This week I practiced with my girlfriend who has a higher fluency in Spanish. She challenged me and allowed me to take my time while responding so I could gather my thoughts. It was a very basic conversation of course but it was held while we watched the Montreal Canadiens and Los Angeles Kings game. It started with me stating the score and period in Spanish. To which she purposely replied “que es hockey?”. This got a laugh out of me as I realized what she was doing. I then began describing the sport to her as if she had never heard of it. From there we transitioned into describing Montreal versus L.A. as they both belong to different countries, climates, and overall vibes. She helped me with mistakes and we looked up expressions if we were both unsure of their accuracy. I know a lot about the structure of the NHL so I broke it down for her. “Hay 32 equipos en total. Hay 7 equipos canadienses, y 25 equipos estadounidenses. Los equipos juegan en dos conferencias, Oeste y Este. Hay dos divisiones en cada conferencia. En el Este están la Metropolitana y la del Atlántico, y en el Oeste la Central y la del Pacífico.” There were a few grammatical errors such as me saying “El Atlántico and El Pacífico” when we checked my accuracy after but my girlfriend certainly understood my full explanation which was good! This conversation reminded me of my time watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2024 while I was in Colombia. It was a fun and different experience watching the Spanish broadcasts “En Vivo en ESPN” of the games, especially since it was such an exciting series between Edmonton and Florida. Here is a link to what a recent Spanish NHL broadcast call sounds like.