Hockey lives here and I do too

Went downtown to The Forks last night to take in the NHL Faceoff party with Lisa. We walked from her place in the Village, stopping for lattes along the way to go with the cookies I'd packed. Yesterday at one point I'd heard an estimated 70,000 people were expected, (really? 10 per cent of Winnipeg?) but today I read that turnout was still an impressive 15,000.

Photo: Bryan Scott

With temperatures in the high 20s this week, Winnipeggers are enjoying every minute of the last gasps of a perfect summer. I playfully kicked the crunchy, yellow leaves on the sidewalk of River Avenue, the anguish from being stuck inside a windowless, over air-conditioned classroom on Wednesday night forgotten.

I chatted along almost non-stop about my ballet class this week, work stuff and my new favourite cookies. Hockey was actually the last thing on my mind. I really was hoping  I could stand close to Canada's boyfriend and that evening's host, George Stroumboulopoulos.

By the time we got on location the sun had set but the energy in crowd that had been building throughout the afternoon had not gone down a bit. The Leafs and Habs game was playing on two screens on either side of the stage. Montreal was losing, much to the disappointment I imagined of their biggest fan, George.

"Where is he?" Lisa asked as we moved further into the crowd. When we saw him on the live TV feed he was on some kind of platform, but we saw nothing like that where we were.

I forgot about my personal goal for the night and turned my focus to the crowd filled with Jets jerseys, logo'd shirts and red, white and blue light-up pom poms. People haven't stopped chanting the "Go Jets Go" cheer since they made the announcement we were getting a team again. I can't say I've ever felt attached to the movement, hey, I've never really felt that attached to Winnipeg (only the convenience of living here). Standing amongst 15,000 of my neighbours full of pride for their city and team, under the lights, between the office towers of downtown commerce and the waters of the mighty Red, in a place where people have been meeting for over 6,000 years, graced by the gift of an unseasonably warm night I thought, I feel at home.

There are things I want to do, people I want to see and words I want to say that may not happen here, but I can't deny how much of my life experience has happened here already. I have spent my entire three decades of existence living in the Peg. I have no affection for our notoriously frigid winters, I hate when a beautiful outdoor excursion is marred by mosquitoes, I wish we had a population that would throw their support behind public transportation over parking passes, and mostly I think The Forks is best left to the tourists, but once in a while this place wins me over.

We never did find George. But he was here, in Winnipeg, and he ate at the vegan hotspot, Boon Burger Cafe 'cause he's cool like that.

This one's for you and me
Living out our dreams
We're all right where we should be
Lift my arms out wide
I open my eyes
And now all I wanna see
Is a sky full of lighters

"Lighters" by Bad Meets Evil Featuring Bruno Mars