Canada is obsessed with hockey. Nowhere is this more clear than the backyard palace of Kenn Shaw, a.k.a the "Ultimate Hockey Fan Cave." Looking like a cross between a sports bar, and a tricked out man cave — this place is a Canadian's dream come true.
Shaw and his friend and business partner Jordie Oberg were kind enough to invite me on an exclusive tour of their glorious creation, so I bussed down to Shaw's home in Victoria, B.C.
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The two lead me into Shaw's backyard, where he had laboured over the past ten years to create by hand a sprawling hockey palace. The inside was so overwhelming, I couldn't decide where to look.
The house is owned by Shaw, who built the Cave and everything in it, they told me. Oberg helped with the construction and worked their social media. But the two are equally passionate about hockey.
Shaw cracked a wide grin as he showed off each of his treasures, from a hockey-net love seat to the "world's largest tabletop hockey game." Almost everything was made from recycled materials, he said.
Composite hockey sticks take hundreds of years to decompose, said Shaw. "So we're keeping them out of the landfill, recycling, giving them a new life. We're giving Planet Earth an assist."
The floor is one of his most prized creations. Instead of wood, its made entirely out of over 1,700 used hockey sticks. Taking into account all of Shaw's creations, the building contains over 8,000 of the sticks.
Hanging out with Oberg and Shaw by the "bar" with hockey helmet lights and custom made "beer taps," the pure passion they had for the sport was palpable.
Their creativity has sparked a movement of other hockey stick creators across the globe. Every day, Oberg and Shaw get sent new photos and stories of people starting their own.
Shaw said to "save your kid's hockey sticks and make them a chair." He gestured to his own son's hockey stick — the one he used to score his first goal — framed on the wall. "They'll have it for the rest of their lives."
What started as a passion project for the two is transforming into a full-time career.
Recently, they started Cave Talk, a home-made YouTube sports show. They also have a line of merchandise for people looking to support them and you might know them from being on an episode of Netflix's Amazing Interiors.
Just be reminded that it's located on private property and not open for public access. You can request a tour by DM'ing them on Instagram.
But in the end, it's not about the money; the fan cave is a celebration of everything hockey gave Canada.