I'm taking Monday off work (Australian time) to watch this and the Closing - it should be an amazing game!
A couple of Canadians I know have told me that this Men's Ice Hockey Gold Medal is the most important and it overshadows the others. If Canada lose, I hope they still realise that they have had a very successful Olympics as a host nation - 13 Gold, 7 Silver and 5 Bronze with just the Ice Hockey to come. And these have come across a variety of sports - Curling, Short and Long Speed Skating, Ice Dance, Moguls, Snowboard, Skeleton, Bobsleigh, Ski Cross and the Women's Ice Hockey.
From what my friend has told me and what I have seen on TV, Canada should be very proud of these Olympics in terms of organisation, friendliness and achievements.
Reply to this They went in with the "Own the Podium" attitude and they did pretty well.
Luckily i don't work Monday either so will get to watch it.
Reply to this The first week was a bit concerning for Canada in terms of "Own the Podium" but they have done much better the second week. Also, I believe that Canada has more 4th and 5th place getters than any other nation, which shows the depth of what they have achieved. They may not have won as many medals as the Germans or the US, but it is still a sterling effort. This is a great launching pad for the Canadians in Sochi in 2014.
Speaking from a parochial perspective, the Aussies did well in getting 2 Gold and 1 Silver - best ever effort at a Winter Games.
Enjoy the hockey game!
Reply to this I am very proud to be a Canadian right now! Living in the outskirts of Vancouver, it's very easy to see the Olympic spirit in my fellow Canadians, every time I go outside I see HUNDREDS of people wearing Team Canada jersey's, Canadian gloves, faces painted with the flag, flags being worn and waved, hats, pants, shirts, everything and anything. Houses are completely decked out in Canada gear, in short, it's absolutely amazing!!
Hockey is a HUGE thing for us, not just that it's Canada and the US, which is a big enough hockey rivalry already in our regular Hockey season with the NHL. Hockey is the one thing the majority of Canadians can say they have in common. It's our sport! (Comparing to the United States) They have more then one BIG sport, depending on what city you live in, Baseball is huge, American football is HUGEHUGEHUGE, Hockey is Huge, Basketball.... you get my point. With Canadians it's hockey. Everyone has a hockey story, everyone has or knows someone close, that plays hockey, and not just goes out once a week and shots the puck around, but it's their life. My dad has been playing twice a week if not more for 50 some odd years now, and it's his life!!
Not that I'm saying hockey should outshine the other athletes, or that they are less important to us then our Hockey players, but it's big.
All across the city right now people are attending or hosting hockey parties for this game.
it's intense, and I'm proud to be apart of this!!
Reply to this Well i may not get to see the game :-(
It is at the same time as our morning news and the morning news seems to be bigger then the game here in Australia.
Speaking from a parochial perspective, the Aussies did well in getting 2 Gold and 1 Silver - best ever effort at a Winter Games.
It can only get better, sport in Australia in general is getting better and better. We are slowly getting sports men and women in each elite sporting event. We have kickers in the NFL. We have had Cadel Evans second twice in the Tour De France. Lots of Australians in Europe playing soccer and thats only a few of the sports. It's a very sporting country.
Reply to this I'm watching it on Foxtel/cable TV - as I was tired of the supposed "live" coverage on the free to air channel, and subscribed during the second day of the Olympics. Scott and Kristy, it would be fantastic to be in Canada right now, because I hope the friendly Canadians wouldn't mind an Aussie crashing one of those Hockey parties ;-)
I agree with you Aaron, considering that there are only 21 million Australians, we do remarkably well at sports - our proportion of medals at Summer Olympic games compared to our population is only beaten by small countries with star athletes (i.e. Jamaica with Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell). We are still finding our skis and skates in the Winter games, but are certainly spreading into fields that we have not been successful at previously.
I am writing this at the break at the end of the second period, so must get back to the TV to watch the final 20 minutes - or maybe longer if the scores are tied...
Reply to this Finally got third quarter action here on free tv. Good game so far. I will be in Canada from the 14th of March, i might try to get to some of the Paralympics action.
Reply to this I think we had quite a few Aussie's in town, I know it's packed up in Whistler!! (not just because of the Olympics lol).
It was amazing to be apart of the Olympics, I didn't get the chance to go to any actual events, but just feeling the amazing vibe from the spectators and the people downtown.. it was un-describable, like nothing I've ever felt!!
Reply to this The olympics were great...one of the best travel of my life...I was part of the torch relay across canada and work during the games...
Now I can answer the question everybody asked me for years did you at least travel your country...
trust me it is very boring in van right now...
nick
ps london 2012 here I come
by the way security was lacky and we are lucky nothing happen...they check me 3 times in a month... they used a zip code system and the computer was choosing if they need to check you are not.
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