The Tee Shirt That Best Celebrates The Golden Goal
Published March 2, 2010 @ 10:44 in Hockey Canada, Olympics

Now that a couple of days have passed since Sidney Crosby's golden goal, it's time to invest in a celebratory tee shirt.

I'm buying Puckman (Gold Edition). Here's the design.

The Pucking Hilarious guys are going to use shiny gold ink so it should look killer. It's definitely a limited edition type thing, click get it while you can.

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Canada Wins Gold in Hockey, My Heart Bursts With Pride
Published February 28, 2010 @ 18:55 in Hockey Canada, Olympics

Incredible.

What a fantastic finish. I'm only now coming up for air, having flown above cloud 9 since Sidney Crosby scored in overtime to beat the USA and win Canada's record-breaking 14th gold medal. That scream you heard when Crosby potted the winner was mine.

I watched this game with the people I love the most in the world, and as we headed into overtime, I openly hoped Crosby would get the winner. I'm a big fan, a big believer, and I knew nothing would shut up his detractors faster than a gold medal winning goal. Now, we have a moment like this stitched into our cultural fabric, and there is no undo button. Nothing can take this away from us. This is our moment.

When I'm on my deathbed, hopefully many decades from now, I'm going to remember this day. I'm going to remember it starting at 8am when I woke up my son for his championship game, a game he'd win, and ending with this euphoric feeling of national pride because we're #1. This is our game, on our ice, and now it's our gold and our podium.

I've never been so happy to be so right. Thanks, Canada.

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My Revenge Fantasy Will Come True
Published February 27, 2010 @ 16:12 in Hockey Canada, Olympics

January 5, 2010 left a bad taste in my mouth. I wrote about it here. It was the first time in six years the Canadian junior team didn't win the gold medal. That day, we fell to the United States 6-5.

Fast forward to last Sunday. In a non-elimination game at these 2010 Olympics, Canada met the United States and this entire nation watched. I watched my team lose again to the Americans, and then came the gloating. It came in tweets, on blogs, in person, fast and furious. Americans came into our house and beat us at our game. This, too, left a bad taste in my mouth.

That's when I started having a revenge fantasy. I wanted the women's hockey gold medal game to be Canada vs. USA with Canada prevailing, and I wanted the exact same scenario to unfold on the men's side. Tomorrow afternoon, I get my wish.

Our women have done their part. They disposed of the Americans 2-0 to secure gold. Tomorrow at 3pm ET, my revenge fantasy comes true. Canada faces the Americans and Canada will prevail.

I'm confident, but I've been pretty cocky this whole tournament. After we narrowly squeaked by Switzerland, I planned a gold medal game party at my house. Tomorrow night I'll get to have my cake, and eat it too.

It's deja vu all over again.

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Kicking Russian Ass
Published February 24, 2010 @ 21:57 in Hockey Canada, Olympics

O ye of little faith, you didn't think we'd have a chance against Russia in the quarter-finals, did you? On Monday, I wrote Poor Russia after connecting the dots and seeing Russia in our sight-lines after a gimme against Germany.

I'll bet the last team Russia wanted to face in the quarters is Canada. Tomorrow night, we'll get another tune-up against Germany, another chance to warm up Roberto Luongo and reset our lines and focus.

It was far better than I dared dream. We dominated the Russians, all but making Ovechkin disappear. The final was 7-3, a true ass-whooping, as we easily earned a berth in the semi-finals against either Sweden or Slovakia. We're but a single win away from the gold medal final.

Never, ever bet against Canada in our game.

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Canada 5, USA 6
Published January 5, 2010 @ 22:40 in Hockey Canada

The last time I wrote a World Junior Hockey Championship game recap without Canada winning the gold medal was January 5, 2004. I titled that entry "Silver Sucks".

Since then, we've won five straight gold medals and silver still sucks. Tonight we lost, but not before coming back from a two goal deficit with only a few minutes to play in the third. It was another Canadian comeback, with an unfortunate change in the script. The good guys lost.

In my desperate search for a silver lining, I think I found a good one. The last time Canada didn't win the gold in this tournament, games like this were also taking place. Yes, the Toronto Maple Leafs were a playoff team.

Follow the logic... In 2004, Canada loses the gold medal game to the USA and the Leafs make the playoffs and beat the Sens in 7. Canada goes on to win five straight medals and the Leafs fail to play another playoff game.

Maybe this is a good omen?

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Come on CANADA!
Published January 5, 2010 @ 20:38 in Hockey Canada

Canada, your junior team needs you. It's 2-2 in our gold medal game against the USA, after one period. We're gunning for #6 in a row.

Come on CANADA!

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Canada 6, Switzerland 1
Published January 3, 2010 @ 19:42 in Hockey Canada

I think we all had Russia pencilled in as our semi-final opponent today, but somehow Switzerland upset Russia and had the pleasure of taking us on.

No problemovitch. It was a fairly easy victory for Team Canada as we earned a berth in our 9th World Junior Hockey Championship final in a row. We'll be playing for our sixth straight gold medal. Now that's dominance.

The final takes place Tuesday night at 8pm against either Sweden or the USA. Bring it on.

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The Story of Canada 5, USA 4
Published January 1, 2010 @ 13:02 in Family, Hockey Canada

I was psyched for this one. Last New Year's Eve, I had to write an entry during the second intermission entitled "Bestest Game Evah!". In that game, the USA was up 3-0 before we stormed back. I just knew we were in store for another doozy.

Grandma came over, pizza was ordered and we were an hour from puckdrop. That's when my carefully planned New Year's Eve was thrown a curve ball. My son's stomach pain returned, pain he's complained about off and on for four days, and we decided I'd take him to the emergency room to rule out appendicitis.

We actually watched the first period of the game from the paediatrics emergency waiting room at St. Joe's. I pissed off a handful of sick kids when I turned the station from Treehouse to TSN. I stand by my decision.

We eventually saw a doctor who ordered an ultrasound for 9am this morning. James gave some blood and we headed home to watch the end of the game. With only ten minutes to play in the third period, and our beloved Team Canada down 4-2 to the Yanks, I fed the kids a promise. If Canada lost the game, I'd sleep outside.

Michelle loved that idea, and it perked up James as well. My wife and mom both thought I was crazy, because when Canada lost and I didn't sleep outside, I'd be revealed as a fraudster. I, however, have seen enough Canadian hockey to know we'd find a way to win. I had no doubts.

The rest is history. Jordan Eberle notched his second of the game to cut the American lead in half and Alex Pietrangelo tied it with a short-handed snipe with 4:15 remaining. Then, after overtime, our shooters were perfect in a shootout, which included a complete beauty by Future Stanley Cup Winner Nazem Kadri™. The good guys won in the end.

Here's the complete shootout. Kadri's goal is at 1:08. Awesome.

And I didn't have to sleep outside. The boy has since had his ultrasound and after a few more hours at St. Joe's we got the all-clear. He doesn't have appendicitis.

What a comeback! Happy New Year indeed...

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Canada 8, Slovakia 2
Published December 30, 2009 @ 09:34 in Hockey Canada

In our first three games of this tournament, we've outscored our opponents 30-2. That's a serious goal differential margin, but goal differential isn't going to matter. It's all going to come down to whether we beat the USA tomorrow night as to whether we get a bye to the semi-finals or not.

Last year's New Year's Eve game against the USA was epic. Here's hoping this one is just as good with Canada advancing to the semis.

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Canada 6, Switzerland 0
Published December 28, 2009 @ 21:59 in Hockey Canada

It took me a while to get used to the fact the red and white team was the enemy and we were wearing green. Once I successfully overcame my natural instinct to cheer on the red and white, I enjoyed another overwhelming victory for Team Canada as we remained unbeaten and untested.

Sure, it's against Latvia and Switzerland, but our powerplay is currently clicking along at a 67% success rate. You don't want to take a penalty against this team.

Our first real test comes tomorrow against Slovakia.

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