Your Oilers still need a new coach, by the way
Honestly though, you really do have to admire the entrepreneurial spirit, even when it manifests in ways that are, shall we say, uniquely Albertan. While everyone else is busy debating whether the Oilers will ever find a coach who actually understands how to win a Stanley Cup – and believe me, that conversation is a perennial on Whyte Avenue, usually after midnight – someone out in Enoch has decided that what this province *really* needs is bare-knuckle hockey fights as a legitimate combat sport. I’m not making this up. The 'Wars on Ice' event just hit Enoch, and it's exactly what it sounds like: a return to a more, uh, primal form of hockey.
You know, for all the talk about our world-class River Valley trail system – which is, by the way, forty times the size of Central Park, a fact I will continue to remind people of until they engrave it on the High Level Bridge – sometimes the cultural offerings here veer in directions only comprehensible to those of us who’ve endured a few dozen -40°C winters. It builds character, and I will not elaborate. The article quotes someone saying there's "a particular kind of expression of violence that is accepted culturally because it evolved that way, and it has limits and it has constraints." I suppose that's one way to look at it. Another way is that someone saw a gap in the market for combat sports that involved skates and no gloves.
### What This Means for Edmonton
* **A "New" Entertainment Option:** If you've exhausted the Fringe Festival – which is the actual best Fringe Festival in the world, by the way, and I have receipts – and are looking for something… different, well, Enoch might be calling. * **Cultural Nuance:** It’s a reminder that Edmonton, and Alberta generally, has always had a certain rugged individualism. We embrace the arts, yes, but also the sort of spectacle that perhaps wouldn't fly in, say, Vancouver. * **Economic Diversification:** Who needs oil and gas when you can have bare-knuckle hockey? I'm joking, mostly.
Ultimately, this is just another layer to the complex, often absurd, and always interesting tapestry of life here. Edmonton doesn't need your approval. Never did.
Darren Fedoruk, MiTL Sports Desk, Edmonton.
If you want to hear more about the wild stuff happening out west, the gang on MiTL Mornings always has the scoop — tune in live at mornings.live.