Graphic Courtesy/ Dianne Ruaya

When the Governor General of Canada bestowed a handcrafted silver trophy to the Canadian hockey league in 1892, the game quickly began to symbolize its people.

Canada’s national sport is appropriately deemed characteristic to the Great North; a sport that brought together the politically divided West, English-speaking Ontario, French-speaking Quebec and the traditionally rural Maritime provinces.

Canada is home to seven NHL teams: the Vancouver Canucks, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, Winnipeg Jets, Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers. Hockey is a passion that spreads 9306 km.

Often in the shadows of America’s sportive superiority, Canadians can seek refuge in our legendary international achievements in Olympic and world championships.

Also, despite the fact that only seven of 30 NHL teams are Canadian, American dominance is nullified by the demographic identity of these teams. Canadians make up 53 per cent of the NHL, while 21 per cent are American.

These statistics reinforce the late Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s humorous depiction of Canada’s relationship with American sports: “Canada is a country whose main exports are hockey players and cold fronts. Our main imports are baseball players and acid rain.”

The Toronto Blue Jays play baseball, with tickets available at the Rogers Centre in downtown Toronto until Sept. 22 (the date of the last home game) and the Toronto Raptors begin their basketball season at the Air Canada Centre on Nov. 2. Canada’s own football league (CFL) still has another month of action and the National Lacrosse League begins lacrosse play in January.

Hockey will always be, for better or for worse, more than just a sport in Canada.