Excuse me while I gush.
I’m not normally a hockey fan. Not what I would call a sports fan in any way, shape or form. Pretty much a total klutz and perennial bench-warmer when it comes to my own athletic abilities. But I have been glued to Team Canada’s progress throughout the 2010 men’s Olympic hockey games since the 1st American-Canadian game back in the whatever-round-that-was several days ago. The press has been saying all along that hockey is “Canada’s game,” but I’ve never really felt that way (I know, boo-hiss on me). For one thing, lacrosse is Canada’s official sport (I don’t even know why, as hockey is definitely the most-played sport). For another, in the NHL, Canadian hockey players play on American teams and American players play on Canadian teams. It’s like a big family reunion with talented cousins playing alongside equally talented cousins. But there’s something about the need to prove yourself on home soil. Especially when Canada doesn’t usually perform anything like Americans at most Olympics. But we did ourselves proud this Olympics. Winning the gold medal in men’s hockey during overtime was the icing on the cake.
Canada won 14 gold medals this Olympics—the most gold medals won in any Olympics by any country, regardless of whether the games were held on home soil or not. For most Canadians, I would think that’s pretty mind-boggling. We’re happy to win silver and bronze medals. Heck, we’re happy to be in the running. Overall, we placed third in total medal count, with 14 golds, 7 silvers and 5 bronzes. Total medals = 26. Germany beat us out with 30 medals, 10 of which were gold, 13 silver and 7 bronze. And Team U.S.A. won the medal count with 9 gold, 15 silver and 13 bronze (total 37 medals). (If you’re wondering where I retrieved these stats, click here). But, ahem, we won 14—count ’em and weep!—14 gold medals! Us! Little ol’ Canada!
:::Cheering!! Waving the flag!!!:::
Go, Canada, go!
And now back to your regularly scheduled blog programming (excuse me for interrupting).
O Canada! (And woot Team USA!) 🙂
Go Canada indeed!!!!!! I’m not a fan of the very commercial enterprise the Olympics have become BUT I am a HUGE fan of all our athletes! Congrats to them for their wonderful performances.
And as a hockey fan, yesterday’s game was both the worst and the best of the tournament…at least I was pacing towards the tv when Sid the Kid scored *g*.
Thanks, Avery!
And, Teresa, at least you KNEW that the first goal scored in overtime would win the game. I thought they had to play the entire 20 minutes and then see where it sat, so I busied myself doing laundry and then suddenly dh was screaming that we won. Total shock to me!
That’s awesome about the gold medals. I was kind of watching the hockey game. They were going too fast for me to keep up and I started reading. lol
I was rooting for figure skater Joannie Rochette, who won the bronze, even though it meant an American didn’t win. I think all the women’s figure skaters were amazing. They all did a great job.
Teresa, Without the commerciality cities would go broke hosting. Montreal has just recently paid off the 1976 Olympics…like a year or two ago. The commercial aspect is a necessary thing. The burden’s too great otherwise.
I was so thrilled with the women’s hockey gold too! And I hope the game stays included.
and Joannie Rochette was incredible. Poor woman has to go home and deal now with the loss of her mother. How sad.
Great post, Cindy…
Bonnie
Hi Edie,
I didn’t see Joanie win the bronze – I wish I had. But I was rooting for her, too. Sad story.
On the men’s side, I was rooting for the American guy who eventually won (after I realized the Canadians were out of the running). They called him the dark horse in the short program, but he seemed to have incredible determination and spirit and commitment. Loved his long program.
I agree with you about the speed of the hockey game. DH said regular NHL games aren’t that fast at all. They get that excited during Stanley Cup and Olympics.
Bonnie,
That’s a good point about the commercialty. Montreal just paid off the ’76 Olympics? Yikes!
I confess, I wasn’t really “for” the Olympics until they began playing. Once that happens, it’s kind of hard not to get into it. I can imagine Vancouver itself was one big party.
Even though I’m a proud American, I was so happy for the Canadians! 🙂
Thanks, Tori. That would have been embarrassing if the Americans won after scoring a goal to tie the game with only 20 seconds left in the third period. THAT would have been great for Team USA, however, LOL.
Could we HAVE a better final gold-medal game?! Especially after the US already beat Canada. *snark* LOL
We sat as a family and watched, and my anti-sports older daughter was probably the most into the game. It’s funny to see. She has to be totally forced to watch anything, but always throws herself into it. It was fun!
I was glad if we had to lose, it was to Canada, but OMG, I felt so bad for Miller, the American goalie. I mean, how many shots did he stop in those last few minutes! He was INCREDIBLE! I kept thinking (but couldn’t say, with kids in the room), “he deserves to have a ton of sex!” LOL
Sorry. I just cheapened the game AND the blog. 🙁
LOL, Natalie.
As one whose own athletic career involved ‘riding the pine’ right beside you CPK, I too got all caught up in the hockey. But while I think I understand why men’s hockey gets so much more attention, and accept it (for now) I have to say I actually enjoyed watching the women more. I’m not sure why. Is it the ever so slightly slower pace ? I could actually see plays develop, whereas with men’s hockey it requires all my focus just to keep my eye on the puck (which probably explains those endless hours on the bench). Is it the less-violent checking? I dunno, there is for some reason more finesse in women’s hockey.
And to steal a line from a friend, I’d like to tell IOC grand fromage Jacques Rogge (sp?) exactly where to stick Hailey Wickenhauser’s cigar…
LOL, Shelley, I think you watched more Olympics than I did, because I have no idea who Hailey Wickenhauser is.
I liked the speed of the men’s hockey – it made it tolerable to watch. No speed and Cindy’s ADD kicks in. 😉
I must say, I do believe I rode more pine than you did, especially in volleyball. At least you could set! Me, I was put in long enough to serve the ball over the net…
Yeah, they put you on to serve and me to set. Between the two of us we almost made a half decent volleyball player. Almost. 🙂
(Hayley Wickenhauser is the captain of the (gold medal winning) Cdn women’s team. They had to officially apologize for — get this — taking a bottle of champagne, an unlit cigar, and a couple of bottles of beer to centre ice to celebrate their win. They did this more than an hour after the game when they thought they were alone.) Beer following a hockey game in Canada? Oh, the horror…
Oh, really? That’s awful. Beer is about as Canadian as you can get.
And, hey, at least you never won “Most Improved Player.” You know what that means…. “Had So Far to Go She Couldn’t HELP But Improve.”
My wife is American, so we had a good rivalry going. She took the pups outside to do what doggies need to do outside, right at the critical point in the game…… She heard the entire neighbourhood errupt, and knew that the Canadians must have scored.
I unfortunately had to work, so could not see the final ot period…. Sigh, but knew when the score happened. Lots of cars up and down honking flags flying…. 4