NHL in Nicaragua

Last night, without making any prior arrangements, a group of Canadian ex-pats gradually began to congragate at Smokeys Sports Bar. Smokeys is located directly on the beach in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua and has a massive projection screen for watching sports. Generally, the fare is limted to baseball, football, and basketball but last night was different. We Canadians knew that it might be the last time we could see a Canadian team play hockey this season. Sadly, the Vancouver Canucks were the only Canadian team left in the play offs and they were behind in the series 3-2. If the Canucks failed to defeat the Chicago Blackhawks they would be eliminated.

A good representation of Canadians gathered to cross their fingers and cheer for the Canucks. The Canadian guy who runs the hostel belonging to another Canadian guy was there. Another of my real estate collegues was there. The Canadian bartender from the Maritimes was there. And the young Canadian guy who promotes a real estate development on the way to Costa Rica was also there. We were joined by a handful of Canadian travellers.

What a game it was! We joined at the start of the second period and the score was 2-1 for the Hawks. The lead changed hands multiple times before the Hawks ended things with a 7-5 win. The game was great except for the ending and it was fun to think a group of Canadian, far from home, could watch NHL play-off hockey on a beach in Nicaragua while listening to the surf break.