(no subject)
With Sudbury moving on to Round Two, I figured that I'd post a column about the Wolves from this past Thursday's Sudbury Star.
(I might be the only Wolves fan in this comm, but that's okay. I'll spread the love. Regardless of the team and the town it speaks of, it's an article about hockey and community spirit.)
Wolves bring us together
The Sudbury Star
Thursday, March 30, 2006
HEATHER MARTIN -- Today's Teens
The Ontario Hockey League playoffs began last week and our hometown Sudbury Wolves are taking on the Kingston Frontenacs in the first round.
Playoff time is a time of year that I, and many others, always look forward to. There is never a time when the hockey is better.
I have been a fan of the Wolves for as long as I can remember and some of my fondest memories deal with our local OHL club.
I vividly remember my "lucky sweater" that I would wear to every single game as a youngster.
Miraculously, it would be clean and ready for me to wear each Friday night that my father would take me to the arena.
Each time I attended a game, I would cheer so loudly my throat would be sore. I wanted to make the most of each game I saw.
To this day, I feel at home whenever I walk into the Sudbury Community Arena, hearing the roar of the crowd and the sounds of skates and hockey sticks on the ice.
It is always a wonderful place to be, but especially during the playoffs. There is no better place to witness community spirit than at the barn. The display of pride is phenomenal.
There is always a wide variety of people at the games -- females and males, the old and the young, serious fans and those who know less about the game. Despite our differences, we come together as Sudburians and as fans of the Wolves. Nothing can break this bond.
The cheers and "Go Wolves Go" chants are so thunderous it feels as though the roof actually might come off of the building. The support for our team and pride in our city is so intense you can feel it in your bones.
Some people choose not to attend OHL games because they would rather watch the NHL on television. While the NHL may be made up of professional athletes, the level of play and pace of the games at the OHL level is just as exciting. I am definitely an NHL fan, but I prefer junior hockey.
Hockey at the major junior level is much more personal. Those on the roster are teenagers who play for the love of the game. They are real people that youngsters in the community can look up to and feel a connection to.
When members of the Wolves play for Team Canada, like Marc Staal and Benoit Pouliot did this season, fans feel a sense of joy and pride more profound than they would if a random NHL player did something similar.
The Wolves are our team and always will be.
While I am excited that the playoffs have finally arrived, it is quite bittersweet this year. In only a few months, I will most likely be moving away and these are the last Wolves games I'll get to see in a long time.
However, you can bet whenever the Wolves visit the city in which I will reside, I will be at the arena, jersey on, cheering "Go Wolves Go" just as loudly as when I was a young girl. My Sudburian pride will never leave me.
(I might be the only Wolves fan in this comm, but that's okay. I'll spread the love. Regardless of the team and the town it speaks of, it's an article about hockey and community spirit.)
Wolves bring us together
The Sudbury Star
Thursday, March 30, 2006
HEATHER MARTIN -- Today's Teens
The Ontario Hockey League playoffs began last week and our hometown Sudbury Wolves are taking on the Kingston Frontenacs in the first round.
Playoff time is a time of year that I, and many others, always look forward to. There is never a time when the hockey is better.
I have been a fan of the Wolves for as long as I can remember and some of my fondest memories deal with our local OHL club.
I vividly remember my "lucky sweater" that I would wear to every single game as a youngster.
Miraculously, it would be clean and ready for me to wear each Friday night that my father would take me to the arena.
Each time I attended a game, I would cheer so loudly my throat would be sore. I wanted to make the most of each game I saw.
To this day, I feel at home whenever I walk into the Sudbury Community Arena, hearing the roar of the crowd and the sounds of skates and hockey sticks on the ice.
It is always a wonderful place to be, but especially during the playoffs. There is no better place to witness community spirit than at the barn. The display of pride is phenomenal.
There is always a wide variety of people at the games -- females and males, the old and the young, serious fans and those who know less about the game. Despite our differences, we come together as Sudburians and as fans of the Wolves. Nothing can break this bond.
The cheers and "Go Wolves Go" chants are so thunderous it feels as though the roof actually might come off of the building. The support for our team and pride in our city is so intense you can feel it in your bones.
Some people choose not to attend OHL games because they would rather watch the NHL on television. While the NHL may be made up of professional athletes, the level of play and pace of the games at the OHL level is just as exciting. I am definitely an NHL fan, but I prefer junior hockey.
Hockey at the major junior level is much more personal. Those on the roster are teenagers who play for the love of the game. They are real people that youngsters in the community can look up to and feel a connection to.
When members of the Wolves play for Team Canada, like Marc Staal and Benoit Pouliot did this season, fans feel a sense of joy and pride more profound than they would if a random NHL player did something similar.
The Wolves are our team and always will be.
While I am excited that the playoffs have finally arrived, it is quite bittersweet this year. In only a few months, I will most likely be moving away and these are the last Wolves games I'll get to see in a long time.
However, you can bet whenever the Wolves visit the city in which I will reside, I will be at the arena, jersey on, cheering "Go Wolves Go" just as loudly as when I was a young girl. My Sudburian pride will never leave me.