RUSH drum legend Neil Peart has updated the News, Weather And Sports page on his official website with the following massive blog:

"For once, this complicated and far-ranging story involves quite a lot of sports, and only a little news and weather. But let’s start with the music.

'The Hockey Theme' was composed in 1968 by Vancouver native Dolores Claman (who would also be recognized by Ontarians of a certain age as having written 'A Place To Stand' for the Ontario pavilion at the World’s Fair in Montreal, Expo ’67). Over the next forty years, Dolores Claman’s theme became synonymous with the CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts. It is considered by many to be 'Canada’s second national anthem,' as nearly every Canadian can hum that melody on demand, and serious hockey fans have the ringtone.

In 2008, some complicated publishing maneuvers resulted in the CBC, Canada’s government-sponsored network, losing the rights to that music to Canada’s largest independent network, CTV.

'Foul!,' cried the congregation of devotees to Hockey Night In Canada—the time-honored, and widest-received Canadian broadcast.

Hockey’s place in the Canadian sensibility is hard to explain to citizens of other nations, and the effect of merely moving a TV theme song to another network is a fine example. The event caused an angry public outcry, with celebrity hockey fans like Mike Myers chiming in to criticize the CBC for letting that iconic music get away.

Meanwhile, CBC executives huffed and puffed, sternly insisting, 'It’s not about the song; it’s about the game.' Eventually the CBC’s Hockey Night In Canada replaced Dolores Claman’s dignified theme and its stately French horns with a Celtic-rock composition chosen by popular vote.

For their part, CTV planned to use the traditional theme for hockey broadcasts on their satellite sports network, TSN. A director at TSN, Eric Neuschwander, attended the Toronto performance of Rush’s Snakes and Arrows tour, and at the climax of my drum solo, with the horn shots and big-band action, Eric thought, 'Wouldn’t it be cool if Neil played like that on ‘The Hockey Theme?’' He brought the idea to Andy Curran at our office (who has since been promoted to Vice President of Hockey Operations); Andy mentioned it to our manager, Ray, who then conveyed the offer to me.

My first reaction was to laugh out loud—at the incredible irony of it all. As a kid, I was skinny, weak, non-athletic, and spectacularly bad at every sport. On skates, my little twiggy ankles folded right over, and I more-or-less shuffled along the ice, until I fell down. At least the hockey stick was a helpful crutch to lean on, because among the stronger, faster boys, I never got near the puck—unless I wanted to play goalie, a cold, lonely, and often painful fate, without helmets, masks, or pads.

For a Canadian boy in those times, it was a humiliating struggle growing up that way, and—here’s the thing—it would eventually be drumming that would make my redemption against those feelings of inadequacy, and against the bullies—the jocks and frat boys—who tormented my childhood and teenage years. And now, here I was being asked to play a drum solo that would open every NHL broadcast on TSN.

On the day of the recording and filming sessions for my version of “The Hockey Theme,” I e-mailed the following photograph to Mom and Dad—me standing behind my drums that were custom-painted with all the NHL logos, holding THE Stanley Cup, and about to record “Canada’s second national anthem.”

My caption was, “Take that, bullies from fifty years ago!”

Read more here.