Thank you for visiting again for another post in the “O Canada” category.
I was born in the proverbial small town in the prairies, a railway town with a small population. But like many, maybe most, small prairie towns it had a hockey rink and a curling rink.
In Canada hockey and curling aren’t just winter sports that a small minority are interested in. In Canada talking about hockey and curling, especially curling in my family was “what we talked about”.
On my family curling team “growing up” my Dad was the skip, my Mom played third, and I played second and my brother was lead. We played in leagues every winter and it felt natural that we did; it was never even discussed as optional. I remember when I had my learners driving licence driving the family to the weekly games every Sunday night.
My father curled for over 50 years, and if my parents went away then my Grandparents “subbed” in for them.
I think for families all across Canada watching and playing curling some time in their lives is just normal and it’s definitely multigenerational.
It’s not uncommon for curlers to begin in their teens and curl until they are seniors!
Of the 1.5 million people in the world who have curled; 1.3 million of them live here in Canada.
(Canada used to dominate curling I think it would be fair to say but now there are many other countries on the podium. This year Canada won the Gold world curling championship trophy for women (Rachel Homan’s team out of Ottawa) and the men won Silver (Brad Gushue’s team from St. John’s).
Curling is definitely a world sport now and so winning both this year was really sweet!
But winter offers more than curling to Canadians – it also offers hockey.
When I was only 6 years old I had skates and I played on a team although my skating skills were something my Mom joked about for years. I guess it was more like snowshoeing the way I moved and all of us just bunched up around the puck.
My Dad even made an ice rink one year in the front yard which earned him the “super dad” title that winter.
As I grew up it was normal for winter to include these important items; toboggans, curling shoes and brooms, hockey skates and hockey sticks.
I love those roots and that I, like many other Canadians, look forward to winter because that’s curling and winter seasons!
I would remiss if I didn’t answer the question to the title of this post –
What was the “secret” other anthem I grew up with?
I think every boy I grew up with could hum the music to “Hockey Night in Canada” before they memorized the O Canada theme but it helped it was sung at every game♥
The opening bars of the Saturday night musical theme for “Hockey Night in Canada” are deeply imbedded in my memory and I am fairly confident that before I memorized “O Canada” – Hockey Night in Canada was my anthem, at least on Saturday night♥
Thanks for reading and visiting- ♥ David
Please enjoy the 30 seconds of opening music to Hockey Night in Canada!
Life and Random Thinking 
I think Canadians are super lucky to live there.
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Thank you Cindy, I feel fortunate. – David
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Great post, David. I love watching curling. Sad to say that you have one tiny thing wrong, Brad Gushue lost to Nik Edin in the Men’s World’s this year, even though he beat him the following week in the Grand Slam in Toronto. Sigh.
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Thank you Jane. I watch women’s curling more than men’s and Rachel Homan’s team were unstoppable this year – losing only once I think against Korea. I will have to change that. LOL
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You are so right, Rachel Homan was absolutely amazing!
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It’s exciting to watch a number of the teams and Jennifer, as usual, was right at the top. I am sure she will continue to inspire curlers.
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Exactly!
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Your post sent me to the Internet where I found a 2 minute introduction to curling via the website for Curling Canada! Your post today opens up a whole new world. I guess my new version of “when life gives you lemons” is now “when life gives you ice and snow, you adopt curling and hockey.” Thanks for another interesting O Canada tale.
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I would love to hear about you playing curling. It is a fun sport, has a proud history and etiquette and there are all types of leagues. I put those links in there not knowing if anyone would check them out so nice to know that you did. Most curling rinks have sessions in the autumn to teach new players and it’s very inexpensive. – O Canada ♥ – David
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David, don’t hold your breath waiting for me to try it out. Not the right weather either place I live nor do they have curling rinks. In my 70’s I’m not looking to start something new that could result in broken bones. I’ll content myself with armchair curling.🤣
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Armchair curling makes sense, I do some armchair sports also. 🙂 Basketball is one of those. I’ll let my breathe out now, ahhhh 🙂
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😳🤣
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Dave, how thoroughly Canadian you are! I was not so fortunate and consequently still hate winter. But nice to see it from a different perspective!
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Hi Krystal, yes I enjoy winter still but I love palm trees and snorkeling too! I do have great memories of tunneling in high snow banks and even being towed along the highway on my toboggan on the prairies (no hills!).
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If that anthem didn’t bring back memories. Thanks. I’m a proud Canadian but I never did like winter sports. Someone asked me if I ever curled. I replied, “A couple of times, but I don’t like getting cold and it’s played on ice. I also don’t much like housework and there is a broom involved!” Of course it was the Scottish who brought curling to Canada originally. I think it’s cool that your entire family made up a team.
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I am glad I was a curler as it gave me a true appreciation for what the competitive curlers make so easy. Thank you Darlene for your amusing explanation ! – David
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The Hockey Night in Canada anthem was a huge part of our family’s life, as predictable as snow in winter. Our family didn’t curl. As far as I know there weren’t facilities in Surrey, BC in the 60s, but my parents weren’t active sports enthusiasts, so I could be wrong. I was first introduced to curling by watching it in the Olympics many years ago. I have great respect for curlers. It’s such a great strategic game.
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Hi Debra, I know there was a curling club in New Westminster and Richmond but not sure when they were established. I think curling is still popular but less on the coast than the prairies. I “tested” my wife yesterday by mimicking the hockey night theme to see if she could identify it – she knew it right away. ♥ It is a strategic game for those who play well I agree. I knew what I wanted my rocks to do, it’s just that they didn’t get the memo 🙂
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That was lovely. Brought back memories of us living in a very small town on the prairies too. Dad was the CPR Station Agent. My parents curled regularly too. The town actually had a rink, but not much more.
I can also relate to the Hockey Night in Canada Anthem. We only got one channel in English and one in French, (black and white) so it was a given we would have that game on every Saturday night all winter.
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Thank you for writing! My Dad was a station agent on the CN and operated a telegraph way back in the day. You made my day! – David
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Some really great memories! Thanks for sharing.
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It’s a pleasure to share them especially when I receive encouraging comments from readers. Thank you Kevin.
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