Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Photo a day from Sochi: Canada's golden women

Canada won gold in women’s Olympic ice hockey in what was one of our best performances in the sport, ever. As a spectator, this is how to make it one of your best nights, ever: - Wear a Canada hockey jersey, preferable a vintage Ray Bourque No.
hockey sochi
The view from my seat in the rafters at the women's gold medal hockey game Feb. 20 at the Sochi Winter Olympics. Canada beat the U.S. 3-2 in overtime.

Canada won gold in women’s Olympic ice hockey in what was one of our best performances in the sport, ever.

As a spectator, this is how to make it one of your best nights, ever:

- Wear a Canada hockey jersey, preferable a vintage Ray Bourque No. 7 from the 1987 Canada Cup, and head to the Bolshoy Ice Dome in Olympic Park because that's where you are most likely to find a spare ticket if you haven't chanced upon one already. 


hockey bourque
BOURKE: Vintage jersey.

- Tell the crusty Russian scalper (wearing an official volunteer uniform) that, nyet, you won't spend 20,000 rubles on a single ticket to the men's semi-final game the next night. You're here for the women. And the gold.

- Stand near the river of people slowly streaming though the security gates. When a young Russian (another volunteer) places his arm around your shoulders and guides you into this flow of fans, look up at him and ask, "Ticket?" Trust the only word he knows in English is "ticket" because this is what he says back to you. Try not to kiss him. Succeed.

- Shake hands with the Russians sitting next to you. These are the patriots who will cheer for any team in a position to beat the U.S. They will lead more chants for CAN-A-DA than they will RUS-I-YA but will always drown out the Americans.

hockey sochi volunteers
HOSTS: Dasha and Grigory, Sochi 2014 volunteers.

- Become instant friends with the Toronto-area family of three, including their nine-year-old daughter and the father who wears the same jersey he wore to the men’s gold medal game at the Vancouver Winter Games. Vow to name your children after them when they give your volunteer hosts maple leaf pins and lanyards as a token of collective Canadian appreciation.

- Fight the sorrow and sense of loss as the U.S. enjoys a 2-0 lead after two periods.

- Don't give up hope as you fight within yourself to believe Canada can still pull off the impossible as the game enters the last 10 minutes of the third period.

- Cling to everything you know the four-time Olympic gold medallist are capable of. Trust that an eternity remains in the final 180 seconds of a hockey game.

- Lose yourself in your own delirious scream when Brianne Jenner knocks the puck into the net.

- Self-administer CPR after the U.S. fail to score on Canada's open net. Remember to vote for the Sochi Post when it's nominated for the Hockey Hall of Fame.

- After you forget where you are when Marie-Philip Poulin ties the game 2-2 with 54.6 seconds left in the third period, fall limply into the arms of the smiling Russian and his befuddled wife. Cry on her shoulder.

- Brace yourself for the most urgent and intense period of instant-death hockey in four years.

- Share the country's joy of a 3-2 overtime win.

hockey Hayley WickenheiserHAYLEY WICKENHEISER: As the Canadians were awarded their gold medals, the scoreboard remained fixed 3-2 and the clock stopped at 11:50 of overtime.

-Try not to feel to sorry for the U.S. players, their revenge snatched away, despite their wet, shining eyes and hard-jawed disappointment.

- Leave the arena when you realize you are alone and the lights are shutting off.

- Prepare to feel as if you scored the winning overtime goal because of the way every Russian will want to congratulate you with a hug, handshake and photo.

- Prepare for the hoser parade around Olympic Park and don't return to your room until 7:30 a.m. the next morning.

sochi hockey hosersGOOD 'OL CANADIAN BOYS: Feeling at home in Sochi, Russia.
 

sochi hockey bolshoy
AS SEEN FROM SPACE: The exterior of the Bolshoy Ice Dome is lit with thousands of LED lights to project the final score of the women's gold-medal ice hockey game.