Goalie Carey Price, from Anahim Lake, B.C., has the ball tipped under his leg by Jordan Staal, from Thunder Bay, Ont., during a ball hockey training session at the Canadian national men's team orientation camp in Calgary, Alta., on Aug. 27, 2013.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
At last, our long summer nightmare is over.
After six interminable weeks with no hockey news to speak of, Team Canada has wrapped up its Olympic orientation session – and played the highest-calibre ball hockey game in sports history.
This week, National Hockey League players are massing in their respective cities. The Montreal Canadiens hold their annual charity golf tournament on Tuesday, which is considered the unofficial kickoff to hockey season in the city. Most rookie camps around the NHL start up on Sept. 5, the main training camps a week or so later.
What would Canadians do if the hockey season lasted only eight months, as it did in the bad old days? It amounts to cruel and unusual punishment to starve fans of Canada's national sport (sorry, lacrosse, there can be only one).
Perhaps this glaring absence has at last been recognized at the league offices; hockey season has effectively been stretched to nearly 11 months this year.
We can only hope next year it won't end at all.