Oh, Canada!: Hockey Gold Saves the 2010 Winter Olympic Games

So it was all worthwhile. All of the money, all of the preparations, the blood, sweat, and tears.

It was worth all of the criticisms about a lack of snow, the cancelling of tickets, and the lack of access to the Olympic Flame.

It was worth the humiliation for the medals not won, the embarrassment of the “own the podium” campaign (or “rent the podium” as their Southern neighbours renamed it).

Maybe, it was even worth the savaging that Canadian Olympic Committee officials suffered over the treacherous nature of the Whistler sliding track and the sad death of Nodar Kumaritashvili.

The only thing that mattered was the final medal to be decided at the Vancouver 2010 Games—the men’s ice hockey.

It was a game worthy of the importance placed upon it. It was fast, brutal, and incredibly skillful. Others are better equipped to describe the intricacies and nuance of the game, but to an uneducated (in hockey terms) outsider, it was quite the spectacle.

The weight of expectation was palpable—even here, over 8,000 miles away. In the tradition of really great theatre, there was still a final twist waiting in the wings. With 25 seconds left on the clock, the US team levelled the scores and forced the game into overtime.

For almost eight agonising minutes, everyone was on the edge of their seat. And then, Goal!—3-2, the gold was theirs. Canada, as a nation, could breathe again. Fittingly, it was superstar Sidney Crosby who sealed the deal.

It would be interesting to review the number of 9-1-1 calls made for heart attacks during and whether they can bring a class action suit against the IOC. Probably not.

You get the impression that the game meant more to Canada than to the US. Not to the players, certainly, but to the population as a whole. It wiped away the memory of the loss in the lead up games. It will certainly set the mood for quite a post-Games party.

The hockey gold medal capped off a brilliant games and completely erased the ignominy of the Calgary effort of no gold on home soil. After a shaky start, they have come home nicely and reset the benchmark at 14 gold medals. That’s something for the Russians to aim at in 2014.

Canada may not have owned the podium, but they owned the top step and that’s what really counts. They can afford to let the others fight for second best.