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Hockey is one of the few sports that we watch in our home. We're not really a big TV household, and less of a sporty one but we do love our hockey! Coming from the UK, I usually say "ice hockey", to differentiate between the game played on ice, and the more common game of hockey in the UK, which is played on grass! Here in Sweden, like the US and Canada, mention hockey and the word "ice" is a redundant word.

Although we have a local hockey team, and there's a national league, it's the World Cup hockey matches that we really enjoy watching. There's something different about the atmosphere of international competitive sports that's missing at lower levels. Once we know what time the game starts, we get organized. Hockey match night is always an excuse for pizza and chips in our home! Large bottle of coke cola, large bag of chips and a pizza, and we're all set. We decide which team we think is going to win, and we cheer them along whilst we eat our hockey picnic. It's a fun thing that our eldest son is starting to get into now, probably because he likes the idea of his parents sitting on the floor eating pizza, chips and soda more than the game itself.

The "shared" nature of this activity changes however when two particular teams play each other. You see, I was introduced to "ice" hockey by my Canadian uncle, and so from being around 9 years old, Team Canada has been the team I've followed. Today, I live in Sweden, and usually I'm quite happy to support the Swedish team - unless they're playing Canada. That's when the relaxed fun evening turns into a competitive one in our home. No sitting together all cozy on the floor for that game - instead we sit at opposite sides of the sofa, each of us with the flag of the team we support, and good naturedly banter back and forth about the skills and prowess of our chosen team. Our son thinks this is highly amusing, and will join in by choosing either my team or his poppa's and takes part in the joking and rivalry that ensues as the game progresses. When these two teams play each other, we know one of us will be disappointed and the other elated - and so although we enjoy the competition throughout the game, it doesn't go beyond that. Once the game's over, it's over - unless Sweden won in which case my husband will be sporting a smug smile for the rest of the week!

As my boys get older, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them sporting hockey gear at least once during their school years, but I think the games we'll all remember the most will be the ones we watch as a family now, from the comfort of our own floor, eating our game picnic and joining in the fun of cheering our teams on to victory - besides, with the games we watch just now, I'm not having to worry about my boys getting hurt as I will once they hit the ice themselves - at the moment, that's a worry for the moms of the guys playing, and not me ....thankfully!

Katie-Anne Gustafsson