Hockey is not a big sport in Africa for obvious reasons. But still, people here like their sports and in the sea of jerseys on the streets of Dakar and Nairobi, I’ve spotted three quite nice NHL knock-offs. One was a shabby looking Bruins rag. The other two were the brilliant blue, white and red of the Canadiens. Not a bad showing for the Habs. Lets hope it is an good omen for the season.
If you’ve read this far, you may also be interested to know that I’ve located an African hockey rink – perhaps the only one on the continent. It is in the Paneri hotel near the Nairobi airport, just a few hundred meters from a wildlife reserve jam packed with giraffes and zebras. I was told the ice is of good quality and that teams sometimes play there. The only problem, which produces some odd outcomes during matches, is that the corners of the rink are square.
