DEJA-VU, ALL OVER AGAIN

You know that feeling that you’ve been here before?  That, somehow, when you walk into a building that you already have your bearings?  You know where you’re going to go sit?  And who you are liable to meet there?  And where the kitchen is?  The memories are a little fuzzy around the edges but you just know that you’ve been there before.

It looks like we will be hanging out at the Redvers Rec Center a lot this winter.  Except for social functions on the curling side and the swimming pool on super hot days in the summer we haven’t been there much since the end of our previous minor hockey days at the end of the last century (that’s about how long ago it seems).  But, as of the beginning of October 2025 we are once again lining up equipment, scheduling in practice days, paying ice fees, and doing fundraising.  This morning I’m washing a game jersey because team pictures are tomorrow night.  I never imagined this to come up on my bingo card but here we are, and it’s a good thing.

The Rec Center isn’t exactly the same as it used to be.  The main lobby has had a facelift, the inside seating has had an upgrade, the menu has evolved and the washrooms have migrated across to where the little mini-ice surface used to be – remember that?  That’s how old I am; I remember that. 

Lord help me but the first hockey player I drove to practices was my little brother in 1971.  I can’t even recall if there was a kitchen then, probably because I didn’t have any money to spend there.  The addition to the lobby decor I like the best are pictures and posters honouring the people - the athletes who put Redvers on the map, and the local hometown heroes being recognized for their contribution to recreation in our community.  This is an excellent idea and I like it a lot.

It's kind of weird/strange/funny, but it appears we have been away from the Redvers hockey scene for exactly one generation.  I know this a small town and we are going to know the people we meet at the games, but in a super focused delivery of Deja-vu some of the people at these 2025 practices and games are exactly the same folks who attended the games in 2000.  Only now, the players that were are the parents today, and the parents of before are the grandparents.  This should not be so confusing.  After all, we are the grandparents this time too, but I keep forgetting which generation I’m in.  It’s like the intervening 25 years never happened because we weren’t there for them.  The coach today was Mitchell’s team mate back then.  Everything is a little out of whack in the time/space continuum.

People tease us that ‘this will keep us young’.  For sure I will have to renew my ever-sketchy knowledge of hockey rules and learn a whole roster of players by how they skate and their style of play.  I must say that jumping in at the U15 level with a roster of kids you’ve never met is challenging.

It will also keep us on the road.

And probably broke buying rink burgers (that part will be just like the good old days).

In the meanwhile, if you happen to run into me at the rink and we strike up a conversation be prewarned I may wander in my time line orientation, and almost inevitably I will refer to my player by his uncle’s name (a sad/happy occurrence that happens regardless of hockey). 

At our ages these slip-ups could be blamed on senility but I’m going to lean towards it being a simple case of Deja-vu overdose.  Be patient with us; we’ll get it all worked out by spring.