Fans line up outside the Molson Canadian Hockey House in downtown Vancouver. Photo: Jamie Moore
“Is there anywhere you’d rather be than right here?” asks the TV announcer just before the puck drops at the men’s hockey gold medal game – Canada vs. USA. From my couch I smile that giddy smile I get every time I watch an athlete on the podium lean down to receive a gold medal. And I think, “No way.”
Turns out nearly the rest of the country was thinking the same thing. Today one report confirmed that 80 percent of Canadians saw at least part of that game. Across the country in small-town pubs, sports arenas, even churches, people gathered to watch history unfold.
We cheered “Luuuuuuuuuu!” after every save Roberto Luongo (the Canucks’ goalie) made. We fell silent at the game-tying goal late in the third period. We jumped out of our seats and erupted in the streets when Sidney Crosby netted the golden overtime goal. Yes, this is Canada’s game.
For Canada it was more than a game. It was a galvanization. It unified a country and gave even its adopted residents permission to feel patriotic and proud.
