Book excerpt: The whole world knows how much hockey is a vital part of Canadian culture. The cold winters, old rinks, and frozen ponds are ubiquitous to millions of Canadians and contextual for countless more across the world. Even for those who didnt play ice hockey, the game still became palpable. In My Road Hockey Obsession, author Curt Solomon tells the story of a group of young friends building their lives, friendships, and adolescence around road hockey. For Solomon, road hockey was much, much more than a pastime. It was the only pastime. When he started playing road hockey, he knew he had found the city of gold, and there was no use looking for or pursuing any other activity. In this unique story built entirely around ball hockey, Solomon shares how he and his friends transformed a simple pastime into the most bonding and durable period of their lives. Road hockey was how they grew up, how they communicated, how they thought, and how they forged life-long memories. My Road Hockey Obsession narrates a joyous story that sparks nostalgiathe days of orange balls, plastic blades, and the hollow sound of wooden sticks on asphalt.