A Very Memorable Day

Today we had tickets for two events: the women's bronze medal hockey game between Sweden and Finland and the evening Victory Ceremony at the Stadium.

The hockey game was at 11 am so we decided to have a big breakfast downtown before the game. We hopped on the SkyTrain and ate at a local market. On our walk to the Stadium we wanted to find a Swedish flag to buy to show our support for Team Sweden but, perhaps because of the early hour, there were no vendors on the street.

We have an affinity to women's hockey as our daughter has played hockey since she was six and she continues to play at the college level in Wisconsin. The 11 am start time for today's game was also reminiscent of tournament and regular season games when she was younger.

We arrived at Canada Hockey Place in plenty of time for the game. I was impressed by how they have converted GM Place, the home of the Vancouver Canucks, into Canada Hockey Place for the Olympics. All traces of the Canucks and all of their sponsors had been eradicated from the building in preparation for the Games. Inside the arena everything was Olympics colours and the Games look. The electronic display signs featured the mascots and the Games imagery. The place looked great.

We had amazing seats just three rows from the ice on one end. These tickets were part of a package we had obtained from the original ticket lottery so obviously the actual seats were assigned in some sort of random draw.

If you watched the broadcast of the game and knew where we were seated, you would have spotted us in our Team Canada jerseys.

During the first intermission we were even featured on the Kiss Cam on the center ice video display. They show random couples from around the stands and expect a display of affection. We did our best. Later this evening one of my colleagues from the Venue Communications Centre (VCC) who was at the game told me that she said to her friends with her, "I totally know that guy!"

It was disappointing to see so many empty seats when there were so many people who would have liked to have attended. As the game was officially sold out, I can only speculate that the empty seats belonged to sponsors and the Olympic Family.

The game was great. It was obvious that there is a rivalry between these two European teams. It was a chippy game and at one point a Swedish player punched the Finish goalie. And this was women's hockey.

Team Finland had interesting components of their uniforms. I have never seen vertical stripes on hockey socks before.











There were a few pockets of supporters for both Sweden and Finland in the arena including the Finish Prime Minister. It was great to see the rest of the crowd--mainly Americans and Canadians--choosing sides and cheering on the teams.


These fellows seemed to be partial to Team Sweden. (Their signs say "Canada Loves Swedish Women".)

Near the end of the game they did a tribute to Olympic volunteers with the announcer saying kind words and the video display showing a random sample of the volunteers in Canada Hockey House.

The game was tied at the end of regulation play but the Fins prevailed in overtime to win. The girls were just ecstatic. You'd have thought that they had won the gold medal. It was heartwarming to see their excitement and their various exchanges with the crowd to thank us for our support.

Team Finland skated around the ice acknowledging the fans and showing the sheer joy of their win.

Now that the bronze medal had been decided it was time for us to focus on the gold medal match.

We had a few hours to kill before the Canada/U.S. showdown. We wandered through downtown and exchanged coins at the mint. On the street they will exchange any quarters for quarters issued for the Olympics. There is one each day. Today's was for the Canadian women's gold medal win in hockey in Salt Lake City. It was a omen.

We went to a restaurant in Yaletown and watched the first two periods of the gold medal game. At the end of the second period, with Canada up 2 to 0, we left the restaurant and walked over to LiveCity Yaletown to watch the rest of the match on the big outdoor screens.

I agonize over these close games but in the end Team Canada kept the shutout and retained the gold. Again it was exciting to be watching and celebrating with so many people.

We couldn't wait to watch the medals being awarded as we had to hurry off to the Stadium for the Victory Ceremony. We managed to get through security and into the Stadium concourse just in time to see the medals presentations. Canadians were stopped and watching on the television monitors. There was lots of cheering. When they played the national anthem, all the Canadians in the concourse sang O Canada. It was another incredible patriotic experience--but not the last for the night.

We had good seats for the Victory Ceremony up in the top level of the stadium. While it was still relatively quiet, a woman came by and asked us if we wanted passes to get into the mosh pit in front of the concert stage for the concert part of the evening. We accepted and she gave us wrist bands to wear and told us when and where to report.

They have installed a curtain across the centre of BC Place Stadium to create a more intimate venue for the Victory Ceremonies than the huge stadium in which the Opening Ceremonies were held. The basic stage structure is still in place for use in the Closing Ceremonies.

It was Manitoba night so several musical acts from the Province of Manitoba started off the evening. This was followed by the awarding of medals for a mixed bag of events; some that occurred yesterday and some today. Medals for Vancouver- and Cypress-Mountain-based events were presented live in front of us while we saw video of the concurrent presentations in Whistler for Whistler-based events.

The presentations at our stadium were well done with the appropriate pomp and ceremony. Mounties in their red serge paraded out with the flags. The crowd offered great applause for all the winners. There were even confetti cannons with gold, silver and bronze confetti.

Of course the highlight of the awards was the presentation of the women's bobsleigh up in Whistler. Canada won both the gold and the silver medals. There were great cheers in our Stadium as we watched the presentation and the raising of two Canadian flags. The largely Canadian audience in BC Place Stadium sang a rousing version of O Canada. I found myself getting choked up.

Following the medals ceremonies was the concert. Tonight was Canadian music legend Burton Cummings who hails from Manitoba.

We followed the directions we had been given for the mosh pit and soon found ourselves standing on the same stage that had been used for the Opening Ceremonies and had just minutes before been used for the awarding of medals to the athletes. While some people crowded the stage there was plenty of room and it was a fabulous place to watch the concert: up close with room to move around.

Cummings put on a terrific show. It was music from our generation. I think he sang everything that would be included in a greatest hits compilation. We sang along, we swayed, we danced, we clapped, we yelled, and we had a great time. It was a lot of fun.

He played much longer than the other acts that have performed at the Victory Ceremonies. In fact my VCC colleagues told me that the ceremonies mangers were quite annoyed that he strayed from the arranged playlist and that he came back out for an encore. They didn't even turn on the stage lights for the encore. On the radios they threatened to not turn on the microphones if he returned for a second encore. We didn't mind. We thought it was a blast. My ears are still ringing.

Of course there is a great collection of people from all over the world enjoying the Canadian music at these concerts including this supporter of the team from down under--and his friend.

The day was still not over. My colleagues from the VCC had e-mailed earlier in the week about getting together after the VCC closed this evening for a beer at the casino next door. Leena headed home on the SkyTrain and I walked back to the casino.

We had a good turnout from our team. Of course there were lots of pictures taken and talk about how to stay in contact. People are already talking about the possibility of volunteering again in Sochi in four years.

It sounds like most people--myself included--will be working on Sunday for the Closing Ceremonies.

This was an incredible day that generated amazing memories and included great celebrations. It is a shame there are only a few Olympic days left.