32 Olympic Hours in Canada - Part 2.

In February 2010, I spent 32 hours in Canada at the Vancouver Olympics. I will remember it forever, but incase the details get fuzzy, I thought I better document it. Team Canada beat the USA in the gold medal game on a overtime goal but Sidney Crosby and the country went crazy. I went to watch a hockey game, but ended up with an experience that meant much much more.

Here is Part 2 of my story.

The Game

12:15 The puck drops. Canada has the better of the play in the opening minutes , but  the game is pretty even and despite the frenzied crowd, there is no opening punch landed by the home team.

1st period; 4 minute mark

Team USA tries jamming the puck in the side and Luongo get knocked off the post. The puck flips over his pad and lays on goal line. But it does not go in. I start thinking about how important first goal will be.

1st period: 13 minute mark

Goal!!!!! Canada. Toews bangs a rebound into an open net. The crowd goes wild. Its  good feeling, First goal. Miller is not invincible. Lets keep pressing.

The period ends 1-0 for Canada. Solid period . One goal, it could have had more. Luongo was a little shaky with puck handling, but made some solid saves. I grab another beer, mix with the rockus crowd and back to my seat.

Period 2:

Two Canadian penalties early and one American, but the penalty killing s better than powerplays. No damage to either side.

8 minute marks into Period 2:

Canada scores another. 2-0!!!!! Corey Perry grabs a loose puck and sends a powerful wrist shot past Miller. Canada is in control now.

There are US scoring chances , but nothing great. Canadian momentum starts to build. If we can get one more, this could be over.

A few minutes after its 2-0. Shea Weber drills a slapshot from  the point that is labeled for the corner. Its a high enough off the ice to avoid the pads, but low enough that is hard to catch, but Miller has perfect position. I noted that he keeps the gloves low and his perfect position saves the game here as he snags the puck that most goalies miss. Its still 2-0. It makes me nervous. We can put the game away now, but Miller won’t let us.

2nd Period; 13 mins in.

USA scores. A bit of  cheap one. I watch on replay and see it was deflected. Tough play for Luongo, but its a strange goal and it looked close to offside. (Later we find out the play was offside.) But the game is back on. It is a one goal difference and while we have had a distinct advantage in 2nd period, we are back where started.

USA uses the momentum of the goal to create even more. They buzz the Canadian end and Luongo makes the best saves of the game for him. The can't get the equalizer and Canada gets back on its feet in final three minutes. Stall get two great chances in final couple of minutes, but Miller stones him. Sh*t. A goal in the final minutes would certainly help.

End of 2nd period

Despite being up 2-1, you have to feeling like the period was a lost opportunity. We had many more chances, but still lead by only one. On the other hand, the USA scoring chances have been limited and one goal lead seems decent, if not safe.

The crowd is edgy in between periods. The game is closer than we would like and despite being 20 minutes from gold, there are more nervous smiles in the beer line than there are fist pumps.

Period 3:

I hope we don't try to sit on this lead. I hope we come out firing. I think we need at least one more to claim gold.

Canada comes out firing. Pronger hits the right post and Weber the left post. Damn! Miller had no chance on either, but it won’t go in. Canada buzzes the Americans for first five minutes, but can't light the lamp.

The Americans weather the storm and soon Babcock changes the strategy

We are going to try an and win 2-1. One forechecker only, two men in the neutral zone. Play the trap. Dump the puck in if opposed, avoid turnovers and play very short shifts.

It is working. No one really likes it, but they are playing it well. No breakdowns, no glorious scoring opportunities for USA. But we have no chance to score. We won’t carry the puck into their zone and we won't cycle low in their offensive zone for fear we will get caught up ice.

Time goes faster than I thought, but at five minutes, it starts to slow down. We freeze the puck at every opportunity and change lines. We try to win the draw and hang on. Before long there are two minutes left and then 1:17. Miller goes to the bench and its six versus five.  The dynamic changes right away. The Americans with the extra attacker are playing with the fear of silver. They move with an urgency we haven’t yet seen. They are getting to the loose pucks first. Preventing the Canadians from getting clean possessions and they start to win the battle . With 40 seconds left a shot comes from the point that is too high. Luongo goes to catch it, but he drops it . Amazing. It was a easy catch. The puck drops harmlessly to the ice and while the mistake is not initially fatal, the Canadian defence compound the error by failing to get the puck out of the zone. The Americans keep it it in and send it back deep in the zone. They struggle behind the net and then get it out front. A shot on goal, a rebound and then boom Zach Parise whacks it home. Oh, the horror!!!! 24 seconds left and the Americans tie it up. Parise is jumping like a mad man and it pisses me off. Its just tied! Take it easy.

For the first time I see the American fans truly stand and cheer. The Vince Vaughn booth is going crazy. A whole section of Americans is going crazy. The damn Russians beside me are cheering too. Damn, Damn!!! 24 freaking seconds.. The Canadian fans are in shock. Moments ago we shared nervous smiles and counted the minutes down. Now, we can't look at one another. We stare at our feet and then the clock. 24 seconds from gold. Now we are tied! We watch the replay. All I can think of is: how did Luongo not catch that puck? Damn! This is scary.

We get to the end of the period. Its time to regroup. No one is exactly sure of the rules. 5 minute overtime? 10? 20? What is it? Is there a intermission? Yes, they make an announcement 20 minute overtime, but a regular 15 minute intermission first. We stumble toward the concession and bathrooms. We mumble to one another, but no one hears each other. We get out there and the concessions are closed. Not just the beer, everything! There is nothing to do. No solace in a beer, not even a Coke. Everyone lines up at the bathroom, but I shuffle over to the souvenir store. The girl running the store has two boxes on the counter. I ask her what's in them? She says one box of red shirts that says Team Canada gold medal hockey winner; the other blue shirts that says Team USA gold medal hockey winner. I  laugh and tell her, she can put the blue box away, it won't be needed. But as I say it I wonder why I am so confident. I mean I know we can lose, a bad bounce could kill our dreams and yet I think we will win. It’s a bit irrational. Most things are going their way. The underdog has hung with the favorite. They scored late, so late that the podiums were almost on the ice. Canada has been playing defense for the last ten minutes and will now need to flip the switch. Plus they have Miller. While Luongo has been better than solid, he has to be in there wondering about an easy catch that he did not make! The American have every reason to be optimistic and hell they may be the favorites now. So why am I feeling so confident. I settle on two reasons. First, my eyes tell me we are the better team. I have watched these two teams pay 120 minutes and while we lost game 1 and are tied here, we have had many more scoring opportunities than them. Our defense has been solid and we have not allowed that many scoring chances. Secondly, I think I am confident because of our history in international play. The truth is we have won the close ones, 1972, 1984, 1987, 2002.  When we lose we have lost badly 2006, 1998, or even  in 1974 with those WHA guys. We have won the close ones and I think we will win another.

Overtime

The crowd seems to agree with me. They are loud and Canada comes out strong. No more of that neutral zone trap stuff. Its 4 on 4 hockey and we are going for it. We get some early chances , but nothing too spectacular and the nerves start to build. Its called sudden death for a reason. One mistake and its over, Sudden death is the right name. Some politically correct idiots wanted to change it to sudden victory, but for those who have experienced it, they know that sudden death is the right phrase. Losing in OT hurts more than anything. One minute you can win and the next second it is over and you have lost. No second chance, no redo. The refs just skate off the ice and it is over. I remember losing once in minor hockey. I was beaten on freak deflection and the other team went wild right in front of me. I remember the kids creating a huge pile in front of me as they cheered and more players poured over the bench to jump on. Then their damn coaches jumped on the pile too and some parents came out and took some damn pictures. Man that was bad! The bile rises in my throat just thinking about that experience. We can't let that happen here. I mean Vince Vaughn will be on the damn ice taking pictures with his smartphone.

The game goes on and the atmosphere is incredibly tense  No fan is sitting in my section. Overtime in hockey is the best in any sport. Every time you have the puck you can win or lose. If you create a scoring opportunity and convert you are hero. But if you are too greedy and create a turnover, then they race the other way and you can be a goat. Its not like that in any other sport. In football they shuffle down the field until they are close enough for a  field goal and then anticlimactically boot it. It basketball there is no sudden death, In baseball, even if the visitors score, they have to defend. When the home team is at bat, they can only win. They cannot lose while at the plate. Its another thing that makes hockey great. With the gold medal on the line, it is really too tense to breathe.

Just as I think that, Canada turns it over in its own end and Pavelski has the puck in the clear. He fires a hard shot at Luongo. Luongo handles it easily and the threat is averted. Thank god, we don't want to lose on a bad turnover.

Shortly after that, Crosby comes to the ice with Iginla. With 4 on 4, this is our best duo by far. Crosby gathers the puck in his own zone and mounts an attack. The Americans lay back in the neutral zone, but he is too fast. He averts one, then a second defender. He is half way around the third , when the fourth knocks the puck off his stick and the Americans breathe a sigh of relief. But they make a crucial error. They leave Crosby unguarded and Iginla fights for the puck and is able to slip a pass back to Crosby. He is open and clear at the face off circle. This is happening in milliseconds but I see that the pass will connect with him and figure that he will head to the goal all alone.  But he surprises me and apparently Miller too. He shoots immediately, even before the puck gets completely to him. It’s so fast I can't see it. But before I see the puck in the net, I see Miller’s shoulders slump and then Crosby raises his arms and stick. "It's in!, Its in!, Its in". I am screaming and jumping! The crowd goes crazy! People are leaping all over one another. I try to concentrate on the aftermath. Crosby throws his stick and gloves off and the Canadian team barrels on top of them just like the ten year kids I talked about earlier. I check on Miller and see he is skating slowly to the bench. His head is down, he is not looking back at the pile of Canadians. I can't help but feel bad for him. He carried a team and a nation on his back for two weeks and it is over in a millisecond.

Post Game

I scan the crows and people are insane. Flags are emerging in the hundreds, shouts and screams and tears are frequent. It is indeed OUR GAME and while it was close, it is OUR GOLD.

The players start to line up for the medal ceremony. Carpets, podiums are rolled out. The crowd is still going crazy. No one has had a drink in the last hour, but you would not know it. On the ice, they start the medal ceremony and the Americans get the silver first. I know how they feel, they don't want a silver medal now. Everyone of them has competed at the highest  levels for the entire life. Many will say this team overachieved and will only get better, but they came to win and silver will only be solace when they have grandchildren. When Miller gets his medal. the crowd roars its approval. Every Canadian cheers loudly for him and again I am proud. Its not that we are just polite and kind, its that we recognize hockey greatness when we see it. Miller was it.

The medals start for the Canada. They are lined up by number and thus Roberto Luongo is first. The crowd gives it traditional "Lou" chant and he smiles to crowd with the biggest grin you could ever imagine. The pressure is over for him. He withstood it and played very well. He made one bad mistake, but it did not cost the gold and  given the crushing presure he was under, I am happy for him. His name will go down with some great Canadian goaltenders of international hockey fame: Esposito, Dryden, Parent, Roy, Broduer....its a pretty good list to be on.

The rest of the Canadians get their medals and as it comes towards the end, we can see the crescendo building. Crosby wears 87, the highest number on the team and thus he will be last to get the gold. They are placing the medals on the players and then announcing their names, but when the get to Crosby, the cheer is so loud and so sustained that the announcer cannot be heard. They pause and don't put the medal on his neck. Canada's newest legend acknowledges the crowd with the grace and humility of those that have walked before him. He reminds of young Gretzky now. He is raising his stick to acknowledge the crowd and smiling like no one else. The goal enters him into the pantheon of Canadian hockey greats. With a cup last year and now this. He can't be Sid the Kid any longer, he has made it. This goal with rank either second or third on all time Canadian history. Henderson's goal will always be first.  Lemieux in 1987 was  thing a beauty and importance that you thought would always be second. But with this one coming in overtime to claim Canada’s 14th gold on home ice....well, it might just be second.

I also think of how he must be feeling. It is the dream of every Canadian boy to do what he just did. It has played out hundreds of thousands of times all across Canada every year. In the rink, on the pond ,in street hockey, and in basements where your Mom tells you not to use hockey sticks. We all dream that dream: score tied, the puck comes free to you. He shoots, He scores. Four words that every Canadian child knows. HE SHOOTS, HE SCORES!

So for Sidney Crosby, the mega dream comes true. He Shoots, He scores!  Crosby scores for Canada!!!! If most American boys grow up dreaming of the walk off home run or the winning touchdown, then its certain that every Canadian boy dreams of the moment that Crosby just had. Wow...its almost too much.

And now the Canadian national anthem. The flag is raised and the crowd is singing loud and strong. At Maple Leaf or BlueJay games, you might have 25% of the audience singing the national anthem in a quiet voice. But not now. We are arm in arm, draped in flags singing the anthem loud and proud. " O' Canada, our home and native land..."

The anthem finishes and the crowd continues to go crazy. No one has left. Except those Russians beside me. The players grab a big flag and skate on the ice with it. Its awesome! They take some pictures and acknowledge the crowd and they linger, not wanting to leave. The crowd is the same. And while we all know we have a party to go make happen, we can't leave ours seats. We know they we are some of the privileged few to see this live and we like the players want to make it last forever.

NEXT UP: Post Game Party