One Last Olympics Related Picture?

Holy cow! Just got this picture from Justin's school. Who says Canadians aren't patriotic? But this is a little over the top! We've come out of the Olympics with a fever pitch of Canadian patriotism...sure to impact my kids for their entire lives.

I have to admit that I've always considered myself Nova Scotian first and Canadian second, but I don't think there's any worry of that happening to Justin and Brooklyn. Furthermore, Justin went into the Olympics mildly interested in hockey and has come out a hockey nut! He commented while the Canucks game was on TV last night that Ryan Kessler played for Team USA and Roberto Luongo was Canada's goalie. Wow, I guess he was paying attention!

What A Party...Sad It's Over

It has been an astounding 17 days of competition, but the games were so much more than medals. I have never seen anything like this. Canadians embraced these games and it was a non-stop, magical experience. The venues were full, the fans cheered with passion, and the city was behind the games fully and completely. Everyone was happy wherever you went.

We started off with the tragic death of the Georgian luger, the cauldron glitch, no snow, broken down zambonis and an Olympic flame secured behind a chain link fence, and things didn't look so good for Vancouver. I was nervous. But the spirit of the people took hold and Vancouverites took over the streets, people filled the Live City sites and then the brilliant, if unusual, February sunshine made the city sparkle like a jewel.

Canadians, typically repressed when it comes to displays of patriotism, took to the streets in red and white. Never have I seen so many Canadian flags, hockey jerseys, maple leafs and painted faces. It was the most amazing display of love for our country I have ever seen. It was not difficult to get swept up in national pride and it was so contagious it spread across the country and even to visitors from nations around the world.

I will always remember coming out of the hockey game v. Russia only to stop at a pub to watch the Canadian women go silver and gold in bobsleigh. That Wednesday was an incredible day for Canada, and the beginning of the gold rush in the final days of the Olympics.

These were great games. Fun games. Friendly games. The world left smiling and even though I'm sad it is over, it is 17 days I will remember forever!



The sky lit up every night in downtown Vancouver!



The light show...



A snowboarder flies over Robson Square on the zipline!

Cool. Lasers.

Ken is glad he came home from Houston to experience a city gone mad!



Brian and Ken on the streets!

Wow, what a rush. Congrats, Canada! Congrats, Vancouver!

Leave No Doubt...Canada ROCKS!!!

Photo of Team Canada's dressing room...

Leave no doubt…this is OUR game. This was the slogan plastered all over Team Canada’s dressing room. My co-worker’s brother works for Easton and had incredible access to the dressing room and the players. He has a great photo of he and Luongo with his gold medal after the game in the dressing room. Wow! How lucky!

What an incredible journey this Olympics has been for Canada…

14 GOLD! The most EVER won by a host country…in fact a record for gold medals for ANY country in the winter Olympics. In European terms, Canada is the outright winner of the games, since they tend to judge the winner based on the number of gold medals, not the overall medal count. We did OWN THE PODIUM!!! Way to go, Canada!!! Our athletes were amazing from curling to speed skating to moguls to hockey.

Sure, the Americans had the most overall medals, but Canada still scored 26 medals in total…a RECORD for Canada and 2 more than our previous high of 24 in Torino. And Canada missed many medal opportunities because our athletes were going for gold and wiped out or crashed because they were pushing so hard! We had more top 8 finishes than any other country!

Canada kicked ass, and won the most important gold medal of all…HOCKEY GOLD…in dramatic fashion, in a game we'll remember here in Canada for all time, 3-2 over the brash American upstarts. It was payback after losing to the USA in the round robin game 5-3. Sidney Crosby redeemed himself after a failed break away in the third and caught the magnificent Miller off guard in overtime. WOW!!! And I thought the stunning victory over Russia was amazing!!!

16.6 million Canadians watched the game making it the most watched program EVER on Canadian television. After the puck went in the net the entire country erupted in one great cheer that was heard around the world! From Sidney Crosby’s hometown in Nova Scotia to the LiveCity site in Yaletown, Canadians were overcome with joy, winning hockey gold here on our home soil. Team Canada skated around the rink waving a massive Canadian flag as tears of happiness rolled down the cheeks of millions red and white clad fans from coast to coast to coast. Thousands of Canadians took to the streets…closing down most of downtown Vancouver and even Yonge Street in Toronto! Oh Canada!!! What a finish to the greatest Olympics ever!!! Whoohoo!!!

I might add that Team Canada scored more goals than any team has ever done at the Olympics. Simply put, the boys got the job done.

I am prouder than ever to be CANADIAN!!! TRUE NORTH STRONG!!! Go Canada Go!!!!!!

Canada House

Canada House, sporting 50's-esque-McDonald's-like arches, was designed by an American firm and was a sore point for Canadians in the days leading up to the games. Oh well, it was cool anyway, with Gretzky's jersey on display, interactive hockey and snow boarding games and an opportunity to get your picture taken with the Olympic torch. Lighten up, people, what else do you need?

Why yes, you're right! Beer! Well, there was a beer garden right across the plaza. Mmm.

Canada 40-something...Ken and Brian!

The Great One's jersey...

Passing the doobie...I mean torch...from one Canadian to another!

Would it be OK to club a baby seal with this thing? Hahaha...OK, bad joke, just kidding. Well, I'm not really, you could do some damage with this bad boy. OK, I'm kidding, just go to the next picture, would ya!



Ken shoots!



Interactive hockey and I didn't get along. Maybe it was the beers...more beers, please!

Bronze Medal Game!

Ah, so much to blog and so little time. The past few days have been one non-stop celebration of Canadian GOLD! Last Sunday was supposed to be Super Sunday and we came up empty...our Own The Podium program was looking like a sinkhole of taxpayer money...but then we had Wonderful Wednesday, Fantastic Friday, Stellar Saturday and SWEET SUNDAY! Yeah, baby!!!

The stinking lousy Fins didn't even make the Americans skate in their semi-final, which is why the USA was so well rested to take on Team Canada on Sunday. That's also why I had to cheer against them in the bronze medal game that Ken and I attended on Saturday night. That and the fact that Slovakia has a great team that played its heart out at the Olympics. The Slovaks have never won a hockey medal, but this team beat the Russians and the Swedes, and almost beat Canada. Pretty impressive. Hossa, Gaborik, Demitra, Handzus, Satan, Chara, Stumpel, Palffy, Halak...a team with a ton of NHL talent.

The Fin team was loaded with talent too, but I'm too disgusted with them to mention any names after the total collapse to the Americans. Ugh.



Ken and I hanging out in mainly Canadian crowd...but one that enjoyed a great hockey game regardless of the countries involved. That's what was so great about these Olympics, the Canadian fans enjoyed every minute and every great performance by every country.

Face off!

Hossa from the Detroit Red Wings was dangerous throughout the Olympics...

He scores! Slovakia was up 3-1 after 2 periods of play! Go Slovakia!

Oh no! The Fins pour it on in the third period! Slovakia falls behind!

The Slovaks give it their all to tie the game at 4...but...no goal!

The Fins win the bronze and I lose a bet with Ken. Oh well, it was a lot of fun. Who knew a hockey game between Finland and Slovakia could be so entertaining!

Crushin' The Russians! Canada 7 - Russia 3!

Wow. I'm finally calmed down enough to write about the Canada v.Russia game last night. It was absolutely the most amazing sports experience of my life. My voice is gone from screaming and cheering and my ears were still ringing this morning from the incredible noise at GM Place.

As a Canadian, I've grown up hating the Russians for claiming supremacy in "OUR" game. Challenging the Russians at hockey is part of what defines us as a nation. And not only did we beat them, we annihilated them. Crushed them. Obliterated them. Dominated them. Embarrassed them. Kicked the crap out of them. It wasn't even close, not for a moment. By the third period the Russian players were dancing around away from the boards they were so tired of getting crushed by our players.

For me, this was perhaps sweeter than winning the gold medal is going to be on Sunday. When I've watched Team Canada play on TV, I've always wondered how exciting it would be to actually be at a big game like this...and it was more incredible than I ever imagined. The energy, the buzz, the ecstasy when Getzlaf first scored.

As the crowd started to head for the exits after the game I noticed a young Russian woman sitting in her seat with tears streaming down her face. It is exactly how I would have felt if the score was the other way around.



Go Canada Go!!!



Judie and I looking tense before the puck drops...I was even more nervous than I look!



Santa drove all the way from the North Pole to give us all an early Christmas present



The crowd



The puck drops!



The crowd erupts after Getzlaf scores to make it 1-0 at 2:21 of the first period!



Rick Nash made it 3-0 and the crowd was giddy with excitement!



No one could believe we were up 4-1 against powerhouse Russia at the end of the first period!!!



We want gold!



The amazing destruction of Russia is comlete!



Team Canada thanks the Ruskies for coming out to play OUR game!!!



The crowd applauds the boys for a job well done

The game against Slovakia will not be easy...I've seen them play and they are the real deal. But if Canada plays with the heart and intensity they played with against Russia, Slovakia and the then the gold medal should be OURS!!! I'm going to the bronze medal game with Ken...I'm hoping to cheer on Slovakia against Team USA!!!

Go Canada Go!!!

Outstanding, Joannie Rochette

Congrats to the courageous Joannie Rochette, skating her heart out to a bronze medal in figure skating tonight for Canada, only days after her mother suddenly and unexpectedly died of a heart attack on her way to see her daughter perform at the Olympics. Amazing character, a true Canadian hero.

Do Or Die Time ... Canada v. Russia Today at 4:30 PM

Team Canada takes on the vodka-swilling-potato-eating-red-army-wanna-be-Russian-to-YVR-for-their-flight-home-without-a-medal bastards today at 4:30 PM. Judie and I are going to the game but I don't know if my heart can take the excitement. I thought I'd post ahead of the game because afterwards I plan to be drunk...hopefully due to the party that will ensue around Vancouver when we win!

I didn't take these pictures, but they're nice, especially the night shot of downtown. Hey, this is our city, beautiful, isn't it?

Meet The Macots At Robson Square

Brooklyn loved the Meet the Mascots show on ice at Robson Square.

Miga



Quatchi

Devo Rocks Whistler!

Devo - Uncontrollable Urge

Justin's Inukshuk

The boys build an Inukshuk at school today...

More Olympics

Holding the torch, the flame, the rings...

Container Inukshuk

Hey, it's what we do. Even grizzly old waterfront types can get excited about the games, replicating the Vancouver 2010 Inukshuk symbol with a handful of 20 and 40 footers!

Around Town, Olympic Style

Wow, what a fantastic day! I have never seen the sun shine on Vancouver in February the way it shone today! I decided to take the day off to partake in the Olympic sized party that has overtaken our city!

Brooklyn sporting Canada tattoos on her cheeks!

Brooklyn and I outside Canada Hockey Place

Brooklyn and Judie at the incredible 4D film at Ontario House. I got splashed by Niagara falls and sprayed with snow from a toboggan!

Brooklyn with a real Canadian hockey giant!

Brooklyn and Judie in front of the Molson Canadian hockey tent...basically a gigantic beer garden with massive screens to watch the hockey game

Brooklyn and I bobsledding with the mascots!



Ditto!

Brooks perched on my shoulders to see the mascots at Robson Square

Quatchi plays hockey

Sumi on ice

The crowd in front of BC House

Ziplining right over Robson Square!

I know we're not typically known for our displays of Nationalism, but the entire city is decked out in red and white. I'm flying a Canadian flag at the house for the first time in my life...something a lot of Vancouverites are also doing for the first time. Go, Canada!

That was a nailbiter against the Swiss tonight...only winning in a shoot out. Yikes! We won thanks to the supersonic Nova Scotian goal scorer, Sidney Crosby! Whoohoo!

Canada Wins Gold!

Alexandre Bilodeau of Quebec won the gold medal in the men's moguls - Canada's first ever gold medal on home soil...33 years and 7 months after the Summer Olympic cauldron was first lit on Canadian soil in Montreal!!! Jenn Heil from Alberta should have claimed the honour, but she ended up with a silver medal finish in ladies' moguls last night.

The sun came out on Sunday and it was about 15 degrees celsius and downtown was PACKED with people. I have never seen so many people in Vancouver in my 16 years here. A fun atmosphere but the result was huge lines everywhere, especially Canada House, pictured above.

As for the kids, they weren't happy until they got a free CBC / Canada flag Sheesh, it doesn't take much to put a spring in their step! I included a couple of pictures to demonstrate why I haven't been posting many pictures of the kids. Look at these two twerps! My beautiful daughter looks like she 's on her way to an Ozzy Osborne concert and Quatchi the Sasquath is more handsome than my son!