Passing on hockey passion to the 4th generation....Little Margo

I love hockey, my mom, the first little Margo, loves hockey and she learned to be passionate about hockey from her mom, Grandmamma. (We always called her just Grandmamma, of course we did give her the nick name of 'young chick', but that is another story.)

Growing up we used to watch our mom yell and scream in French of course at the guys flying around on ice on the black and white TV. It was amazing to see the energy and voice come out of this little petite 5foot 1inch woman who weighed less than 110 lbs. Most persons found my mom to be sweet and kind, and yet when it was Stanley cup time, her hockey gloves were tossed and out came some of the loudest screams I ever heard leaving our house. She was engaging in her hockey passion and still is to this date!

All of my brother in laws and sister in laws have become fans of hockey because of my mom, Grandmamma Margo; I am hoping little Margo will grow a liking, or should I say passion for this very fun and crazy game. In fact, Grandmamma Margo's influence  reaches out to all of her grandchildren and even their boyfriend's regarding hockey and the teams to follow. You may have guessed her first and favorite team was and is the Montreal Canadians. She used to watch Henri Richard play hockey in their backyard every winter growing up. Her mom would have the kids flood the backyard from their garden hose to create the ice rink. At one point she provided the boards for the rink and then her dad got into the act by hanging a light so they could play in the dark. My mom would watch her brothers play along with Richard, and cheer them on to wins in the neighborhood. My mom was very quick to point out she learned her hockey passion from her mother, not her dad. I have learned my hockey passion from my mom, and not my dad. And soon, I hope little Margo will learn hockey passion from me.

Tonight was the beginning of exposing little Margo to hockey and her crazy mom, (that would be me), yelling along with the crowd at High Five, to encourage, our favorite team, the San Jose Sharks. No I do not own anything resembling a hockey jersey or hat, but I know what icing is, and the various penalties our players will create. Tonight I got a bit carried away with some encouraging phrases like: "Shoot the puck!", "Get in front of the net" and "Replace our goalie". My favorite phrase of the night was YES! You got it we scored 6 times. My next most used phrase was "Nooooo!” the Colorado Avalanche scored 5 times. And once to my chagrin I used the word "Idiot", in reference to Nabby when he went to push the puck from behind his net, when he should have remained at his position protecting the goal. The next thing you know, the Avs scored. However, it was pointed out by little Margo that "idiot", is not as bad as the "S" word, you know "stupid", and then she added that "DUMB" was king of all the bad words.  So, with the knowledge that my daughter was listening, I did not use any of those bad words for the rest of the evening.

When the San Jose Sharks scored, I would rise to my feet and raise my arms in triumph, and she would watch. When the other team scored, I would cry out "Nooooo!" and she would watch. She did realize that the Sharks were the home team, meaning, she learned something tonight, but I am not sure what else she learned.

Perhaps little Margo learned the fun of eating pizza and drinking Gaiter-aid at High Five restaurant, and that this happens when we watch hockey. So now you have my trick to introducing her to liking hockey, it is the pizza, and Gaiter-aid that goes with the show. Perhaps for now, that is what she will associate with hockey, but I am hoping, in the very near future, she too will understand the thrill of a goal, and the disappointment of a sloppy loss. Perhaps she too will agree with me and yell, "change the goalie!", or a simple "shoot the puck" will suffice as the beginning of her passion for hockey in the 4th generation.