Hockey in Iraq

[Cowperson]

Good feature story in the New York Times of soldiers taking up roller hockey in Iraq . . . .

"While still in Kuwait, I joked that we'd be playing hockey here in a few months, but I was totally kidding," said Specialist Armstrong, 20, who is from Appleton, Wis., and has played hockey since he was 10. "Now it's weird to play this here, because Iraqis have probably never even seen hockey, or ice, for that matter.

"But after awhile, I couldn't watch another movie, couldn't play another video game," he said. "I needed hockey."

Don't forget your bugmenot for this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/25/sports/h...5hockey.html?hp

Cowperson

[Flashpoint]

Couple things spring to mind.

The book "Tropic of Hockey" by Bidini - Binini? Former basist for the Rheostatics. Great read on hockey in unusual places - Hong Kong, Mongolia, China, the Middle east. He also did a TV special. Great stuff.

Also - I wonder how the Canadian troops in Afghanistan are doing. Any ice over there? Any hockey?

[Mike F]

I remember watching a documentary a couple of years ago (might have been Tropic of Hockey?) which focused on the burgeoning hockey league(s) in the Middle East, particularly in the United Arab Emirates.

The homepage of the Dubai Mighty Camels has the team rosters for the teams in that league, once again proving that when any number of Canadians get together a hockey game is bound to break out.

The bio of the Abu Dhabi Kaddas:

"The Abu Dhabi Kaddas is a collection of ice hockey players from the Abu Dhabi region. Mostly Canadian with a slight European flavour, the Kaddas team is a breeding ground for the Abu Dhabi Scorpions team. These players are working towards a spot on the Abu Dhabi A team or an early death through liver disease."