Meet Monika Moravan, Part II: A Hockey-hater, the NHL Lockout, and Hockey Movies

In Part I, I introduced you to the hockey writer, editor, and researcher who served as ghostwriter for CONCUSSED! Topics included the book, violence in hockey, and of course, donuts. I now present Part II:

The Non-hockey Husband

 

MM: Yes, my spousal unit hates hockey and is not a sports fan at all. Our son, however, is normal. He's a great kid, takes it all in stride and understands some activities are Mum things, some are Dad things, and some are family things. It used to bother him much more when he was younger but closing in on 14, not so much.

It’s funny because (my husband) remembers as a kid sitting on his grandmother’s lap: His grandmother loved hockey; she emigrated from Scotland. She loved the game, would watch it every single Saturday night. And I don’t know…he grew to hate it. I never understood why and neither does he. He doesn’t like it. He doesn’t even go to our son’s hockey games, which is kind of funny. At first it was kind of annoying, but now…you do other stuff with your kids.

NHL Lockout

MM: In all honesty, I'm not sitting around lamenting the lockout. There is plenty of hockey to watch if we wish, and if not, it has freed up a significant amount of time to spend with family, friends or staring off into space thinking. It's liberating to have the option of dating my husband any night of the week!

JD: I’ve moved on. It’s like the boyfriend or girlfriend who left you and now wants you back. Not sure if I’ll be that interested in watching or going to games.

MM: Exactly. That’s what it is. If you see them on the street you’ll hopefully be polite about it… In my case I know when the NHL comes back, I’ll watch…There are the diehards, but most people are now starting to realize, ‘Okay instead of going to a game, we can spend our money to go out to the restaurant next to the rink.’ Go do that kind of stuff because there is a lot of empathy for those working the minimum wage jobs and all that. My niece, during last lockout, was a waitress in a restaurant right by Air Canada Centre. And (the lockout) really hurts those bottom lines more than anything else…

Hockey: Actors and Movies

JD: Matthew Perry.

MM: I wasn’t a big fan of Friends…I haven’t seen (GoOn).

JD: He’s a big Kings fan, and his character is a radio guy in Los Angeles…there’s one episode where he’s playing pickup shinny against Jeremy Roenick.

MM: Slap Shot was on last night, and I fell asleep.

JD: I haven’t watched that in years. I’m more of a 13 Going on 30 fan.

MM: I will always have my soft spot for Youngblood. Definitely not one of the best movies out there, but it features my baby in there (Peter Zezel, not Rob Lowe). It is a must watch.

Can/Am Relations

MM: Educating Americans about Canada is important to me. On a high school trip to Manhattan, we convinced a few that there was a housing crisis because rising temperatures were melting our igloos.

JD: You sound like a female version of Rick Mercer. I hope Canadians have stopped pummeling those poor moose with Timbits.

MM: A female Rick Mercer? Now my head's gonna asplode! Thanks; as a comedy student and (occasional) performer that is high praise indeed.

More about Can/Am relations at the Canadian Spy site.

Meet Monika Moravan: Hockey Writer, Editor, and Researcher

Monika Moravan, the ghost writer for CONCUSSED!, may not be a household name in the hockey community. At least I hadn’t heard of her until last month. Nonetheless, she’s a maven storyteller. Besides contributing to Keith Primeau and Kerry Goulet’s book—mandatory reading for every hockey player, parent, coach and anyone else concerned about what’s damaging brains and our game—Moravan has written for publications such as The Hockey News, the Hockey Hall of Fame 2010 Induction Program, and the Toronto Star. A freelance journalist and editor for the Society for International Hockey Research, Moravan also loves donuts.

I learned about her at LinkedIn while researching CONCUSSED! We traded email and then spoke on the phone. I present to you edited exchanges as we discussed a half dozen topics.

Donuts

Regular readers know what my favourites are. When Moravan learned about them, she responded to my email inquiry.

MM: Walnut crunch and chocolate frosted? We're going to get along just fine! In college a friend of mine was a baker at Tim Hortons—back in the day when they still used an ' between "n" and "s" and baked fresh in–store. If I was pulling an all-nighter, he'd call to tell me when my favourites would be flying out of the deep-fryer, now that's a chivalry.

CONCUSSED! and Violence in Hockey

MM: (The book launch) went very very well. Keith’s book received a great deal of support. Keith Primeau was actually supposed to be part of the Hockey Canada panel discussing concussions, but he was fogged out—or fogged in—due to the weather.

JD: When you first said “fogged” I though he’s got concussion symptoms again.

MM: That was the funny part of it. He’s feeling better now than he has in quite some time. It’s easier on him to fly. For quite a while he couldn’t handle that. But he was looking forward to coming up here, but you know, you can be 6’ 5” and a power forward and Mother Nature is still going to get you.

JD: Concussions are random, right, they’re so unpredictable. Some people you’d think would have all sorts of problems, don’t; some get what they think is a slight injury that just doesn’t really ever go away.

MM: That’s the thing that what they’re teaching now right from minor hockey. It doesn’t have to be a big collision. Everyone’s body and brain responds differently. You can have something that looks very nasty—going into the boards— and you’re okay. And then you can have something else where you’re tying your laces and trip in the dressing room, and you’re not (okay)... My son’s a goalie. The kids now are all 13 and 14, so you know they’re just trying to test their strengths, see what they can get away with, and whether they can fire that shot at the head.

JD: I think players get mixed emotions. I know you’re a big fan of Adam Proteau, and I read his book on violence in the league, which I thought was outstanding, but I think as a fan…you want all this dynamic stuff and the heavy hitting that’s up on the Jumbotron, selling this stuff than fans want. The players want to appease the fans, but they also have to protect themselves. It’s a tough spot to be in. (For the record, I’ve lost my appetite for fighting.)

MM: I’ve never been fan of fighting in hockey. I like strong physical games, clean open ice hits. That’s what I love. To give you an idea: When I was a kid, it was the era of the Broad Street Bullies. I was so happy that Montreal came along and won all those Cups. To me, that’s perfect hockey the way Montreal played. I judged all of hockey against the mid-70s Montreal teams. It was physical when it had to be. It was skilled. It was clean…

JD: I think the only way (fighting) is going to stop is if fans just say it’s enough…I don’t see the league or players moving in (that direction.)…hockey is so crazy; it doesn’t make any sense: You have the college game that doesn’t have fighting. And then you have the pros that do, but then you have the playoffs and international competition where it’s not there.

MM: Surveys that have come out indicate that the players aren’t willing to take fighting out of the game completely. Now interestingly enough, when you talk to players about how they got their concussion, their worst ones, (they) didn’t happen in a fight. But there’s no way— if you want to get rid of head trauma, how can you allow a punch to the head?...It could also take a generation or two to change. Look at helmets…Hockey, like anything, is cyclical: You’ll go through, I mentioned earlier, the Broad Street Bullies era; then you go through neutral zone trap era, and then it opens up a bit. I think it takes a while of going through these sets of cycles to really engrain something. A lot of guys wouldn’t think of going out on ice without helmets (now).

Part II