It's a big deal in my homeland. Every town, big and small has at least one hockey rink and scores of recreational and competitive teams. Larger towns and cities support multiple amateur leagues, the scouting grounds for the Olympics and the NHL. There are many hockey dreams in the land...
Once upon a time, there was a little girl who loved to play hockey. She dreamt about stick handling her way down the right wing, closing in on the net, then a quick wrist snap puts the puck in the top left corner It's all one fluid movement and she nails it every time.
That's the way it is with dreams...
As it so often does, reality told a different story. It was the 1960's, the time before helmets and face shields. Little girls were not supposed to like hockey. More than that, girls were not allowed to play hockey. And no wonder - girls skates, those bright white figure skates with the sharp picks at the front, were not made for hockey.
The little girl struggled in too narrow skates, hand-me-downs from a sister who skated perfectly through turns and twists, forward and backward. Though she tried and tried again, the little girl never mastered the task, defeated by those blasted picks that dug into the ice and sent her down too hard, too often. The laughter and taunts from the sidelines didn't help.
The best Christmas ever delivered an official hockey sweater of the Chicago Blackhawks - her favourite NHL team at the time - CCM gloves, and a Titan hockey stick. The dream lived on. Her Dad cutting up the ice with speed and wide turns, encouraged the dream.
The Mom tolerated the dream, taking all this hockey stuff in her stride for the most part, but she drew the line when the father suggested buying boys' tube skates. It was a bridge too far for the mother of the not so girly daughter.
No matter, out on the winter street, hard packed with snow, the neighbourhood boys always needed an extra player and the little girl was always dressed and ready to go in the sweater, gloves, stick, and boots. Living the dream.
The years passed and the girl grew and the boys grew and soon wanted nothing to do with the hockey girl who couldn't skate. She settled for Hockey Night in Canada to satisfy her desire, but mostly the dream fell asleep, and thirty years slipped by...
1998 - The Women broke onto the ice hockey scene at the Olympics in Nagano, Japan. That little girl's dream tucked into a grown woman, stirred and stretched. Oh to have been born in the 70's instead of the 50's.
She immersed herself in every game, cheering and jeering, sometimes holding her breath, sometimes sagging with disappointment but throughout it all, thrilled to see other women living her dream and theirs on the ice.
These days, the little girl's dream continues to live on in the Olympics and the IIHF world championships. Her favourite Canadian women's teams don't always have to win gold - that the games exist, that the women are there, and that they are playing at such a high skill level is more than enough fuel to keep the dream alive in this vintage gal!
Not all dreams are meant to be realized. Many are there just to keep me reaching forward, trying new things, and new ways, encouraging possibilities and even some new ones.
©2023 April Hoeller
