Hockey's Influence on Canada- A 5-page essay on the impact the game of hockey has on Canadian culture...

Sometimes it is easy to forget the game played on frozen ponds and backyard rinks, and get lost in the overwhelming professional sport known as hockey. However, we strive to remember that hockey became Canada's game because it made our never-ending winter months more bearable . The game gradually became a sport, then an entertainment industry. It seems like the lockout was one of the biggest news stories of the year. Part of the amazing nature of the game is that it's origins are fairly vague. However, we always remember that hockey is our game. It may not be our official sport, like lacrosse is, but hockey is what Canada seems to be most well-known for, and it continues to have immense influence on our free society, with its unique style and attraction. We invented it, we had the best players, and have so many cultural ties between the game and the people. Hockey has had and still has an incredible influence on Canadian culture.

Canadians are hockey crazy. The people love the ever-changing game, and the land and the winter are every where. One reason why everyone is so attracted to it is that we really needed a sport we could claim as ours, that we could play yearlong. Canadians are out where they shouldn't be, doing what to others seems to make no sense. Only a few scruffs of trees and buildings distract the eye from its vastness. What we needed to tie us together had to have a feeling that travels throughout the country with attributes we all have in common, things we care about, things that help us make sense out of what we are. It is a hard feeling to achieve. It seemed that so much about Canada set us apart: topography, distance, language, climate, rivalries and cultures. Hockey became a winter passion for both players and watchers. It kept coffee row humming. It was a means of winter fitness, and the driving force behind the building of community centres, the way in which widely separate communities connected with each other. Before there were malls, kids