Happy Holidays!

Tis the season to put away the books for a few days and watch holiday themed movies with your family. A favourite is The Hockey Sweater for many reasons.

Hockey, some argue, is an important part of the Canadian lifestyle. Like this short film portrays, many Canadians fondly remember playing pick-up games of hockey on a frozen pond with other kids in the neighbourhood. Watching hockey, especially on Saturday nights, is a tradition for many families as well. The National Hockey League decided to combine this fondness for playing outdoor hockey and watching NHL games on television by hosting the Winter Classic, an outdoor regular season hockey game that usually takes place on New Years Day, this year between the Chicago Blackkawks and the Detroit Red Wings.

However, the most important aspect of hockey history that The Hockey Sweater illustrates is the tension, and sometimes hatred, that exists between Toronto Maple Leaf and Montreal Canadiens fans. My father can relate to the boy situation in the film, he is also a huge Habs fan. One Christmas, when my father was younger, one of his uncle's had the audacity to give him a Maple Leafs jersey, although I'm not sure if it was ordered from the Eaton's catalogue. It wouldn't not surprise me if this has also happened to other hockey fans over the years.

The Hockey Sweater is a classic Canadian film that incorporates many historical elements and figures, like the importance of the Eaton's catelogue in rural Canada, and Maurice "The Rocket" Richard. And the great rivalry that still exists, and probably always will, between the Habs and the Leafs (which could be interpreted as a metaphor for the tension between French and English Canada, but it's the holidays, so let's try not to do too much critical thinking and enjoy another glass of egg nog). So enjoy the film and Happy Holidays!