NHL hockey in Canada

credit: spcbrass


Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, and Vancouver Canucks, all in the Northwest division;

Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, and Toronto Maple Leafs, all in the Northeast division.

These six teams are the pride of Canada, as hockey here is the national sport and brings such warmth and excitement even in the coldest climates in Canada. It is about speed, beautiful goals, even bone-crunching hits, and occasional fights, all part of this electrifying game.

Right now, the Montreal Canadiens (see picture above), a team has been improving over the last couple of years, is ahead of other Canadian teams--and many US teams--with 17 points and 8 wins in the last 10 games.

Hope

Hope, British Columbia, Canada (credit: jeff_w_brooktree)

What is hope?

In their 1991 article in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Snyder and his colleagues defined hope as “a cognitive set that is based on a reciprocally–derived sense of successful agency (goal–directed determination) and pathways (planning to meet goals)”.

What?!

Pathways have to do with the plans that we believe we can make to reach our goal. Agency has to do with the person's belief regarding their ability to begin and continue moving towards their goal as planned.

So this is how I see it: I know and I can!

You do not have to agree that psychologists--or these particular psychologists--have "hope" all figured out. However, let us assume that their view is close to truth and apply it to a common situation:

I want to help the poor. Can I be hopeful about it?

plan: I can think of specific organizations that help the poor. I know the poor areas of the town and I know that giving money to the poor people there helps.

agency: I am able and willing to walk to the poor areas and make some donations, and I am capable of making enough money to continue making donations. I also feel confident that I can get involved with the organizations and be an effective member there.

Result: I am hopeful about being able to help the poor.

population of Iranian Canadians

Banff, Alberta, Canada


According to Statistics Canada, amongst people who provided only one ethnic origin, Iranians number just about 100,000. However, if you add the multiple ethnic origin responses (those who are Iranian AND X) to the previous number, you get about 121,000. That's 121,000 Iranians out of 31,000,000 million total population in Canada.

Also known as Iranian Canadians or Persian Canadians, they represent 0.4% of the whole population. In other words, out of a random sample of just over 200 people in the street, one is likely to be Iranian.

This figure is according to 2006 Census, and the information can be found here:

Stats Canada