After 45 years as the unofficial anthem of the Great White North, Stompin' Tom Connors's classic "The Hockey Game" is being inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.

First released in 1973 on a full-length titled Stompin' Tom and the Hockey Song, the track spent years on the fringes of Canuck pop-culture, despite celebrating the country's true national game (sorry, lacrosse doesn't count) more memorably than any song every written (don't bother bringing up Tom Cochrane's "Big League"). 

"The Hockey Game" started to seriously enter the national consciousness when the Ottawa Senators adopted it as their own in 1992. Hearing it played at Sens games, Pat Burns--who was then the coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs--demanded that it also be played at Maple Gardens games. 

Today the song is a staple at rinks across North America, providing a more-than-welcome diversion from the inevitable blarings of Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer", Gun's 'N Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle", and the opening minute of Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name" (the frustrating thing being that the good stuff in the latter starts at the 4:12 mark). 

Even though "The Hockey Song" makes zero mention of one of the most traditionally horrid, not to mention hated, franchises in professional sports, the song will be officially honoured at Toronto's Scotiabank Arena Saturday when the Leafs host the Winnipeg Jets. 

Here's a great rendition of "The Hockey Song", featuring both live footage of the pride of St. John's on stage, as well as old-time snippets of hockey players cross-checking each other in the head, dropping the gloves, and generally showing the world why the sport is the greatest fucking game in the world. 

(And don't forget to check out some of the covers that follow, including a killer buzzsaw version by NoMeansNo alter-egos the Hansen Brothers.)