from Cathal Kelly of the Toronto Star,

This is the last Saturday of your lazy summer half-life. Next Saturday, you begin your three-dimensional Canadian hockey life.

So stop all the clocks. Cut off the phone. Give the dog a juicy bone. Bring out the puck and let the players come....

It’s true that the players have already come. They’re in the best shape of their lives. Honest. They all said that. But next Saturday they stop doing the art project that represents what summer is — circling miniature orange cones just for the hell of it — and start playing games. It’s ersatz pre-season hockey for a while, but think of it as the sorbet that cleanses the palate after the playoffs.

They’ll be at it for nine months. They’ll play the Winter Olympics in the middle (that quadrennial moment when Canada most closely approaches a monoculture).

If you’re in the middle of something, start wrapping it up. Otherwise, you’re going to discover it half-finished under a couch cushion next June.

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