Baptism by Ice: How Hockey Taught an American to Love Canada

Janet Money is a writer and policy analyst for the Canadian Cystic
Fibrosis Foundation.

Paul Grant, an expatriate Canadian journalist working for The Sporting
News in St. Louis, arranges a cross-Canada trip for himself and his
American colleague Dave. They attend six National Hockey League games in
10 days and get a chance to skate on the major league ice surfaces along
the way.

The subtitle is misleading in that the book is really about Grant
rediscovering why he loves Canada. The American, Dave, is merely a
straitlaced straight man who can barely bring himself to sip a Canadian
beer and who after the trip grudgingly admits to a mild affection for
Canada. Grant, on the other hand, experiences 10 days of renewed
awareness of how much a product of his home country he really is, and
how different that makes him, and his compatriots, from Americans.

For Grant, the essence of being Canadian is hockey (a theme that,
through sheer repetition, gets slightly tedious by the end of the trip).
He posits a shaky theory that Americans are less interested in hockey
because Canadians are better at it. The Yanks just don’t like losing.

Engaging and fun, Baptism by Ice is a well-written and interesting
read. It’s a shame there are no photos.