Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Roch Carrier’s story “The Hockey Sweater” is perhaps the most well-known text about hockey in Canada. This story has had an enormous success in Canada since it was first published in 1979. Canadians love the story because it reinforces a nostalgic and traditional view of hockey’s place in Canada and a view of Canadian identity rooted in the hockey myth. If “The Hockey Sweater” is read in context, however, and with attention to the subtle clues within it about what has been left out to create its nostalgic picture, a quite different version of the story—and of Canadian identity—emerges.
Featuring:
Jamie Dopp
Jamie Dopp is a Professor of Canadian Literature at the University of Victoria. His books include two novels, three collections of poetry, and the critical study Hockey on the Moon: Imagination and Canada’s Game (2024). He has also co-edited three collections of essays on sports and literature, most recently Not Hockey: Critical Essays on Canada’s Other Sports Literature, with Angie Abdou (2023). He has been a grateful resident of Victoria, B.C., on the traditional lands of the Lekwungen People, since 1990.
Brought to you by:
Center for Canadian-American Studies, The Foundation for WWU & Alumni
Roch Carrier’s story “The Hockey Sweater” is perhaps the most well-known text about hockey in Canada. This story has had an enormous success in Canada since it was first published in 1979. Canadians love the story because it reinforces a nostalgic and traditional view of hockey’s place in Canada and a view of Canadian identity rooted in the hockey myth. If “The Hockey Sweater” is read in context, however, and with attention to the subtle clues within it about what has been left out to create its nostalgic picture, a quite different version of the story—and of Canadian identity—emerges.
Featuring:
Jamie Dopp
Jamie Dopp is a Professor of Canadian Literature at the University of Victoria. His books include two novels, three collections of poetry, and the critical study Hockey on the Moon: Imagination and Canada’s Game (2024). He has also co-edited three collections of essays on sports and literature, most recently Not Hockey: Critical Essays on Canada’s Other Sports Literature, with Angie Abdou (2023). He has been a grateful resident of Victoria, B.C., on the traditional lands of the Lekwungen People, since 1990.
Brought to you by:
Center for Canadian-American Studies, The Foundation for WWU & Alumni
