Hockey In Any Language. . .

So I thought I'd try to be a good American today and listen to the Russia/United States World Championship game. I found a handful of broadcasts I could stream online. There was just one problem.


None of them were in English!

So for the last two hours I've been sitting here at my desk listening to hockey - in Russian.

Just so you know, I do not speak more than three words of Russian, and even those I'd probably pronounce semi- incorrectly. So the last two hours might very well have been spent in vain.


But you know what, they kinda weren't. It was unmistakably hockey. I might not have understood much of what was going on, but I can understand the players names. I heard plenty of Kovalchuk, Perezhogin, Oshie, and Okposo. And you can hear plenty of American music in PostFinance arena - where the Rangers played their pre-season games in Bern last September.

In any language, the ending was dramatic. TJ Oshie takes a penalty with less than two minutes to go in the game and the Russians won the game on the ensuing powerplay, 3-2.

Even though I've been too busy to keep track of the NHL playoffs as much as I'd like, it's time like these that I wish I was living in a place where hockey meant more. I'd love to be in a country where people cared about the fact the World Championships were going on. Where they'd meet at bars and watch the games, no matter the hour.

I mean it's fine because I'm not THAT invested. But I was curious. And I would have liked to listen to the game in a language that I actually understand.

Want the truth though? I bet if you asked the next 100 people you saw on the street if they knew the US was playing in a hockey world championship game today, you'd get at least 99 blank stares, if not the full 100.


I'll try again later today to listen to the Canada/Sweden game, in hopes I can pick up a Canadian broadcast, or at least the RDS feed. I can understand "et il but" just as well as the next guy/gal.



**It's been a busy week and hard for me to keep track of much hockey or ramble on with more Rangers Season in Review entries. I'll try to finish that little exercise this weekend. Enjoy the games everyone. I plan to flip between both playoff contests tonight and catch some of the late game tomorrow night.**

**I had purchased a monthy program online to listen last year when Dubinsky was playing for the US and lighting it up. I suppose most of the broadcasts were available in English because the games were being played on Canadian soil last year.**