Ice hockey and Poop Cakes

So we had our first taste of real, all Canadian culture on Wednesday night when we attended our first ice hockey game. Ice hockey is Canada's official sport and despite that only 4 of 20 something NHL (National Hockey League) teams are Canadian, there are more Canadians playing in the league than Americans.
On Wednesday it was the Vancouver Giants vs the Tri City Americans (who ever they are?) - in the WHL (Western Hockey League) which is one down from the big boys in the National Hockey League. It was a lot of fun - alot more violent than any sport should be, although I have to admit I was disappointed that there were no fights (contrary to the Giant's rep). But the Giants did win, in a nail biter down to the final two minutes, victory...



The highlight of the night had to be the play breaks - particularly the Tim Horton Tim Bit mini league game of 5 year olds playing icehockey in their shirts which came down to their knees. 'Playing' is probably a bit generous - they'd get the puck, then fall over it, and everyone would come in for D and fall over them - it was soooo cute! Kicking myself that I didn't get a photo/video of them. There were lots of other fun things too including blimps, chicken races on the ice, mascots, t-shirt cannons, fried food etc.


On Tuesday we visited "Fright Nights" at Playland. It was Halloween on Friday and everyone gets into it bigtime here - my work have a potluck lunch on Friday and people dress up in costumes (mighty mouse won this year) and bring food like spinach dip in airplane sick bags, or cakes baked in kitty litter trays with "poop" icing and pooper scoopers to serve ( I think Lance's work was much more sensible).
I'm not so much into that but Fright Night was good fun! It's at nighttime at Playland, Vancouver's amusement park, with some very fun rides, including one of the oldest wooden rollercoasters in North America (which was scarily rickety - and you got serious air time on it!) and they do the whole thing up with Halloween decorations, evil-looking gargoyles, graves and skulls galore, (no small feat!), have dozens of scary house attractions, a Halloween maze complete with escaped psych patients and Frankenstein and then people in costume running around scaring innocent bystanders all night.