Canberra Brave

We'd not been to the ice hockey before, which is strange as it's only a short walk from our house. The ice rink where our local team, Canberra Brave, play on is sadly run down - the greedy owner holding out for a big pay cheque from developers which will ultimately see the rink turned into apartments.

Despite this we joined a fervent crowd of probably around 1,000 supporters crammed into the tiny rink to watch Canberra Brave take on Sydney. People were squeezed into the arena with every flat surface serving as a chair and people three or four deep at the corners.

I don't know much about ice hockey, but I know there's always a fight between the players and sure enough it broke out in the first quarter where one of the players was grabbed around the neck by another. The tussle only went on for 30 seconds or so but it was pretty serious and both players ended up getting ejected. After the fight the two teams continued to niggle each other. Actually that assumes you're happy to call smacking each other into the plastic barrier surrounding the rink and pushing and tripping each other up, 'niggling'. 

The torrid affair ended with a win to Sydney. Their fans were still cheering in delight as we mooched out into the cold Canberra evening. I'm sure we'll be back for more, it was a fast and exciting sport. Eli told me that he'd enjoyed the fight more than anything else.

Chuck a puck