Alright, I gotta blog this! Canada was playing the US tonight in Buffalo, NY which was hosting the World Juniors Hockey Championship. Last year the US beat Canada and kicked us out of the playoffs which wasn't good. They beat us with speed and outplayed us, they wanted it more so this game was going to be big since it would be Canada's chance to get our revenge. We also lost our last game against Sweden which wasn't great and had some people doubting that Canada can do it.
The game starts and the first thing you notice is that 75% of the people in the stands were Canadian! Thousands of Canadians took the day off work and drove across the border to come see the Canadian team. Not to put them down but it shows our dedication that it wasn't the men or women's Olympic team, but the juniors, the under-17 team, the little brothers of the guys in the NHL. It just goes to show how dedicated we are to this game, our game. The last time there were that many Canadians in one place was when we were kicking their ass in the war of 1812
So the puck drops, and the US was seen as the favourite as they haven't lost a game yet and this was the semi-finals so whoever won this would be going to the Gold medal game against Russia. The US gets the puck and what the fuck!? Canada is dominating! Every time the US had the puck there was a red sweater slamming into the US player or stealing the puck from him. The crowd was going nuts and the Canadians drew from their energy and scored two goals, the first being a sloppy crowd in front of the net, goalie down and somehow the puck hits the back of the net. The second goal was an awesome odd-man rush, Canadian down the right wing, put it on the centre's stick and angled it past the US goalie Jack Campbell. The domination continued until the end of the first period. After twenty minutes the US got a break and retreated to their dressing rooms.
The TSN staff fills you in on the game, what's working, what isn't, etc. They said that before the game hockey great Steve Yzerman who worked with Team Canada's Mens team came in to talk to the team and told them to control their emotions. Forget there pre-game jitters, if you screw up to forget about it, get over it and keep playing.
The 2nd period started and Canada was still fighting hard but the US was in the game and recovered from the initial shock of constantly being hit or have the puck stolen. During the 1st intermission they strategize and were trying to spread out the Canadians, having one US player hide behind the blue line and wait for a stretch pass in the neutral zone and try for a break away, but the constant checking and puck raiding continued. What also made it great was that it was so fast pace, Canada would have the puck, bring it to the other end and put it on Campbell, then the US would grab it, race down to our end and try to score on out goalie, just back and forth but plenty of hits and interceptions to keep it interesting, or else it would be like basketball on ice. There was a play where two players, Canadian and US got tangled up and the US player's stick hit the US goalie in the head and the Canadian got a penalty for it. Devine intervention came into play and the US got a penalty, followed by another, the guy who hit his own goalie in the head was in the box for something else and Canada had a two-man advantage. Canada scored making it 3-0 so justice had been done, but not the justice of winning the game.
The third period started and Canada started to take over again, regaining the domination they had in the first period and ground down the US and scored again on the US so 4-0. The US did get the puck, shot it at the net and it hit a Canadian defensemen's glove, changed angles and squeaked past our goalie making it 4-1. I would have liked to see our goalie get a shut out - have no goals scored on them but as long as we won the game I'd still be happy. The clock was ticking down and Canada didn't quit, with two minutes left they dumped the puck into the US's end instead of trying to keep score but the good thing is that it didn't give the US chance to pull their goalie for an extra attacker. I think they saw that even if they did pull their goalie they wouldn't score three goals in two minutes. It's possible to do and I've seen it happen, but no, not against this team. The US ran out of time, the US fans were leaving early while every Canadian was on their feet.
Canada won the game and they played "O' Canada" and I don't think I've heard that many people sing it so loud and proud! Seeing that win filled me with Canadian pride. I tried explaining to Vietnamese people about Canada and hockey, and they like soccer, but they aren't the best at it. But hockey is so important to us and it's hard to exactly explain it. I think it's just a big cultural experience. Our grandparents played or watched hockey, then our parents did the same thing, and our generation has as well. It's in our blood. It's so important to us that when it comes to sport, at least to me that nothing else matters. In the Olympics we could lose at speed skating, bobsledding, cross country and figure skating but as long as we get a medal in Hockey I'm happy. Mind you we kick ass in most other events, I was just using them as an example haha.
The other thing that makes it sweet is it was against the US. I think everyone knows that the US is bigger than Canada in population, political power, buying power and military power. The US is more powerful than Canada. We also know that one day the US will take over Canada and rape us of our resources as they are so powerful and we have so much. That being said we have one thing we are better at, or at least take greater pride in, and that is hockey! So while we have one thing we're better at than the US, we gotta get our kicks in while we can! We don't hate the US and without them Canada would be dead as we need the US to survive, but we're good at hockey, it's a national sport and we have to kick the US's ass every time we get onto the ice.
So I have to get my licks in while I still can. Hm... it was flowing before but the tap is running dry after two hours. The point is that Canada beat the US, it's the one way Canada excels over the US, the one time we can forget there's trillions of military hardware that could roll over the border, when standing up on the podium we're bigger, taller, stronger and the world looks at us for a few minutes. We have 34 million people who forget their problems and differences and unite as one. When it comes to world sports and hockey we aren't Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, Gay, Straight, Liberal, Conservative or any different from one another. We're all painted Red and White. We're thought of as a nice, quiet and polite country but when it comes to hockey we get rough, loud and physical. I think it defines us as a people, that we're nice, quiet and polite but when we need to, we kick ass and take names, weather its on an ice rink, on the street or around the world. It's something we love and we're passionate about. We're damn good at it and we can be full of pride and a little cocky about it and we're not afraid to show it. I'm a proud Canadian and I'm not afraid to show it, none of us should be afraid to show it. So lets get out there, kick a little ass in the name of our country and get loud and proud!
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