Olympic Hockey

Olympic hockey, one of the only olympic sports that showcases the best professional athletes from a variety of leagues worldwide. Many times you will see players who are teammates during the regular season go head to head as they play for their respective countries. These elite players meet at the Olympic venue with minimal corporate sponsorships and all the virtues of playing for their native country.

The olympic stadium has been draped with the Vancouver Olympics symbol instead of the usual sponsors at the Vancouver Canucks venue. The stadium is Called the Hockey Canada Place instead of the General Motors arena. The lack of corporate sponsorships at the Olympics is a very distinct move that tries to elevate the games to a higher level than pure spectacle.

These olympics have been full of high intensity games between old rivals and dominant powerhouses. Just yesterday Canada beat Russia in a blockbuster game that ended 7-3.

The U.S. has been doing great by winning all the games they have played so far, including a 5-3 upset over Canada. The interesting thing about that is, quite frankly, no one in the United States really cares. To put it into perspective, this is what the Czech Republic looked like after they won the gold in the 1998 Nagano Olympics.

There would be no crowding in Washington, because winning is normal for Americans, which might take the fun out of winning. I hope we all celebrate to our fullest when we win a medal.