For a Canadian kid who grew up ice skating as soon as he could walk, figure skating at age two, and ice hockey at age four, living in Malaysia without any frozen ponds or local arenas with indoor ice is a radical departure from my life experiences. I either played hockey, watched hockey, or talked about hockey – even in the summers when we played road hockey using tennis balls on the pavement – twelve months of the year. While I really miss this, I have really enjoyed a similar sport in floorball. While many rules differ significantly from ice hockey, which frequently has caused me to ‘cool my heels’ in the penalty box, learning and participating in the local floorball league has been a rewarding experience. Meeting local and KL players has been great, giving me a chance to become acquainted with a great group of people outside of my normal connection points at Dalat. The competition can be intense, and passions get heated; but this is a thrilling part of the sport. Floorball athletes here work hard to learn the sport and develop their skills, and they and their supporters promote their teams enthusiastically. So while there are no hockey arenas in Penang, and the National Hockey League cannot be viewed on Astro, I’m not adrift in the absence of ice!
Kerry Mahoney
Canadian Hockey Lover and Floorball Enthusiast
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