Olympics and hockey failure

Canada is doing incredibly well at the Olympics this year. Every four years it's myc hance to show my usually reserved Canadian pride. Yes, the hockey team fell flat on its face but look at the speed skating ovals where Canada is in the mdelas in nearly every race and just wait for the curling finals coming up over the next two days. Then we'll see who really owns the ice.

Speaking of the Canadian hockey team, I don't think it's as big a deal as everybody is making it out to be. It was amazing when Canada won the gold in 2002 in Salt Lake City but we can't forget that it was Canada's first gold in hockey since 1952. That's a 50-year drought that covers my entire lifetime. So this quarter final loss is a dissapointment but not nearly as heartbreaking as years past:

1984 Sarejevo: I barely remeber these games but the USSR was unstoppable back them. The Big Red Machine which played together solid for years before the Olympic tournament featured the famed K-L-M production line and arguaby one of the best goalies ever to play the game in Vladislov Tretiak. they steamrolled through the tournament with a combined score of 48-5. Ouch. The rag-tag bunch of Canadian college players and non-NHL pros didn't stand a chance and finished out of the mdeals.

1988 Calgary: This was going to be the year. Playing on home ice for the first tiem in the Olympics Canada was assured of gold. The USSR, Sweden and Finland all beat Canada to the mdeal platform.

1992 Albertville: Eric Lindross leads the Canadians into the gold medal game against the "Unified Team" cobbled toegther from the remains of the former USSR which had disintigrated the previous fall. In my first Olympic hockey heartbraker, the last of the great Soviet teams still has enough to soundly beat the Canadians. It's Canada's first Olympic hockey medal since a bronze in 1968 (Canada boycotted Olympic hockey in 1972 and 1976 while arguing that NHL players should be allowed to play against the international players, many of whom are play in Eurpean pro leagues or are payed to play for state-run teams, the latter particularly the case with the Russians) but silver is hard to swallow.

1994 Lillehammer: Joe Juneau leads the Canadians into the gold medal game, this time against Sweden. Surely gold is in hand. The two teams play to a tie and overtime resolves nothing. The game and gold medal goes to a shootout. As the Swedsh goaltender makes a final stop to knock Canada out of the shootout, the entire nation weeps. Silver again. That one hurt.

1998 Nagano: Finally, Canada gets to send its NHL best to the Olympics. However, by now, a whole bunch of countries have season NHL verterans and Canada's NHL advatage is not as great. In the semi-finals, Hasek stands on his head for the Czechs who send the Canadians into the bronze medal game (which they lose to Finland). As a Czech victory is all but certain at the end of the semi-final, the camera closes in on Gretzky at the end of the Canadian bench in his only chance to win an Olympic gold. As a tear rolls from the corner of his eye the heart of a nation sinks.

So really, 2006 Torino really isn't bad at all. Not even comign close doesn't hurt as much as having it in your hand and snatched away.

We'll be back in 2010 for sure. Well we darn well better be.