We all have our dreams.

Like many Canadians, mine revolved around the game of hockey. Specifically, playing the organ at a star-studded hockey game - Can-Can, The Addams Family theme, 96 Tears ... I dutifully practised them all. Including, of course, a variety of musical incentives to "Charge!"

Last year, the call finally came.

Sure, the dream involved the Habs and the Stanley Cup playoffs, whereas this involved teams destined to play for the Exclaim Cup. And the "stars" were rock stars, not hockey stars -- a member of Sloan, two-thirds of Starling, and so forth. But when Dave Bidini of The Rheostatics skated by the timekeepers' bench and gave me the thumbs up for my Mexican Hat Dance, the dream became reality. And besides, it made me feel like a good Canadian.

The Rheostatics have a way of making us feel like good Canadians. Few citizens wear their maple leaves on their sleeves (or guitars) more visibly than the Toronto-based quartet. They come from a land of ice and snow, and are proud to admit it. The Rheos have given us tributes to the Prairies, the Group of Seven and Wendel Clark. They've covered The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. And they play hockey.

Well, Bidini does. He's even written a book called Tropic of Hockey that will form the basis of a CBC special in the New Year. As for the other Rheos, well, "I don't know for hockey," guitarist Martin Tielli concedes over the phone amidst much laughter from his vanmates. "Like, I know the Toronto Maple Leafs are Torontonian, right?"

Bidini, on the other hand, has studied the nature of hockey enough to draw parallels between it and his other passion, music. "There's a lot of elbowing in both," he wryly observes. (For more information on the game of hockey, please consult Bidini's book or wait for the TV special.)

The Rheostatics stickhandle their way to Capital City tonight on the heels of a 12-night homestand at the Horseshoe Tavern. We'll have to settle for tonight and tomorrow, but even that is an unusually generous helping from a visiting team. And they know there are enough good Canadians here that we'll be left wanting more.

This visit is the first for the Rheos since longtime associate Michael Philip Wojewoda turned his temp duties as drummer into a full-time job with the band, replacing percussionist Don Kerr. "It was tentative until three or four months ago," Tielli says of Wojewoda's permanent position with the team. "But he appears to be enjoying it."

The Rheos are also enjoying their return to select Canadian cities during this brief tour. But Tielli downplays the band's determination to sing a song of Canada. "You write about what you know," he shrugs, "so Canadian place names turn up in our songs. I'm not a patriot, but I like where I live."

WHY BE ASHAMED?

Tielli will, however, concede it is rare for Canadian artists to openly write of their homeland.

"What are people ashamed of?" Tielli asks. "Why are there so many Canadian bands that talk about the southern states -- what's that all about? Maybe they went there once. That doesn't strike me as interesting. Do what you know and what you're good at. We've never had grandiose plans for world domination, so why water it down for Italians?"

The band will have new, homegrown material for their two-night stand; 12 nights at the Horseshoe will do that for a repertoire. And given the humble beginnings of that event, perhaps Ottawa can convince the Rheos to extend their visit in the future.

"It's a great way to play," Tielli enthuses. "You don't have to soundcheck and you don't have to travel between shows." But, he notes, the band is still working toward their goal for the Horseshoe residency.

"We lengthened it to two weeks because we'd heard about Stompin' Tom's stands at the Horseshoe in the '70s, where he did 29 consecutive nights," Tielli explains. "We thought, 'Hey, we could do that.' "

We all have our dreams.