Hockey’s place in Canada

Hockey as we now know it may draw on many sources, but it was born, and it evolved here in Canada. Hockey is our game!

Madame Toastmaster, fellow Toastmasters, most welcome guests, and especially newcomers to this great country, let me introduce you to our game.

Timeline
The boys of hockey laced up their skates to play the first documented official hockey game in March of 1875, but the game only vaguely resembled what we see played today.

The Stanley Cup, named after Governor-General Frederick Stanley, who bought the first trophy – the silver bowl that sits on top of the cup today – is awarded each year to the winning team of the NHL Play-offs. The Cup was first awarded in the 1893-94 season by Mr. Stanley, to recognize this great game by awarding a prize to the best team in Canada each year.

In 1917, the NHL was created with an initial roster of 4 teams. It grew, then contracted through the depression, and stayed quite small through Second World War, but in 1942 the “Original Six” were born. These six teams; the Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens New York Rangers and the Toronto Maple Leafs, were the only 6 teams in the league until 1967.

In 1923, Foster Hewitt appeared on the scene as the play-by-play announcer of the game, and remained the biggest voice in hockey until 1963. He was the first one to use the phrase “He shoots, He scores!”

In 1994, Hockey legally became the national winter sport of Canada … ironically, this was also the year of the hockey lockout, when people realized that salaries needed to be capped, and a major overhaul of some of the organization of the NHL was required.

Obviously, this lockout made the country realize that we desperately needed to do something to ensure that this game continued on in Canada, so we made it official.

A Canadian Icon
I’m going to take you with me on a very short journey. Close your eyes, take a deep breath and picture yourself at home, on a Saturday night. If you’re like countless thousands Canadians, you’ll be headed to the couch, with a beer in hand, or maybe even a cup of Tim Hortons coffee. You’re ready to settle down for the night, so you reach for the remote, and turn on the game. Now, open your eyes.

Ah, speaking of Tim Horton, there was a true Canadian. Everyone knows about the chain Tim Horton’s, and many people get their daily fix of coffee there, but how many people know how many Stanley Cups Timmy brought to Toronto?

Who was Tim Horton exactly? Well, he was born nine hours north of here, in Cochrane Ontario. He grew up playing hockey there. When he was 18, his family moved to Sudbury, and it was there that the Toronto Maple Leafs signed him on to their junior team. He donned a Leafs jersey in the fall of 1952 and remained a Leaf until 1970, winning four Stanley Cups over his career.

In 1964, Horton opened his first Tim Horton Doughnut Shop in Hamilton. That first one shop has grown to become today’s multi-million dollar chain boasting more than 3,000 locations across Canada and the United States. But enough about coffee. Back to hockey!

Why is hockey the most popular sport in Canada?
Well, as we’ve already seen, it’s steeped in tradition. But there’s more than just that.

Our country’s geography and climate lend themselves to the game, as most of the country is below 0 degrees from November to March, creating a lot of natural ice! Combine the 2500 listed ice rinks across the country, with all the unlisted ice surfaces in parks and backyards across the country, and you get an ice rink the size of British Columbia. That’s a lot of hockey!

The next proof of how much we love hockey is in the bottom line. Hockey, as an industry, generates a revenue of many millions of dollars a year, impacting more than one other industry.
There are: arena rentals, maintenance and construction, player registrations, equipment sales, training courses for everyone from age 3 to age 63, Tim Horton’s revenue, hotels accommodations for teams, families and fans, food and beverages for those hockey tournaments, BEER, transportation (from the family mini-van to the Maple Leaf’s bus), concessions at arenas, physiotherapy, chiropractors, gate revenue (ticket sales for the NHL), team merchandise revenue, property rights, cable fees, hockey pools, The list could go on for a very long time. Hockey in Canada has a huge impact on our economy.

Where else in the world would you watch a mini-series about a hockey player-turned coach-turned perhaps the most iconic hockey critic in the country? Love him or hate him, we’ve all heard of Don Cherry. Where else in the world would there be a “game show” based on hockey skaters teaming up with figure skaters, with all the winnings going to charity?

That’s right, only in Canada, where the temperatures really DO go down to -50 below, and where one night each week, houses across the country go crazy watching the game.

So whether you lace up skates yourself , or you just cheer on your own favourite team out on the ice, I invite you to celebrate the good old hockey game, and celebrate with me the country that started it all – to hockey, in Canada!

Million Dollar Dreams

I read a story over the last year by Stuart McLean. McLean hosts the Vinyl Café on CBC Radio, and he has also written a collection of books under the same name detailing the life stories of one particular family headed by Dave and Morley, and they have two children; Sam and Stephanie.

The Extreme Vinyl Café is the name of this particular book, and “The Winning Lottery Ticket” is the story I speak of. This story is about the grandfather of Stephanie’s boyfriend, who keeps an unscratched lottery ticket, and always claims it to be “a winning ticket”. He would always ask his family: “Imagine. A million dollars. What would you do with a million dollars?” And then when whoever it was he was asking told him, he would listen carefully, and then respond: “Are you sure that’s what you would do? Is that your heart’s desire? And then the process would start all over again.” Ever since I read that story, I have put some thought into answering that grandfather’s question; what would I do if I won the lottery?

Like I do about almost everything, I started to research and analyze. And I tried to figure out what I would do with my money Logically. A very good article I read online explained things very well. It asked you, the reader, to think about the work you want to be doing, and the money you realistically think you would earn over your career. Then multiply that by the duration of your career.

I think my amount translated into something like $2.1M.
Okay! So, THAT’S my cap. That’s as much as I’d ever want to win. Having this cap allows you to stay grounded, envisioning your goals in a lifestyle that you are already working towards, with the added bonus of the lottery helping you get there right away.

Let’s get realistic about this here, I’m never going to win $2.1M. So Logically, let’s not even imagine that. 1M dollars! I’m going to win 1M dollars! What am I going to do with that? What would YOU do with $1M?

For me, that question was easy. First, I would be giving 10% of it away to charities; there are several different ones that have touched my life over the years, either directly or through the lives of family and friends. I would divide the money up, not send it to only one, and not all at once. But that’s only some of the money anyway!

I would pay off my Mother’s mortgage. I would give money to my sister, my Family, and my friends.

There is a reason I would do these things. I believe we all have so many connections, so many people to whom we owe our gratitude, and our time. We cannot begin to know in our lifetime how many people gave so many hours of their time to help out each and every one of us.

I am sure that we all hear our friends and family talk about different of their dreams, and that I’m sure we’d love to be able to help them out. But over time, we kind of turn ourselves off of that, because we know there’s “nothing we can do” and that’s just life. But there are so many ways we could help each other out, and a huge part of the joy of winning the lottery is being able to share it, and to give of yourself, and doing this becomes part of that dream!

So, after I have shared with others, what am I left with? About half my winnings. Okay! I would use the rest of it to buy a condo for myself, I would get a cat, use a room in my new condo for woodworking projects, and that’s about it.

The more I thought about winning that million dollars, and what I would do with it, the more I thought about the time it would buy me, and how I would invest that time into making myself a better person. I would work with a career coach, spend more time volunteering, take some courses on gourmet cooking and I’d even improve my communication skills!

Then I realized that this dream is not about winning the money … although I do admit, that would be nice … really, nice! Okay, so this dream is – at least in part – about winning the money!

*But before I get there, it’s about creating goals for the future that can only be attained by having that money, and then, in place of my winnings, figuring out what I can do to get myself towards those goals without having that spare cash. This comes in the form of helping others out in their lives, achieving personal and financial goals, and becoming a better person.

Who knows, WHEN I win this one million dollars, I will at least have … well … believed in this dream, & worked towards it; that silly little dream that’s just for fun. I will have let myself have a “heart’s desire”, and be a much better person for it.

After all, “Money? Well, money can cause no end of problems. It’s far better to stick with dreams.”

Diwali

Joy of light
let it burn.
Earthenware love.

Madame Chair, Fellow Toastmasters, and welcome guests, I would like to invite you to share with me this most wonderful time of year; Diwali. Known by many as the “Festival of Lights”, Diwali is the biggest celebration in the Hindu calendar and Diwali celebrations are already underway, as tonight is the third of 5 nights. Diwali actually translates as “row of lamps” from Sanskrit; the written language of Hinduism. In The Festival of Lights, Diwalis and firecrackers are strong symbols, representing the victory of light over darkness. The strongest spiritual meaning is the awareness of the “inner light”; the personal triumph of light over dark. This light refers to our spirit, or our soul. The image of the inner light, or candle seems to transcend religion, and culture; it seems to be universal. With the realization of this inner light comes compassion, love, and the awareness of the oneness of all things.

Tonight I would like to share with you tonight the stories Diwali celebrates, a summary of how each of the 5 days of Diwali are celebrated today, and how we as a family celebrate this Festival of Light.

The first story Diwali celebrates is the return of a Great King and his wife; Rama and Sita, from 14 years of banishment from their Kingdom. During this time, they fought battles, and Rama conquered a great demon. Upon their return, their entire Kingdom lit up rows of lamps, or Diwali, to celebrate. Firecrackers are also lit to signify Rama killing the demon, and to celebrate his victories in battle. The second story of Diwali is the day Krishna, one of the major Gods, defeated Indra, the deity of thunder and rain.

The third story of Diwali, also centred around the lighting of lamps, worships Maha Lakshmi, one of the main Goddesses in Hinduism. She is the Goddess of wealth, prosperity, light, wisdom, generosity, and courage. Hindus pray to her to thank her for the harvest for this year, and also pray to her for success in the upcoming year’s harvest.

Just as Hindus honour the inner light at Diwali, every year Diwali lights up the skies and the streets with 5 nights of celebration shared between family and friends strengthening the bonds between us. It is the illumination of the New Year’s New Moon, the darkest night in the Hindu year. During these celebrations many Pujas - or Hindu worship services – take place to Krishna, and Maha Lakshmi.

On the first day of Diwali, doorways are decorated with flowers, and Rangolis, which are patterns made with powder or flowers just inside the front of your home. Diyas, which are clay pots, are also used like oil lamps. They are lit every night during Diwali to signify the triumph of light over darkness. Firecrackers are also lit to celebrate Rama’s victory in battle. On the second day of Diwali, you purchase new clothing, and metals. The metal you purchase can be as simple as a new metal bowl that you will use to make offerings in the Puja to Maha Lakshmi. The third day of Diwali is known as Govardhan Puja, and it is the night where Krishna’s defeat of Indra is celebrated. The fourth day of Diwali, the Lakshmi Puja marks the most important day of Diwali, where Hindus worship Maha Lakshmi. This is the night of the New Moon, (for those of you who weren’t aware, the New Moon is tomorrow night) and it marks a new year. The fifth day of Diwali is known as Bhaiduj, and it is the day when brothers and sisters meet to express love and affection for each other. This is the day where people visit their families to exchange gifts, sweets, and food.

In my family, we celebrate Diwali when we are invited by my Grandmother to a Puja to worship Maha Lakshmi, at her home. As her eldest son’s family, we sometimes arrive early and help with the decorations, and preparing for the Puja downstairs. After all the guests have arrived, and found a place to sit downstairs, the Puja begins.

A Puja is a prayer service, usually headed by a priest, in someone’s home. The priest opens the Puja by asking Maha Lakshmi to enter the house. We pray to her and make offerings to her. Once she is in the house and has been worshipped, the priest closes the prayer service. Then we enjoy a feast of good food, and as we are leaving the house at the end of the evening, we are each given small take-home bags with fruit and sweets inside.

Tonight, I have shared with you one of the most significant celebrations in Hinduism; what it means to Hindus, and how this Festival of Lights, or at least the element of the inner light, can be shared by everyone. Hindus celebrate Diwali by giving gifts, sweets, and spending time with their families. They celebrate the return of the Great King Rama and his wife, Sita, from their 14 years of banishment. They also celebrate many victories in battle of light over darkness, and they celebrate Maha Lakshmi, and thank her for the good harvest. All this they celebrate by lighting Diwalis, or “rows of diyas”, and firecrackers.

I would like to close in the same way I opened; with a verse from my Grandfather:

You always must offer
your heart with joy,
Lakshmi Mata guides your dreams as you pray.
I shall keep watch over you,
marking time,
Faithfully you will become part of me.

Postcards from Home

“I went to Europe to paint the great cathedrals, but I couldn’t get our home out of my mind …” Amy March. Home, and family is the 1994 version of Little Women, for me.

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What makes a house a home? Well, your home is where your heart is, and that is unique to everyone. For some of us, it’s a place where we feel safe. For others, it’s based on who is waiting there for us when we get home each day, whether that is a pet, or other members of the family. And for others still it all has to do with the memories we take away from our homes, and carry with us throughout our lives.

For my first speech, Madame Chairperson, Fellow Toastmasters, and Valued Guests, I would like to discuss a little bit about my childhood memories of my family’s home, the family traditions we celebrated there, and the community that was our building when I was growing up.

Until I was 12 years old I lived at 170 Sentinel Road, in a corner apartment. This building was situated barely one minute west of Keele St, right in between Finch and Sheppard.

Let me take you into my apartment. I remember that my Mother always encouraged imagination and creativity, and gave my sister and I all the tools we needed to develop our imaginations and our ability to create stories.

My sister and I would often play out on the balcony in our giant Little Tykes Turtle Sandbox for Hours, or under a tent made out of a Carebear blanket and chairs. Under this tent we would often take different pieces of plastic “play food” and have our own picnic there listening to a nature soundtrack of a rainfall in a forest.

We also had Lego, Duplo, and PlayMobil, and we would set up entire towns all over the living room that would last for days, with a PlayMobil mansion we got from Santa one year, hospital equipment, a railway, a farm set, and a Duplo house among other things.

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Our house was also a place for many family gatherings. Easter and Hallowe’en were some of my favourites. We would wake up Easter morning to an apartment filled with chocolate eggs and bunnies that the Easter bunny left for my sister and I to gather up; lining the hallway from our bedroom to the living room, on the kitchen table, by the TV and radio – EVERYwhere!

On Hallowe’en, my cousins would come over, and the adults in the family would hide candy all over the apartment, and then we would search everywhere in the dark, using only flashlights, to try to find all the goodies that were hidden. Those were good times!

Another family tradition was Friday night. Every day of the week would bring health food to our table, but Friday night … we would use this little wooden yellow table, and we would have hot dogs, chips, orange pop, and we could watch any movie we wanted! Luxury is simple when you’re seven years old!

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Taking a step back for a moment, to see the bigger picture, this place that we lived in was more than “just” a building; it was a community. Our building was filled with young families, and very friendly people.

My Mother was friends with the superintendent’s family for years, so we always had a place to go and spend time with friends in our own building whenever we wanted; how grown-up that felt! They had sons that were a little older than us, and They had a Nintendo Super Mario game in their room; a HUGE attraction when you’re about seven years old.

I can remember playing with a lot of the kids in the building all year round. Our backyard was divided into a flat area large enough to get most of a baseball game onto, and along the far side was a strip of graded earth that started low and rose to over six feet at the far end, so that third base was about four feet higher than the rest of the baseball field. In the fall, we would pile leaves at the bottom of the hill, and roll or jump down the hill into the leaves, and all the kids would help to gather up the leaves for that purpose. In the winter, we would slide down the highest section of the hill, and our Father and cousins would make turns and ramps out of the snow and ice, and play the kind of game that all guys play, no matter what age, of who can get up to the fastest speed going down the hill.

Another favorite winter pastime for us was when the superintendent’s husband would plow the snow to the back end of the driveway, (back in the days when we … had snow in winter!), and our Father would take hours carving and shoveling out house or fort designs for us to play in, and they would last until another snowfall meant they needed to be plowed over, or they would melt.

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No matter what the time of year, there was always something going on at 170 Sentinel Road, always some adventure, or new game. It was a huge part of my childhood, and I have many fond memories of it. It also has also painted a picture in my mind of what I want my future home to be like, to feel like, and what memories the next generation might create for themselves there.

Thank you for allowing me the chance to share my own memories with you, here tonight.