Lesson 345--Canadian Vocabulary

 

 

Being a patriotic, I sometimes feel it is important to teach you words or phrases that are uniquely Canadian.  I don't know if this word is only used in Canada, but I am sure it fits in with our culture of hockey.

rink rat = a person who spends a lot of time at the hockey arena.  They could be watching games, playing games, even working there.  If you are looking for them, the first place you would look is the arena.

examples

Jimmy is such a rink rat.  He's always at the arena even when he isn't playing.

Those rink rats never go home.

Lesson 49--From Zero to Hero

 

 

 

From zero to hero

i.e.       When he scored the winning goal, he went from zero to hero.

            After her presentation, she went from zero to hero.

definition:  when someone goes from looking bad to being a hero, or when someone goes from being last to first.

Though this is not specifically about hockey, this idiom applies to lots of sports and business situations.

Other similar idioms

from the outhouse to the penthouse

Lesson 48--Hockey Vocabulary Continued

 

 

Hopefully you enjoyed learning some useful vocabulary in lesson 47.  Today, we give you some more.

playoff round:

A round is a series of games between two teams.  The team that wins the majority of the matches, continues to the next round.  To win the Stanley Cup you need to win four rounds of the playoffs. 

Best of seven:

Each round has a maximum of seven games.  To be the winner you need to win four of them.  The round is over once that is done, regardless of how many games have been played.

Sweep:

If one team beats the other team in four straight games, we call that a sweep.  Remember that sweep is an irregular verb.

i.e.  Toronto swept Montreal.

Lesson 47--Hockey Vocabulary

In an effort to include my students in Canadian life, I have chosen to use to today's lesson to teach you some hockey vocabulary.  It is playoff time, and I hope all of you get a chance to watch some games and get to know one of Canada's favourite pastimes.

 

Overtime:

When the game is tied after 60 minutes, we call the next phase of the game overtime.  This is the most exciting part of the playoffs.  Overtime continues until one team has scored.  This can mean one minute of overtime, or several hours.

Sudden Death:

What makes this exciting is that the first team to score wins.  We don't play the whole period.  Just one goal.  One goal and you are a hero.