Darrell Davis: Where are the shinny games?

Maybe it’s too cold outside, but I haven’t seen a single street hockey game yet this winter.

I even took a few roundabout trips home, intentionally driving through nearby residential areas to see if I could interrupt a few shinny games, like the scene in Wayne’s World: Kids playing shinny, one yells “Car!” so the game stops while kids move the nets off the road until the car drives by. “Game on!” If we didn’t have real nets we used snow-chunks as the posts. No raises! No throwing sticks!

It used to be the best thing about Saskatchewan winters: Getting the neighborhood kids together for a shinny game that would sometimes last for hours, extending occasionally under the streetlights. On our street we used to have great games with two current pro athletes: Jordan Eberle of the Edmonton Oilers and Patrick Neufeld of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Good times.

Maybe it still happens in Saskatchewan’s towns or villages. Maybe everyone plays all their games in indoor rinks. Maybe all the kids are playing video games instead of shinny games. Maybe it’s the end of an era.