Hard Rubber: wanna play?

Like most Canadians, I was shocked and dismayed when the CBC declined to renew their rights to the Hockey Night in Canada anthem. For almost 40 years, the "Hockey Theme" (a.k.a. Hockey Night In Canada Theme) has welcomed Canadians to Saturday night hockey on CBC. Written in 1968 by Dolores Claman, the song has been played at weddings, funerals, birthdays, and bar-mitzvahs. I remember hearing the Air Command band perform the theme live at my junior high school. Incredible. I'll never forget it.

But Dolores Claman and the CBC couldn't work things out, so our national broadcaster came up with a novel idea -- a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Canadians to change the shape of Canadian culture. The CBC rolled out Canada's Hockey Anthem Challenge, which, as the name suggests, challenged Canadian hockey fans to write a new Hockey Night in Canada theme song.

Canadians rose to the challenge: over 12,000 entrants submitted their compositions, including yours truly. I'm a born and bred Winnipegger, which means I love hockey and I love rock 'n' roll. The Anthem Challenge brought these loves together for me and I wrote Hard Rubber -- a soundtrack for the high-energy moments in hockey. Slap shots. Body checks. Rushing the net. I hope it makes hockey fans' adrenaline flow a bit when they hear it. Check out the Hard Rubber page on the Anthem Challenge website. I'd be honoured if you'd leave a comment and rate the song!

ADDED BONUS: for all you guitar players out there, check out my free score/TAB sheet for the lead guitar line in Hard Rubber. The sheet doesn't reveal all the Rock 'n' Roll Preacher secrets I use on Hard Rubber, but there's enough there to get you started. Who knows? You might come up with a few secret techniques of your own and improve on the original! I'd love to hear what you do with the song.

Best of luck to all the Anthem Challenge contestants.