I’m a 65-year-old visitor who has discovered the skating rink at Lions Park in Nelson.
Watching the activity on that ice surface prompted me to purchase a new pair of skates after a 10-year lapse from the sport. I got the new skates last Friday and have been on the ice almost every day since.
Often times there is a game of shinny in which I am able to participate. I have been to the rink at many different times of the day and usually play with fathers and mothers and their children of various ages. It is such a Canadian tradition. This past Monday I went late in the evening, 8:30 to be precise, because I had volunteered to help water the ice at 9:30.
When I arrived at the rink there were six older teenagers playing three-on-three. To score a goal they had to hit the centre back post of the net in the air — not a skill that I can repeat with anything but luck. While lacing up, it was clear to me that these six were quite good and I wasn’t sure they would invite me to join them, especially because I would be making the teams uneven. When I stepped on the ice with my stick in hand, wobbly on my new skates, one kid said “I’m Matt and that’s Jacob and Jerry, you’ll be on our side.” (These are not their real names because I can’t remember their real names.)
I thought it was very gracious of these kids to welcome me to join their game. It didn’t take me long to realize that I was way out of my league and it was quite entertaining watching them skate circles around me. They grinned with glee as they did so. My own players would deliberately feed me a pass at which point it was obvious that the opposing players would give me some room to make a play or take a shot. It was as if they were playing with a little kid that they wanted to encourage. Once when I tripped and fell to the ice, they stopped playing and asked if I was all right. After 45 minutes I was exhausted. Fortunately it was time to start cleaning the ice in preparation for the watering. When I announced this they cheerfully picked up shovels and with their energy and speed the surface was perfectly cleared in ten minutes. It was near the end of this that one of the kids said something that made me realize who I had been playing with. Two or more of them currently play for the Nelson Leafs. I thanked them for the lesson. They just grinned.
Here were a few kids who had just lost an away game in Spokane the night before yet found a rink on which they could play a game with no pressure, just for the fun of it.
And their gentlemanly behavior that evening has left me with a deep respect for the entire Nelson Leafs organization. They were ambassadors for the Leafs and the sport of hockey that we so dearly cherish in Canada.
Well done, gentleman.
Paul Major
