The other day I asked our friend, and likely SN's biggest hockey fan, @BlokchainB if he would be following the World Junior Hockey Tournament. He said he used to follow College and Minor hockey levels in the past but he would not be following the Junior tournament.

If he lived in Canada he would. I am sure even our resident NBA expert @gnilma can attest to how big and popular the World Junior Hockey tournament (we just call it the World Juniors) is in Canada.

But why? Why do we care so much about kids 16-19 years old playing a hockey tournament against other kids from around the world for 10 days in late December, early January?

I am not 100% sure but I think Canada's passion for this tournament is a cocktail of tradition, timing, patriotism and optimism for the future. The tournament is much more popular than any other international hockey tournament that Canada plays in besides the Olympics.

The timing of the tournament beginning right before the New Year, featuring the youthful, fresh faces of many future NHL stars, while many Canadians are still taking Christmas holiday vacation and students are still out of school, seems optimal. Those that take a couple weeks off during the holidays are usually busy with preparations and gatherings leading up to Christmas and then use the post Christmas half of their time off to relax. Canadians love to spend time relaxing by watching hockey. The kids are out of school, so what better way for them to spend some of their free time than watching other kids (their age or a bit older) who they can relate to play for their country. Many Canadians look at every year's team as "Our boys" and we certainly aren't as hard on them when they fail as we would be if our NHL team or the Canadian Men's team failed miserably. We love seeing future NHL stars suit up for Canada and try to win gold. Youthful optimism and hope for the future seem very marketable feelings for Canadians heading into a new year.

Whatever the reasons, we will be watching Team Canada at the World Juniors starting tonight. (The US are defending champs and favoured in this tournament by the way)

GO CANADA!