Hockey Morning In Canada

I had a strange tingly sensation when I woke up on Saturday morning. But at the same time, there was an uncomfortable queasiness that I usually only feel after eating month-old popcorn. I attributed the mixed feelings to the start of the 2007-2008 National Hockey Leagues (NHL) season...which began in London, not Ontario, but...England.

Now I'm not opposed to spreading the Good Word of Hockey around the world--that gospel can never get old. I remember a few years ago when the Vancouver Canucks started their NHL season in Japan, however, I think it was played on a frozen swimming pool...and the players may have been a little distracted about the potential for drowning...

Now I imagine London would be the only place in the world where you might expect to be more fighting in the stands than on the ice. Then again, I think the hooligans start scrapping because soccer (excuse me "football") can be so dull, and the beer can be so flat, that you need a good fight to make your sporting event more interesting. But with hockey, there's usually enough excitement to keep your attention on the game than on fisticuffs.

I suppose I shouldn't complain too much about spending my Saturday morning watching the "coolest game in the world" (unless you count Ice Wrestling or nude curling). I've grown accustomed to watching international hockey games at three-thirty in the morning. I just don't remember how any of those games ended.

I'm curious as to how the English will received the great sport of ice hockey. I would expect that the British might have a slight learning curve, but then again, they understand cricket, so maybe not... And other than darts (or drinking games), I think it's the only things they play indoors.

No, I'm not upset that they they're playing Canada's game on a frozen pond across the pond. I just don't want to have to set my alarm clock to watch it.