Beginning at 8 a.m. Atlantic (4 a.m. Pacific) last Sunday, we gathered in our homes, pubs, community halls, mosques, arenas and public squares to watch the Olympics Mens hockey final game.
On Monday, CBC News showed a Tweet with a photo from Highway 401 in Toronto, taken during that game: there were NO VEHICLES on that stretch of Canada’s busiest route!
But they could not match the drama of the womens hockey final with Team Canada against Team U-S-A!
Team USA was leading 2-0 with less than 3 minutes left in the 3rd period, and it looked like they would capture the gold medal. I was listening to the excellent CBC Radio call by Steve Armitage, and the situation seemed hopeless.
But Team Canada scored a goal on a deflection, and later another goal while they had 6 attackers, to send the game into overtime. You could feel the tension all across Canada (and the USA!) as the ‘sudden-death’ overtime was rolling.
Team Canada forward Marie-Philip Poulin, who had scored the game-tying goal, tallied the winner to hand Canada our 4th straight gold medal.
Pandemonium!
Which is not to say that the Men's hockey final was not without its drama, especially after Captain Sidney Crosby (from nearby Cole Harbour) scored his 1st goal of the series to make it 2-0 against Team Sweden.
Some of my other favorite moments included:
— Hockey star Hayley Wickenheiser carrying the Canadian flag to lead the Canadian athletes into the opening ceremonies.
— Sisters Justine and Chloe Dufour-Lapointe won gold and silver, respectively, in women's freestyle skiing moguls -- off to a great start -- on Day 1.
— Alex Bilodeau and Mikael Kingsbury wind winning gold and silver medals respectively, in men's moguls.
— Denny Morrison, ‘pinchhitting’ for teammate Gilmore Junio, winning a silver medal in speed skating.
— The Men's and Women's curling teams both winning gold medals.
— Charles Hamelin winning the gold medal in short-track speed skating.
— His girlfriend, Marianne St. Gelais, claiming a silver medal in the 3000-meters relay.
— Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir winning a silver medal in ice dance figure skating.
— Then, of course, it's watching Heather Moyse (from Summerside, PEI) and Kaillie Humphreys, who won a gold medal in bobsledding, carrying the Canadian flag while leading Team Canada into the closing ceremonies.
Just for the record, Team Canada captured 10 gold, 10 silver and 5 bronze, for a total of 25 medals.
I also have great memories of the superb CBC coverage: on television, on radio and on the Internet, including the almost-continuous streaming of events.
Well done, CBC!
Well done, athletes, coaches, officials, and volunteers!
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