I’ve only been in Abu Dhabi for less than one month but the coolest thing I’ve experienced here has got to be the IIHF’s Challenge Cup of Asia ice hockey tournament I attended here last week.

Knowing that you don’t really think of ‘hockey’ when you think of the Middle East, I was pretty happy after the tournament pretty much landed in my lap. I really had no idea the tournament was taking place until I was on a highway driving to Dubai earlier this month and saw a huge ad on the side of a bus. I actually had to slow down just to make sure I wasn’t suffering heat stroke but sure enough, there it was – ice hockey in the desert.

Now, I know that Abu Dhabi hosted an hockey tournament in the past – the Arab Cup of Hockey was a pretty interesting event – but this one was different. For starters, all the players had to be nationals, so no Belarusian ringers. It also featured a fairly diverse line-up of teams – UAE, Macau, Thailand, Taiwan, Mongolia, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong and in their first international ice hockey match, India. Yes, India.

I went last Monday, which was my day off to check it out. First game was between India and Thailand at the Zayed Sports City and it was no contest – Thailand destroyed the rookie’s 14-0. It didn’t matter if it the game was on the same level as some Atom-level play, nevertheless, I was hooked.

I stayed for the rest of the matches, eventually catching the UAE versus Macau. This matchup was fairly competitive with the UAE pulling off the shutout 4-0. Below is some video from the event (apologies for the poor quality – it’s from my iPhone):

This certainly wasn’t like any hockey match you might have seen at the Air Canada Centre or the Joe Louis Arena. Instead of pretzels and hot dogs, steamed corn and burgers with fried eggs lying under a chewy piece of mystery meat. Although Nickelback, Gwen Stefani and Stompin’ Tom Connors was played during the afternoon games, anytime the UAE played, Arabic chants and drums filled the rink to cheer on the home crowd.

Possibly the best moment of the week was when I met some of the Indian team players. I ran into them in one of the halls as they were gazing at some of the NHL posters displayed on the walls and told them I really appreciated their effort during their games. After I said my goodbyes and left the rink, a couple of them ran towards me, yelling for me to stop. After they caught up to me, they handed me an envelope which contained a pamphlet and CD of their home province, Ladakh, as well as some trinkets. Very sweet – I’ll definitely remember to visit Ladakh when I go to India.

I also had the opportunity to pitch the story to a couple papers back home, making it my first foriegn-based bylines since I arrived here. The first appeared in Friday’s Globe and Mail but due to copyright issues, I can’t post the link or give you the full copy of the story. Still, here’s the first few paragraphs of the piece:

In a little less than a year, the best hockey nations in the world will face off for the coveted gold medal. But tonight, the best of the world’s unlikeliest teams lace up when host United Arab Emirates goes head to head against Thailand in the championship game of the Challenge Cup of Asia
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While powerhouses such as Canada, Sweden, Russia and the United States are gearing up for Vancouver in 2010, the Challenge Cup is for the basement teams of the International Ice Hockey Federation: UAE, Macau, India, Thailand, Taiwan, Mongolia, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong.

“It’s like our Winter Olympics,” said Keith Fong, a Vancouver-born referee who is part of the Hong Kong contingent.

The other piece I got published was for the Halifax Chronicle-Herald on the Malaysian team coach who happened to hail from Antigonish, Nova Scotia. A snippet:

At the second intermission of the International Ice Hockey Federation’s Challenge Cup of Asia bronze-medal match between Malaysia and Hong Kong, Malaysian team coach Patrick MacDonald was looking for a way to hold on to his fragile 3-1 lead.

To calm the nerves of his players, the Antigonish native tried his hand at putting a Malay twist on an old Canadian adage.

“Dia rembat, dia jaringan!”

The saying — otherwise known as “He shoots, he scores!” — might have actually worked. Only seconds into the third period, MacDonald’s team scored the winning goal in a nail-biter of a game that ended 4-3.

The whole tournament was a great experience and a joy to watch. Congrats to the UAE team for winning the Challenge Cup and a sincere hope the game really picks up around here. Here’s some photos The National posted on their website and below are some more photos I took during the Malaysian-Hong Kong bronze-medal game: