Don’t hold it against me if my hockey team beats your hockey team at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Instead, think of it this way: since Canada produces the world’s best hockey players, it must offer some pretty good places to play the game—maybe even outdoors, where real hockey should be played.

And do we ever! Head to Toronto, ON, hometown of my beloved Maple Leafs, where you’ll find 50 outdoor artificial ice rinks—more than any other city in the world—open daily to the public from mid-November until the end of February each year.

It’s easy to find a rink online at cityrinks.ca. You can read the latest reports on ice conditions, and most important, get the skinny on “shinny.” (That’s what we call pick-up hockey; just show up with your skates and stick, and join in. You can even rent equipment at a few of the rinks.) Best of all, it’s free.

You didn’t hear it from me, but the best place to shoot the puck with some genuine Canadian rink rats is Nathan Phillips Square at Toronto’s City Hall. Officially, there’s no shinny, only pleasure skating. But everyone knows—wink, wink—that shinny breaks out after 10 pm every night when the rink guards leave.

Hey, if you can’t beat us, join us…