Tag Archives: hockey
What’s a Canuck and What’s a Bruin?
Hi folks.
This blog post is a little late – I should have written it a while ago, but I was busy watching the Stanley Cup playoffs. Yes I’m referring to our love of hockey, and right now in the NHL there are only 2 teams left – one Canadian and one American.
So if you are currently living or working in one of these countries, or are watching the playoffs because you enjoy hockey, you may be wondering about the strange names of the teams. We have the Vancouver Canucks and the Boston Bruins. But what do those names mean?
Well first off – the word Canuck is an old word, and is slang. The exact origins are not clear, but most of the research I’ve done leads me to believe it was first used to refer to early French-Canadians. However these days Canuck refers to any and all Canadians.
Is it bad, like “Yankee”?
No – 99% of the time we do not take offense to being called a Canuck. It is a soft term, and not only do we have a very good hockey team named the Canucks, but in our early history we had a character, almost like a super hero, named “Johnny Canuck” who would fight off the invaders of Canada and the Nazis during WW11 in comic books. As a matter of fact, the current Vancouver Canucks goalie, crowd-favourite Roberto Luongo, has a picture of Johnny Canuck on his goalie mask! I guess it’s for good luck – we’ll see soon if it works!
What does Bruin mean? A simple answer is it refers to a bear. It comes from Reynard’s fables. How it got to Boston, I’m not sure, but anyway it is a bear. And right now Boston is playing like bears!
Right now the series is tied 3-3, and the teams are travelling back to Vancouver for the final game 7 on Wednesday to see who will win the Stanley Cup for 2011. I of course am rooting for (cheering for) Vancouver. “Go Canucks Go!”
PS – if you are interested in hockey, you can find hockey vocabulary on this blog by searching it. The more words and phrases you know, the more you will enjoy the game.
Help with Watching & Talking HOCKEY!
As you watch the 2010 Winter Olympics, there is not a sport more exciting to Canadians than Hockey. Watch the games and learn more with this vocabulary. Ask a Canadian or American to explain the ones you do not know. Enjoy!
PEOPLE
The Referees or “Refs”
The Linesman/men
The Players
The Forwards
The Defense
The Goaltender
The Goalie
The Netminder
The Fans
The Coach
The G.M.
(General Manager)
The Announcer
The Enforcer
The Captain (C)
The Assistant (A)
KEY NOUNS
A Slap/Wrist shot
A Face-off
A Period
A Tie-game
Overtime/Sudden Death
Rebound
The Net
The Puck
The Stick
An Assist
The Boards/Glass
The Rink
A Scrap
Penalty
Power Play
A Shoot-out
KEY VERBS
Hits
Shoots (the puck)
Passes
Skates
Deflects/Redirects/Tips
Scores
Saves
Intercepts
Blocks(the shot)
Checks
Stickhandles/Dekes
Dives
Assists
Ices (the puck)
Elbows
Kill a Penalty
PENALTIES
Roughing
High-sticking
Cross-checking
Hooking
Holding
Tripping
Boarding
Slashing
Unsportsmanlike Conduct
Fighting
2-minute Minor
4-minute Major
(Double Minor)
5-minute Major
10-Minute Misconduct
Game Suspension
EXPRESSIONS YOU MAY HEAR
He/She leads in points/goals/assists/penalty minutes
He/She picks it up
It’s cleared down the ice
He/She plays the puck (around the net)
He/She ices the puck
He/She wins the draw
He’s/She’s knocked down/out
S/He shoots, S/he scores!
Oh what a save!
Glove-save!
S/He Flashes the leather!
What’s the score?
Just wide of the post
It hit the crossbar
Dropped the gloves
Fires a rocket
Ran (him/her) into the boards
It’s the go-ahead goal
They blew a 3-0 lead
The Russian people are great!
Say what you will about the Russian gov’t, the military and some parts of history, but the Russian people are quite okay in my books.
Thursday I was invited over to a student’s house with her hubby and a few others to eat and drink. I FINALLY had Russian vodka. Predictably, the girls drank cocktails (I introduced them to cape cods: vodka, cranberry juice and lime) and the guys drank straight vodka in shots. The rules were simple. No one drinks alone. A toast or 2 comes before the drink, and after the shot you can chase it with juice or eat a pickle, tomato or fish and onions. (Similar to mackerel??). I held my own (naturally….) and we exchanged language, jokes and legends of hockey. Yes sir – they still remember 1972.
Afterwards one of the guys who is also a student of the English training for managers program insisted on accompanying me home via taxi to ensure I did not get ‘kidnapped’. Before leaving we stopped by his (and his wife’s) flat a few floors below, and when they opened the door I was stunned. What was hanging on the coat rack? A Toronto Maple Leafs cap! WOW! He smiled and told me he also has a jersey to match. This I have to capture on film. So he invited me to come by sometime for Cuban cigars and cognac and we can take some pictures. He also gave me a Cuban for the road.
He and his wife took me home and even insisted on paying for my cab! Amazing generosity. All I can do is thank them, be a good teacher and try to repay them when given a chance – which will hopefully be soon. Russians and Canadians mix well – like ice and hockey I suppose.
Tomorrow I am going to do some more site-seeing and picture-taking. I’ll be in touch.