still deeply rooted and affects everyday life.(6) This is evident when Canada’s men’s ice hockey team won the gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics. To show just how important the game was to Canadians, in the morning of the game, there were block-long lineups to local bars at 9 am, while gold medal tickets were being sold for $10,000 and more. This shows just how important hockey is to Canadians, and the extent that Canadians will go in order to be a part of Canada’s national identity.(7)

Overall, hockey has been incredibly important to Canadians and Canada’s national identity. Hockey is a part of Canadian history, culture, literature and so much more. Canada’s men’s ice hockey team winning the gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics is just one instance of how important hockey is to Canada’s national identity. Hockey has always been and will continue to be a part of Canada. Hockey is our game!

References
(1) Lace Up: Canada’s Passion for Skating-History of Hockey in Canada (Civilization.ca) http://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/cmc/patins/patins07e.htm
(2) Hockey Night in Canada: Explore Our Legacy (CBCnews) http://www.cbc.ca/sports-content/hockey/hockeynightincanada/
(3) The Hockey Sweater (Wikipedia) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hockey_Sweater
(4) Mackey, Eva. 2002. “Settling Differences: Managing and Representing People and Land in the Canadian National Project.” In The House of Difference. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
(5) ESPN Winter Olmpics (2010 Winter Olympics) http://sports.espn.go.com/olympics/winter/2010/icehockey/men/recap?gameId=88
(6) "Population by Year, by Province and Territory." Statistic Canada. Web. .
(7) Agnew, John. “Nationalism.” Companion to Cultural Geography. Wiley-Blackwell. 136. Print.
(8) ESPN Winter Olmpics (2010 Winter Olympics) http://sports.espn.go.com/olympics/winter/2010/icehockey/men/recap?gameId=88