The Longest Season

February, 1987

My mind rejects the fact that ice hockey started months ago, back in early October, before the leaves had turned, before baseball was over, before most football players had even been shot up with painkillers.Ice hockey isn't supposed to begin until the lakes freeze over and my car won't start. That's when Jacques puts on his new pair of skates to go with his reconstructed nose and cheekbones.Hockey season is also supposed to end with the last howling winds of March. At best, it lasts only about...