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Canada in Sports

© David Newman

I guess it is a good time to look at Canada in professional sports. Canada has two official National Sports: Lacrosse and Hockey. The second of the two is the most popular sport in Canada, sometimes compared to baseball in the United States.

Amerindians, mostly from the Northeast of the American Continent, invented lacrosse and it was often played as a way to settle disputes over territory. The Game was differently named depending on the Tribe. Baggattaway was the name given by the Algonquin. The Iroquois called it Tewaarathon. The game didn't have many rules except that one team must shoot the rock at the goal. The stick used varied from tribe to tribe. The ancestor of the modern stick comes from northeastern tribes such as the Algonquin and the Iroquois. The game was very violent and was an alternative to war (Tewaarathon means "little brother of War"). The French settlers in Canada started to play the game not long after they learned about it. Soon the English joined their interest in the game. The name Lacrosse came from the French words "La Crosse." The French started to play with the Native Tribes of North America but they were not very successful. During the 19th century, specific rules started to be written and at some point in history two versions of the game were played, Box Lacrosse (indoor) and field Lacrosse (outdoor). There are supposedly different rules and Box Lacrosse is supposed to be more violent (I heard somewhere that Box lacrosse appealed more to Hockey audiences and Field lacrosse to Field Hockey audiences).

Canada does pretty well in Lacrosse although the United States dominate the World Championships except for once or twice when Canada got the First place. In the National lacrosse League, a North American Lacrosse league, Canada's Toronto Rock has done very well, showing up in the NLL Championship and beat the Rochester team 13-10. The first Canadian team to win the title.

Hockey is Canada's pride. No matter what happens it is clear that hockey is Canada's Sport. Becoming very popular in Canada by the 1890, it was still practically unknown in the United States. In 1893 the first Stanley Cup was won. The Stanley Cup was to be awarded to the top amateur hockey club in Canada although it is now awarded to the top professional (just to emphasize the change) hockey club in the National Hockey League (a now North American League, originally Canadian). Even though the last five years were dominated by American Teams, Canada has won 49 (17 more than Americans) out of 81 since the first American team appeared in 1925. In all, Canada has won 78 (of 110) in 105 years. Although most teams in the NHL are American, most players are Canadian (Canadians: 60% followed by Americans: 14%) including all-time scoring leader: Wayne Gretzky who retired Sunday of last week. This season, three out of six Canadian NHL teams made the playoffs but are not doing so well as of the writing of this article). Those teams are Ottawa Senators (0-2), Edmonton Oilers (0-2), and Toronto Maple Leafs (0-1). The Canadian Hockey League is the second most followed league in Canada. It's divided into three leagues, Ontario Hockey League, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and the Western Hockey League. Although usually really good in International Hockey, recently, Team Canada has not had much luck in the Olympics or in the 1996 World Cup (formerly called the Canada Cup).