Join The Cheer

One of the great memories I will always have of Hockeyville was the final 30 seconds of the game. With the world watching on televisions and computers everywhere, the Canucks are trying to hang on to their 2-1 lead while the whole crowd erupts into one final send off:

"Terrace is Hockeyville! Terrace is Hockeyville!" Over and over, "Terrace is Hockeyville!"

It reminded me a lot of 2002 in the final minute of play of the Olympic gold medal game. With Canada mere seconds away from the gold medal, the large contingent of Canadian fans burst into a spontaneous (and never better) rendition of "O' Canada."

We have anthems. Many teams have a definitive song they play at certain times. Montreal fans like to sing Ole. But there is no definitive cheer in hockey, certainly not at the national level.

Which leads me to mentioning Pepsi's new Join The Cheer contest. They want to come up with the definitive cheer to urge on our men's, women's and sledge hockey teams at international tournaments such as the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver and beyond. They want the fans to be as prepared as our athletes will be.

How about - "We want gold! We want gold!" Or maybe - "It's Our Game! It's Our Game!"

I'm sure you can do better than me. If you agree, be sure to enter your cheer at http://pepsi.ca/jointhecheer. If you win, you can lead the cheers at the 2010 World Juniors in Saskatoon and the 2010 Men's World Championships in Germany.

That's right. Pepsi's paying the bills. I'll drink to that!