I really like hockey. I hate to admit this, because it makes me too… Canadian, and I hate to conform to stereotypes, but it’s true.
When I started dating my ex, I started watching hockey with him. It was fun at first — tolerable, even secretly enjoyable. He is a die-hard Philadelphia Flyers fan. I came to know every dang player on the team, even coming up with my own nicknames for them: Baby Patrick, Brian Smelliot (he was good for a while), Michael Waffl. We even went to see two live games together and I was genuinely starstruck to be in the same room as the Flyers. (“Omg, there’s Simmonds, IN THE FLESH!) But after a while, my boyfriend’s intense involvement in the game became so stressful that I started resenting watching; he couldn’t miss a single one and would get very worked up over them. Now that we’re broken up, and the season has started again, I found myself craving a game. So I threw one on the other day, was excited to watch the new rookies try and prove themselves, was stoked about seeing Carter Hart in net, and thoroughly enjoyed watching the game in peace, with no screaming or anxiety.
Darien Johnsen is a UFV alumni who obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree with double extended minors in Global Development Studies and Sociology in 2020. She started writing for The Cascade in 2018, taking on the role of features editor shortly after.
She’s passionate about justice, sustainable development, and education.
