On Boxing Day, after breakfast I got all my wet weather gear on (forecast was rain all day, and they were right) and headed over to the Eaton Shopping Mall which is in a central area about 5 blocks from my hotel. On one side is the Eaton shopping centre, another side is the cinema complex with another shopping complex, with more shops around and a square in the middle, where the information centre for Toronto sits. This is also where the jump on jump off sightseeing bus commences its route. I had bought a ticket for this tour, but since it is Boxing Day (and a Monday) most of the places I wanted to go were closed. So, given the copious amount of rain, I just wandered around inside the malls. There were thousands of people, given the Boxing Day sale is rebadged as Boxing Week sale here. But it was good to see the different variety of things available without actually spending any money.

I had bought a ticket for the hockey tonight, so figured I wouldn’t get much of a meal and therefore decided to have lunch. This is probably only about the third lunch this month – I’ve been eating enough breakfast to see me through until late afternoon so haven’t needed to. I decided to head for the Hard Rock Café. I ordered a pork burger with mashed potato and a glass of stout. It certainly was tasty. And the stout worked a treat given the weather.

I then headed down to the waterfront. I am going to take one of the ferries to the islands later this week so wanted to spec it out. Given the dark clouds and sporadic rain, the photos weren’t great but I am looking forward to getting out to the islands to explore them.

After the waterfront, I headed back towards my hotel. On the way I came across some more store fronts that looked interesting. There is so much done up for kids over the Christmas period here. Not surprising probably, given the population size. And you can see how much the kids (and their parents) enjoy them.

After which I wandered past the ice rink in the city centre. So I took a few snaps at 0.5 seconds to see what came out. The second is taken in pouring rain so less people are on the ice.

I watched some TV in the hotel until 7pm, an hour before the hockey was due to start, so I then headed off again. It was windy and raining quite strongly, so by the time I got to the Air Canada Centre, I was soaked below the waist. I went in, through the various security checks, and got up to my seat. Herewith the ice hockey rink from there. No cameras are allowed into any hockey matches, but so many people have smart phones so it’s okay that way.

The hockey tournament I am attending is for the 2017 World Junior Hockey Championships. It is shared between a few countries. This year it is being held in Canada (at the Bell Centre in Montreal and the Air Canada Centre in Toronto). Canada may have got it as 2017 is Canada’s 150^th anniversary of Confederation. Prior to Confederation, the old (province of) Canada consisted of Ontario and Quebec. On 1 July 1867, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick (British colonies) were united with the old Canada into the new Canada. Over time there have been a number of changes, with Canada currently consisting of 10 provinces.

Back to the hockey. So I have tickets for the match between Canada and Russia – not surprisingly the stadium was packed. And vocal.

There was a bit of a ceremony, with various speeches from apparently important people displayed on the screens in the centre.

A few kids were standing in a circle holding flags from the competing countries, and with 4 and a half minutes to go, the Canadian team skated out. And everyone went wild.

 

Then we all stood up for the singing of the Canadian National Anthem. The singer was flanked by two Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers.

Then the game started. And after just 3 minutes into the first period, Canada got its first goal. So of course everyone went crazy.

Background (what little I have worked out): The game of ice hockey is played for 3 periods of 20 minutes each. But with stoppage the periods go for around 40 minutes each. There is a break of around 16 minutes between each period. Each team has 6 players on the ice, including one goalkeeper. Players who get penalised for various indiscretions get to spend 2 minutes off the ice, without replacement. This means that one team will have 4 players (excluding goalie who stays in goal) against the other team’s five, so there is two minutes of significant pressure on the team with less players. It is quite a skilled game.

In the end, it was a great game, with Canada beating Russia 5 to 3.

Then there was another ceremony at the end for the best players.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself tonight. After the ceremony, I headed back to the hotel and hung up all my wet clothes to dry, had a shower and went to bed.