An experiment of the serious and sentimental variety

It's been over a day since Team Canada claimed men's hockey gold to set a new world record for most gold medals earned by the host country and closed out the Vancouver 2010 Olympics on a ridiculously high note, and I still cannot find the words to describe this feeling. The smile literally has not left my face since that glorious moment when Sidney Crosby eluded Brian Rafalski, received a slick, no-look pass from the corner from a tumbling Jarome Iginla, and slipped the puck through Ryan Miller's waiting five-hole for the game winner just over seven and a half minutes into overtime; the image of him throwing down his mouthguard, stick, and gloves with an uncontainable, exhilarated authority forever etched into the minds of Canadians.

The condo complex across the street from my house erupted in a simultaneous roar that echoed throughout the empty streets of my neighbourhood in suburban Calgary. I jumped up off the couch, eyes wide with disbelief, screaming at the top of my lungs; pure euphoria. I hugged my father and we high-fived, my hands, previously curled into tense, perspiring fists touched those of the calm and collected former goaltender beside me, who had introduced me to the sport as a child and then again as a young teenager. Afterwards, we sat there in a comfortable silence as the team did a victory lap around the ice, passing a giant Canadian flag between them. The greatest prize ever to be claimed. In a split second, Crosby, the twenty-two-year-old phenom, became my generation's Paul Henderson, our Mario Lemieux; securing national glory in the sport we call out own. He may play in the United States; he may have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins; but on this day, in this moment, with twenty-six million sets of eyes on him, he epitomized everything that is Canadian.

These Olympic games did so much more than introduce the world to a new Canada, a new sense of unbridled Canadian pride and patriotism unrestricted by unwritten behavioural codes or regional and national borders. They were about so much more than showing off our nearly unsurpassable hospitality and tolerance, our innate quirks and unique charm, our landscape so inconceivably and ethereally beautiful, or even the wondrous abilities of our athletes to the world. These games, an easy target for the international media's pointed critiques that literally and metaphorically kicked us when we were down, became a unifying force strong enough to link together a nation so geographically expansive and seemingly disconnected in so many ways.

From the moment Alexandre Bilodeau soared down Cypress Hill and claimed this country's first gold medal on home soil to be shared with his disabled brother Frederic, to Joannie Rochette's balls-out skate in honour of her recently deceased mother, to our women's hockey team showing the IOC and the world how Canada celebrates victory, these Olympics provided so many lasting memories that will be shared by Canadians for years to come. Stories that will be told and retold, each time documenting the series of events that saw us begin with our heads hung and our collective tails between our legs, only to slowly rise from the ashes, stronger than ever, to the tune of a spontaneous rendition of 'O Canada.'

It feels like an understatement to say that I'm proud to be Canadian. To live in a nation so free of strife, amongst a people with seemingly limitless potential for greatness. And I don't ever plan on leaving without force. This Fall, my travels will take me to Ottawa, and despite never having been there, I can already tell that I will love it just as much as I do the city where I was born and raised. How could I not? It's Canada. It's home.

Long time no blog--Olympic edition

Canada's international hockey supremacy seems to go through peaks and troughs, much like my blogging tendencies.

Prior to 2002, the men's Olympic team hadn't won a gold medal for fifty years. After that, the tournament titles and medals seemed to come with ease once again: the world cup in 2004, five straight world junior championship titles, world championship titles, world under-eighteens, women's world championships, the Spengler Cup--you name it, Canada won it. That all changed about two years ago, however. Canada lost back-to-back world championships to the Russians and women's world championships to the United States, and then there was this year's loss to the Americans in the gold medal game at the world juniors and other tournaments like the world under-eighteens in which Canada did not meet expectations.

Now, Canada finds themselves in sixth place at the Olympic tournament, on home ice, after falling to the Americans last night in a back-and-forth affair where mistakes proved to be too many and too costly. Despite out-shooting and out-chancing the Americans almost 2-1, uncharacteristic gaffes by veteran goaltender Martin Brodeur and defencemen Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer cost Canada the game, combined with Ryan Miller's other-worldly performance in the U.S. net. The stars seemed to be aligned for the United States: fifty years since they had last beaten Canada at the Olympics, and thirty years since the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" team won the country's only gold medal in men's hockey.

Canada is now left searching for answers after going 1-1-1-0 and accumulating just five of a possible nine points in the preliminary round. Much like four years ago in Turin, and eight years ago in Salt Lake City. Who plays with Crosby? Who starts in goal? What's wrong with the powerplay? We should've chosen Green/Bouwmeester/St. Louis/Lecavalier/Jordan Staal/Stamkos/Smyth/Insert-name-of-Canadian NHL-player-here!

Sure it can be argued that Canada was the victim of some bad bounces last night against the Americans, maybe even that they were subject to some questionable officiating, but for two games now their defensive game has looked shaky and they have been consistently out-worked in their own zone. It's nice to see Doughty, Keith, and Seabrook, and Weber rise to the occasion when Pronger and Niedermayer, and to some extent, Boyle, struggle, but it would be even nicer to have them all on their game, all on the same page.

Today's practice supposedly focused primarily on defence and special teams, an area of this team's game that has irked me, specifically the power play. In the final minutes of the game against Switzerland, Canada had a golden opportunity to take the lead and win the game on the powerplay, but Babcock deployed the "Sharks unit" instead of putting Crosby, arguably his best player, on the ice.

The Shark line and the powerplay unit made up of Heatley, Marleau, Thornton, and Boyle has been largely ineffective with the exception of Heatley's four goals and Marleau's one. Thornton has zero, and just one shot on goal in 48:38 of ice time. The purpose of all three of these players making the team was the supposed "instant chemistry" that is purportedly essential in a short tournament like the Olympics. Why not go back to the Getzlaf-Heatley-Nash line that has been so effective in the world championships? This line does not have to be kept together.

Another qualm I have with the line combinations is the constant rotation of wingers on Crosby's line, partially because it makes me feel like I'm watching a Flames game but also because I fail to see any real faults with the original combination of Nash-Crosby-Iginla. Iginla had a hat trick in the first game they played together while registering under ten minutes of ice time, and Nash has been one of Canada's best players through three games. Why change that? Kent points out the futility of chemistry in these games and in the sport altogether over at Five Hole Fanatics, so can we assume that there are just too many players on this team not playing well enough to create chances and score goals? Canada's highly-touted depth has not yet been much of a factor in this tournament, and it remains to be seen if it ever will be.

Finally, we have the goaltending conundrum that seems to have emerged after Brodeur's shaky performance in goal. During the game against Switzerland, he was the victim of a perfect shot and a deflection off of a teammate's skate, and was unbeatable the rest of the way; there was no question that he would start the game versus the Americans. Sunday night was the complete opposite.

Brodeur created the bad bounces for himself by making bad decisions with the puck and finding himself out of position on more than one occasion, and now the job falls to Luongo who, although not tested against Norway, looked solid in the Canadian goal while the rest of the team struggled to find their legs. I'm usually the last person to support Roberto Luongo given my NHL allegiances, but Brodeur's performance last night in such an important game was unacceptable, and Luongo deserves an opportunity to better him; we all know he is more than capable, especially based on his stats leading up to the Olympic break versus Brodeur's numbers.

If Canada is to medal in men's hockey at these games, they have certainly taken the hard road there. This tournament was supposed to be about redemption. Canada was supposed to come into Vancouver, on home ice, and avenge a seventh place finish four years ago in Torino, and it'll likely be nothing short of a miracle if they manage a better result this time around. I don't know what it is going to take to get this team and this country back on top. They have the talent, without question, as do other countries in this tournament, but the desire and commitment seems to come in fits and starts, which perhaps explains the perplexing problem of Canada's wavering dominance at the international level.

Up Next: Canada takes on Germany in the qualification game on Tuesday, and will face Russia in the quarter-final on Wednesday, should they advance. I'll be over here crying into my pillow if you need me.

Go Canada.

Game day musings--Hoping for a miracle

In case you haven't heard, Sidney Crosby and the defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins are in town (7:30 PM, TSN).

It's kind of a big deal. Sid can't even leave his hotel room for fear of being mauled by hockey-crazed Calgarians. Can you blame us? We're having trouble remembering what a potential fifty-goal scorer looks like.

I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't a huge Crosby fan myself, and shamelessly jumped on the Penguins bandwaggon when the Flames were ousted from the playoffs last spring.

The 'Dome is being swarmed by giggling tweens in Crosby and Malkin baby tees and starry-eyed pee-wee players eager for a glimpse of their favourite playoff performers as we speak.

Outscoring, and subsequently beating, the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight will likely require a miracle. The Pens' forwards are fast, skilled, and waiting to exploit every mistake made by the opposition. A quick glimpse at the Penguins' top-six is enough to make any Flames fan burst into tears; inferiority is an understatement. Every man on the bench, including the coaches, will have to play a virtually error-free game and execute their game plan to a tee if they hope to come out on top.

The defence will have to be perfect, Kiprusoff will have to be exeptional, and the forwards will have to be relentless. While the Flames' recent performance in terms of outshooting and out-chancing the opposition is encouraging, they still have to focus on turning in a sixty-minute effort and sustaining the style of play that makes them successful throughout the game. Any lapse in their compete level against a team like the Penguins will kill them.

As for the lineup, the Flames comfirmed speculation that Jamie Lundmark would indeed be back a day after being sent down to Abbotsford with the news of Craig Conroy's return from injury, after defenceman Staffan Kronwall cleared waivers and was subsequently demoted to the Heat. He will once again get the chance to suit up on the Flames' top line alongside Jokinen and Iginla, who has been held pointless in his past four games despite recent inspired efforts.

It'll be interesting to see if McGrattan draws into the lineup, and will likely depend on whether or not the Penguins dress fellow goon and former Flame Eric Godard. If there is one area where the Flames out-shine the Pens, I dare say Gratts is ever-so-slightly better at hockey than Godard. That, and their powerplay might just be worse than Calgary's, if you can believe it. That being said, the Flames don't want to provide the Penguins with too many opportunities to break out of their man-advantage funk, and will have to avoid the kind of boneheaded penalties that got them in trouble Monday night against Colorado. To make matters worse, the now infamous Stephane Auger will be sharing officiating duties tonight.

The Flames have been a slump-buster of sorts for struggling teams recently, and that trend could very well extend into tonight's contest. I've been pleasantly surprised by this team before in games against great teams; I don't anticipate this being such an occasion.

Nevertheless,

Go Flames Go.