sheff2van : sheffield -> vancouver

We went to our first ice hockey game, the Vancouver Canucks v. Minnesota Wild, for Rowan's birthday. Luckily the Canucks won after extra-time and a shoot-out, thanks to some good saves by his hero Robert Luongo, the goal-keeper.

I'm only just getting the hang of knowing which team is playing better, who is likely to score and whether a goal was due to good attacking or bad defensive play. It's coming though.

Compared to UK football (soccer) matches the music is better, but I was a bit thrown by the national anthem played before the game as it was only a league match. It was against a US team though.

There's more shoving and pushing on the pitch. Although some of it seems a bit ritualistic and half-hearted, referees do not intervene until somebody falls down. As a friend of mine made out, he once went to a boxing match and a game of ice hockey broke out half-way through.