Today I finally got to see some hockey. Finally a sport I can actually comment on.
Unfortunately, I left my SD card in my laptop when I uploaded yesterday's pictures. So I don't have much to show from the morning. Luckily, I managed to run up to London Drugs in downtown Vancouver between games and bought a cheap SD card so I have a few pictures from the late afternoon at least.
The day started out with USA/Switzerland at noon. The Americans were quite well represented in the crowd but the Swiss were definitely noticeable too. Although the USA did manage to win 3-1, I will make a few key points which put a bit of a footnote on the game:
- I thought the Swiss outplayed the Americans for at least half of the game.
- The US only had 2 shots in the whole 3rd period.
- Out of the 6 possible assists the Americans could have had, they only had 1. All of the goals were basically individual efforts...no real team play.
- Only the Kane line showed ANY signs of life and/or talent.
So the first game ended and finally it was time to leave so that I could re-enter for the Canada/Norway game.
This is where I will put my first (and so far only) complaint. The layout of the entrances and exits for Canada Hockey Place (CHP) and BC Place are TERRIBLE. The only way to approach CHP is from the North. The only two entrances are from the South. I understand this, in concept. It allows the exiting crowds to head straight north while the crowd for the next game goes around and enters from the South. There are two problems that I found though. My seat was on the exact opposite side of the assigned gate on my ticket. So I had to go all the way to the North end of CHP. Leaving CHP after the second game was the really ridiculous part though. CHP and BC Place are approximately 500-700 metres apart. However, to get from the exit of CHP to the entrance to BC Place, I had to walk about 3 km. There were probably five to ten THOUSAND people doing the same thing. That's not good planning.
However, I digress. Back to hockey!
Approaching Canada Hockey Place the excitement was noticeably growing. It was a sea of red and white.
To say the crowds were large would be a bit of an understatement. But everyone was in a good mood.
This is where my amusing story of the day comes in. I was waiting to get into Canada Hockey Place when a guy came up rather aggressively trying to sell programs. He gave me a few lines such as "How will you know who's hot on Norway?" and "Come on, you won't know who these Norweigians are!" Then he somewhat cornered me and said if I could name a star on the Norweigian team, he'd walk away. Naturally I said "Patrick Thoreson." (For the uninformed, Thoreson used to be an Oiler and they made a big deal about him being the only Norweigian in the NHL) He stared at me for a second, said "Oh.", and walked away.
I finally got in and got to my seat. I have to admit I lucked out. 3rd row of the upper deck behind Luongo for the 1st and 3rd. AMAZING. The crowd went nuts when the Canadians stepped onto the ice.
The game itself was absolutely amazing. I will completely forget the scoreless first period (assuming we never see that kind of play again) and chock it up to the team settling in and the players figuring each other out. But once the second got started, it was very obvious which was the more talented team. They just needed to get that first goal out of the way and they relaxed.
The top line with Nash/Crosby/Iginla played quite well. Crosby seemed to be looking for a goal (which he didn't find) but thankfully he didn't seem to hog the puck more than is necessary. Marleau/Thornton/Heatley also played very well together, unsurprisingly.
Altogether (and even considering the first period), it was a fantastic opening game for Canada. It sent a message that we have a good team and that we're here to play.
I thought it was a nice (and humble) touch at the end of the game when the players saluted the crowd.
After the Canada game (and somewhat late), I headed to BC Place to catch my first Victory Ceremony. Unfortunately, I missed the presentation of Mike Robertson's silver medal for Men's Snowboard Cross. However I did catch the medal presentation for the Men's 500m Speedskating that I saw yesterday. Then I saw a bit of the Barenaked Ladies. Sadly, they're not quite the band they used to be after losing Stephen Page.
A great day, all in all. Being a part of a team Canada game in Canada was a breathtaking experience. The crowd was electric once the team got going. I can't wait to do it again on Thursday.
Up tomorrow:
0900 - Women's Curling
1630 - Hockey - SWE/GER
1900 - Victory Ceremony (Including the presentation of Maelle Ricker's gold medal!)
