Watching Hockey Helps CK Newcomers Feel Canadian

When you move to Canada, there are a few things almost everyone notices. First, it’s cold here. And second, almost everyone loves hockey. Those two truths may go hand in hand, but for a newcomer to Chatham-Kent, integrating into Canada’s hockey culture as a knowledgeable fan can go a long way into feeling a part of the community.

“It seems like almost everyone here is a hockey fan, so going to hockey games and enjoying myself makes me feel like I’m accepted, like I’m part of the group,” says Chris Saylor, who moved to Canada in 2010 from Washington, DC after meeting his now wife, who lives in Wallaceburg.

“I have no idea what’s going on usually, but people I ask have no problem explaining it to me, so I’m slowly learning and having great fun watching.”

According to Victoria Bodnar, Chatham-Kent’s project coordinator for the Local Immigration Partnership, becoming a fan of a traditionally Canadian sport is a great way to build a sense of belonging for newcomers to Canada.

“Even if someone is unable or uninterested in joining a team or club as an athlete, becoming involved in sports as a fan is a great way to start developing a sense of belonging to community groups since it creates an immediate common interest. This is true whether you’re watching your family and friends, local, or national team,” explains Bodnar, who Chatham-Kent Local Immigration Partnership aims to improve services to newcomers, including the ability to welcome them into Chatham-Kent.

Saylor, a former United States Marine who was deployed overseas, grew up playing football and running track, and although Washington has had the NHL’s Captials since 1974, hockey was never his sport of choice, as Saylor was always a football fan first, in particular of the NFL’s Washington Redskins.

For Saylor, is was the physicality of hockey, much like football, that first enticed him to watch the game.

“I really like the physical aspect of it: the hitting, the checking, the fights,” says Saylor of his enjoyment of hockey. “I also like that it requires excellent balance, vision, and overall athletic skill. It’s not something that just anybody can play well. I’m interested in the game because I’m new to Canada and want to become more Canadian. That means watching, learning, and loving hockey.”

Since moving to Canada 5 years ago, Saylor has attended a handful of live hockey games, watching the GOJHL’s Chatham Maroons, OHL’s Sarnia Sting, and NHL’s Detroit Red Wings.

With a University degree in Criminal Justice, Saylor recently completed the accelerated paralegal program at St. Clair College in Windsor, and has been working as an editor at Scribendi in Chatham since 2012.

Despite all this, and his participation in his Wallaceburg and Chatham-Kent community with his wife Marcy, Saylor has still been searching for that Canadian feeling, which he feels becoming a hockey fan, has helped him grasp.

“It makes me feel like I’m part of something bigger than myself,” says Saylor of watching hockey in Canada. “The U.S. is so fractured in so many ways, but Canada doesn’t feel that way to me. Going to hockey games and enjoying them with the community only drives home to me how united Canadians really are, and I want to be a part of that unity.”