Canadian men's hockey gold!

This was THE game... the one an entire country's emotional wellbeing was tied up in: Canada vs. USA for the gold medal in men's hockey on the final day of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games, hours before the Closing Ceremonies. Had Canada lost, there would have been rioting in the streets and an onset of nationwide depression. Particularly since a Canadian loss would have meant a United States win.

The Olympics have given us an opportunity to see a rare outward display of Canadian patriotism (usually a much more subtle affair than it has been for the last fortnight). For weeks, shops have had "Go Canada Go" signage, cars and homes have been displaying the Canadian flag, and lots of red and white clothing has made an appearance. And, for the majority of the population, this match was the climax of the entire Olympics: hockey is Canada's game, and the men's team are the darlings of it. (The women's hockey team also won gold, a few days ago - an extremely proud moment for Canada, but not the moment that had the most national pride attached to it.)

In a marvellous episode of tension and suspense, with the game at 2-1 to Canada, the US team scored their second goal with only 24 seconds left. This meant the game went into "sudden death" overtime: the first team to score a goal would win. Seven minutes and forty seconds into overtime, the winning goal was scored.

And thankfully it was Canada that scored it.

We were wandering in and out of the shops along West 4th at the time of the win. There's no way a description in words would suffice, so here's a video of the mood on the street shortly after the game ended - no doubt an example of what is going on all over Canada this afternoon. Crank up the sound...

Here are some photos of the sights...

















And this is a compilation of videos taken as we drove along West 4th on our way home...

Finishing these Olympics with more gold medals (14) than any other country (although coming third in the medal tally overall), Canada has every reason to be celebrating. And celebrating they certainly are!!