Forget the rugby, this is the biggest sporting event in New Zealand this weekend (via the sporting nuts over at Sportsfreak):
Ice Hockey: Ice Blacks vs Australia
The life of being an advocate for a minority sport in New Zealand isn’t always an easy one. The most common response to “Oh, I can’t, I’ve got ice hockey tonight” seems to be “oh, you can play that here in New Zealand?”
…
That’s why this weekend’s double-header test match between Australia and New Zealand is big. Super big. It’s not just the fact that Australia is the traditional rival for New Zealand in so many sports (in ice hockey Australia was one of the first teams New Zealand played in international competition, a complete whitewash that finished up 58-0 to Australia in 1987, a score of astounding proportions in the sport where scores of more than 10 are very unusual. The two teams were much closer when they played in the Division II World Champs in Australia in 2008 when the score was 4-2 to Australia).
Did anyone know that Australia or New Zealand even had an ice hockey team?
Ever met an ice hockey player?
Nup, me either.
And what the heck happened in 1987? Did the Might Ducks Ice Blacks forget to come back on after the first period?
Still, I dunno about anyone else, but I’ll be keeping a close eye on the results. Nothing better than adding another entry into the list of sporting event Australia can claim ascendancy over Kiwis at, right?
And I would just like to note, for the record, that New Zealand has SIGNIFICANTLY more snow and ice than Australia.
Just saying.
Is there an equivalent of bowling underarm in ice hockey?
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fushnchupsblog said
If the Mighty Ducks did the Flying-V, what would Kiwis do? A slow shuffle while tapping their sticks on the ground, meandering towards eventual extinction?
fushnchupsblog said
Was drawn at one game each apparently.
No word on whether the Kiwis did the Haka. Would been worth watching in the ice skates.