Hockey, British style

I recently came back from a trip to London, which was my first trip to Europe, I might add.

You might be saying to yourself, "what is the "Princess of Puck" doing in England? Couldn't she have gone to some country where they actually play and know hockey, say like the Czech Republic, Russia, Sweden, or Finland?"

I could have, and maybe one day I'll get to experience hockey in one of those countries, but not this time.

For those of you that think they don't know their hockey in "Merry Olde England," well you don't know puck about hockey.

Hockey, British style, was played in the time of Queen Victoria.

And you know that little trophy that every NHL team fights so hard to get every hockey season? Well, it was named for Lord Stanley, who wasn't Canadian, but was the Governor General of Canada, who is the Queen of England's representative in Canada.

Butm enough history.

The "NHL" of British Hockey is called the "SuperLeague" and there are seven teams: Sheffield Steelers, Belfast Giants, Nottingham Panthers (who, by the way, have been the Panthers a lot longer than that other Panther team down in South Florida and have been playing hockey for a lot longer than most NHL teams, believe it or not), Manchester Storm, Bracknell Bees, Scottish Eagles and the London Knights.

The London Knights are owned by those good gentlemen who gave us the Manchester (New Hampshire) Monarchs of the AHL and the Los Angeles Kings. (Knights, Kings, Monarchs -- you'll notice that the King's owners have that royalty thing going on with their hockey teams.)

British people seem to enjoy hockey as much as their Canadian cousins, though I don't think the British would have a national holiday if their women's and men's hockey team won the Olympics.

On the BBC, Wednesday night is hockey night, no matter if it's hockey across the ocean or down the street.

In the heart of London, the Covent Garden section to be exact, hockey mad Londoners go to a pub called the Maple Leaf Pub to catch up on NHL games, British hockey games, and, while I was there, the rugby match between England and New Zealand. (England won, by the way, and I don't need to tell you what a madhouse the pub was.)

Inside the pub, hanging on the walls are a Toronto Blue Jays uniform, a Quebec Nordique jersey, and a Toronto Maple Leaf jersey. (Figures, it is called the Maple Leaf Pub!)

Also hanging off to the side was a New York Rangers jersey, but with the way the "Broadway Blueshirts" have been playing lately, it's beyond me why a Rangers jersey was hanging up.

The players on the British teams are mostly British, believe it or not, with imports from Canada and the USA mixed in.

In London, the Knights are so very popular that you will see ads all over the British tube (subway) stations for the games. The Knights were even the answer to a question on the British version of College Bowl. (FYI -- the contestants that got the answer right were from Cambridge University.)

How's that for hockey -- British style?