For those so inclined, take a break today from reading those comics or watching DVDs for today’s annual Hockey Day in Canada. (Apparently, it’s also Hockey Day in Minnesota, according to the Islanders/Wild telecast.) The Detroit/Toronto game may be in the books already, but there are plenty of games left tonight (including the Battle of Alberta).
Some of the better-known hockey/comics/nerdverse connections:
* Although people always associate PEANUTS with baseball, St. Paul native Charles Schulz was a big hockey enthusiast, owning a rink in Southern California and was even inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame in 1993.
* Todd McFarlane used to a partial owner of the NHL Edmonton Oilers and even designed their one of their alternate logos. And there was the Tony Twist Lawsuit.
* James Kolchaka and the Zambonis’ song “Hockey Monkey.”
* Hockey is a big part of Kevin Smith’s View Askew Universe, from playing rooftop hockey in CLERKS to the skating demons in DOGMA.
We know there are more but it’s almost time for the prime-time games to start on CBC. Gotta go.
Posted by Mark Coale
Jeff Lemire’s Tales of essex County Volume 2 is about two brother’s with aspirations for the big league. Oh, and if that book doesn’t win an Eisner of some sort I’ll be shocked.
Jeff Lemire’s Tales of Essex County Volume 2 is about two brothers with aspirations for the big league. Oh, and if that book doesn’t win an Eisner of some sort I’ll be shocked.
Yes indeed, it is hockey day in Minnesota. Besides the Wild game, three of the state’s premier high school contest are being broadcast on Fox Sports North.
Right now, the snow is blowing outside my window. The predicted low temp tonight is -15 degrees, with windchills of -35 to -45.
That’s hockey weather!
Didn’t McFarlane also sponsor a kid’s hockey team called the Spawns or something?
If you’re talking about the Redwood Empire Ice Arena, it’s in Northern California (Santa Rosa), not SoCal.
As part of Hockey Day in Minnesota the high school Roseau Rams played the Blaine Bengals outdoors on Baudette Bay, right on the U.S./Canada border. It was an AMAZING game, as Roseau triumphed 1-0 to run their season record to 23-0. At the end of the game, temperature was -8, and wind chill was about -31.
If you get a chance and get FOX Sports North on DirecTV, Dish Network, or any such, check it out. They replayed the game once already last night, and may do so again.
It was freakin’ amazing. High school hockey is one of life’s great pleasures. It’s right up there with…college hockey, I guess.
Jim McLauchlin
SLG publishing sponsored two roller hockey games (purists, please note I said ROLLER hockey and please don’t turn this into a debate as to whether roller hockey is really hockey) during Comic-Con in San Diego a few years back. I was hoping to turn it into an annual event, but after the second year I realized I no longer had any energy to work a convention all day long AND play in a hockey game.
Also, I had hoped this would be maybe a retailers vs publishers game, or a fans vs pros thing, but what wound up happening is that it became the entire industry vs my team (Drunken Monkeys, which still plays every Tuesday night at Rollin Ice in San Jose and of which I am the lone company related player). There are some pretty decent players in the business, including Jamie Graham of Graham Crackers Collectibles in Illinois and Vince Lettario (I think I might have the last name wrong) of DC Comics who had a hat trick against us in the inaugural game).
Hockey and comics have one thing in common, it would seem, in that both are in the grand scheme of American popular culture niche entertainment whose fans support them passionately.
Dan Vado
I am a comics fan and a fan of the Southeast Division leading Washington Caps. Let’s Go Caps. I wish I could get CBC. How does someone get the CBC?
If you get the Center Ice package, it includes Saturday night CBC games on Hockey Night in Canada.
You can also watching the HNIC non-game programming (Like Coach’s Corner and Behind the Mask) on the CBC’s website.