We've seen Canadians reacting to hurling. Now we have a Canadian playing hurling. 36-year-old former ice-hockey goalkeeper (goaltender) Alex Auld swapped places with Lee Chin for the Toughest Trade.
He played full-forward for the Faythe Harriers in a challenge match against St. Martin's, while Lee Chin headed over to the Vancouver Canucks.
He was surprised by the leeway he was allowed in hurling relative to ice hockey. He didn't expect to be let kick the ball.
(For 8-year olds at hurling summer camps, this is a dangerous revelation. Those less talented at ground hurling dispensed with the hurls and profited from kicking the ball endlessly).
Auld spoke about his experience on Matt Cooper's The Last Word this evening.
Everyday I learned something new. You're in training and you're trying to do someone says 'just kick it' and I'm like 'I can kick it?' and I was trying to explain to my nine year old son and he was fascinated by another rule and blown away by all the different things you can do. By the end of the week, I had just about everything down.
I didn't play in goal. The lack of equipment was a little crazy for me so I played out the field.
The one thing I noticed about the goalie here... in hockey the goalie is basically a defensive position and in hurling there are a lot less shots but the puckout is a big part of the game.
I played at full-forward. It was a lot of fun.
Great crowd out in Wexford for @alexjauld's game with @faytheharriers for @AIB_GAA #TheToughest Trade pic.twitter.com/zWpdVCgf8L
— Roisin Glynn (@RoisinGlynn) February 5, 2017
Alex Auld sticking his penalty for a great score in today's #thetoughest challenge against @StMartinsGAA in Parc Carman today @AIB_GAA pic.twitter.com/Bp67PxjqcA
— Faythe Harriers GAA (@faytheharriers) February 5, 2017
Of course, Auld was quick to praise the game and the players to the skies. To our knowledge, the only celebrity outsider (and he's only a semi-outsider) to remain unimpressed by hurling was Noel Gallagher, who preferred Gaelic football and kicked a point in Croker as a teenager. Like every other foreign pro, Auld was quick to express his admiration for the players on account of their amateurism.
He said this about Chin and his stint in Vancouver.
If anyone can do it, it's him. I've heard a lot about him and what an incredible athlete he is and what a great person he is in the community and I think he'll do well.
