On watching the Walter Cup with my daughter, fandom origins, and why for just today the dog's name is Marie
Some musings/thoughts on things after the kid stayed up late to watch the Montreal Victoire win the Walter Cup
One of the cooler things about being a parent, in my view, is getting re-introduced to the world or gaining a new perspective through your kids.
My 5-year-old son, for example, is starting to build and complete Lego sets by himself. There’s some things he needs help with, but in general he can now sit at the table with the instructions and get through the whole thing, like he did after school yesterday.
And as a parent, I’ve really enjoyed just watching and taking in the experience. Putting away any other distractions, and watching this 5-year-old figure something out and watching his face light up when he figures out a particularly frustrating step.
I had a similar experience with my daughter later that night, not with Lego (although she and her brother have plans to build a Lego city this summer), but with sports fandom.
Last night the Montreal Victoire claimed the PWHL’s Walter Cup with a 4-0 victory in Game 4 against the Ottawa Charge. My daughter, who is now 7, intently watched most of the third period, heavily rooting for Montreal because of her favorite player, Abby Roque.
I was watching the game with her, but I was more so watching her. Watching her deal with the excitement and nerves of a championship game, how she couldn’t really sit still and went from sitting a couple feet in front of the TV to back on the couch munching Cheetos way past her bed time because of a hockey game.
When Montreal won, and the players were celebrating, she informed us that for one day our dog, normally named Vezina, would for one day be named after whomever was named the MVP of the Walter Cup Playoffs.
This morning, while getting ready to walk to school in her Abby Roque jersey, she quickly reminded to address the dog as “Marie” throughout today in honor of Marie-Philip Poulin. The dog admittedly is a bit confused, but it was really cool as a parent to watch my daughter fall in love with something, like she has with hockey because of the PWHL.
The PWHL, and I’ve written about this before, is creating vital additional hockey connections. There’s an obvious connection for young girls, but there’s also a winder net, which, for me, has added some excitement about the PWHL having a team in Detroit next season, which I’ll be able to cover a bit in this space.
Fittingly, last night there was a jailbreak goal, scored by Roque, that gave Montreal a 2-0 lead in the third period.
Back in March, when Montreal played in Detroit as part of the PWHL takeover tour, I actually spoke with Victoire coach Kori Cheverie about the rule and how it impacts coaching decisions, which you can read about here:
For a moment, after that goal, I wanted to get a bit analytical about it with my daughter, let’s have a deeper conversation about the risk vs. reward of that play in such a high-stakes game. And while I’m sure she’ll be ready for those deeper play-style discussions someday, she was more interested in the fact it was pretty cool to see Montreal about to win a championship.
It wasn’t the birth of her fandom, that happened at the in-person games we’ve taken her to in Detroit, but there’s something neat about watching that locked in focus, that mix of tension and elation surrounding a game, something we’ve all become accustomed to at some point or the other with a beloved team.
That human feeling, I believe, is the reason that I still work in sports and enjoy covering this game. While the schematics and intricacies of how the game are played fascinate me, deep down I don’t think I would find them nearly as interesting if I didn’t have the deep-driven fanaticism for hockey that developed when I was close to 10-years-old.
In summation, there’s a fan origin story for everyone. Something, no matter the age, where you found the connection or touch point that helped you fall in love with a team or sport, some tipping point that turned it from fascination to fanaticism, and watching that happen for others, in this case my daughter, gives me a good reminder of why this all matters.