I’m bursting with excitement about my previous hometown’s pending television date. For 3.5 years, I worked in Houghton, Mich. in the rural Upper Peninsula. One of the highlights of my time there was the pleasure of taking part in the 100th anniversary of the birth of professional ice hockey in the town.

On Sunday, Canadian TV viewers can see Houghton’s role in the evolution of a sport beloved by millions. The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. will air the first two parts of the ten-part Hockey: A People’s History. The second episode, “The Money Game” details how a game previously dominated by amateurs transformed into a sport where athletes are paid.

Here’s part of the blurb from the CBC site:

Pro hockey is born in the heart of Michigan’s mining country, while heavy-handed amateur bosses drive Canada’s top talent south of the border.

The Daily Mining Gazette, my former newspaper, has the story.