And it really was the Russian version of Hockey night in Canada as I was seating just 50 m away from Don Cherry and Ron McLean for the Canada game! On Monday, I tried to buy tickets for the Finland-Russia but it was obviously sold-out. I still gave it a try as I wanted a single ticket and they are always easier to get. Unfortunately not this time. As the first game of the day was featuring Sweden, aka Tre Kronor, home country of several Canucks players, it was an easy decision to pick up a ticket for that game instead! Sweden has easily gone through their group and earned a direct spot to the 1/4 finals (along with the USA, Canada and Finland). They were playing against surprise Slovenia who had gone through the exploit of eliminating (Los Angeles Kings Anze Kopitar's) Slovakia!! I was seating twenty rows from the ice where Latvia shot twice. Translation of that hockey lingo was that I had good seats to see King Henrik do what he's the best at!
The first period was even and Slovenia was giving Tre Kronor a run for their money. Sweden dominated and went on winning 5-0.
The game quickly went back to reality in the second I was seating twenty rows from the ice where Latvia shot twice. Canucks Daniel Sedin scored a goal (his first of 2014!!) and New York Rangers Carl Hagelin scored two.
Sitting close by to me was a Canadian. Poor lad missed the second goal and came back asking who scored. Always happy to help I answered "Daniel Sedin" which was met by a "ahahah the Sedins sisters!" Gggggrrr. Only took a split second to answer him back "we are so not going to be friends". Upon more questioning, he appeared to be from Calgary. It all made sense!!
Anyway, I did not stopped there and went on asking him how many Flames were playing in the Olympics. I knew the answer but just wanted to remind him that his NHL team SUCKS! Ahah! His answer "nobody but almost" yes, almost like you almost never make the playoffs!!! Anyway, we both agreed we would be on the same side in the evening! After the game, I met with Luke and we went to see the Russia Fans House were there was a display of all sports and Russian athletes and a talk with former soviet gymnasts. It was interesting and the highlight was finally finding a ticket holder for my Olympics tickets! Hihi! I then headed to the medal plaza to watch the end of Finland-Russia which was already 3-1 in favour of the Finns. With 8 min left there was nothing Russia was able to do to come back. What a desolating spectacle the medal plaza was. How did Russia get eliminated with so much talent? Malkin, Ovechkin, Datsyuk, Kovalchuk and co? With it we were getting deprived of a much anticipated Canada-Russia final 😞 Since I had a couple of hours to kill before the game, I decided to stay for the medal ceremony. Which did not start at 19h has announced but at 20h14!!! In the meantime I had to put with some kind of Russian Idol singer (Mitya Formin I believe). Well let's just say that I might not be his biggest fan!!!
The torch fountains were then lit up with a sound show. Quite pretty for the part I saw. People in the crowds had no respect for each other and it was very hard to see anything, let alone move.... Time came for the first ceremony, and with luck it was for the Slalom Giant Women I attended on Tuesday!!
I'm not liking this day after medal ceremony. It takes all the momentum and emotions away and the true fans who went to events don't get to witness the medal ceremony... This just scream money making so people will buy tickets to the ceremony.
I then headed for the big deal of the day, Team Canada 1/4 final. For this one I was up in the nosebleeds, but nosebleeds at the Bolchoy Dome are about first rows at Rogers Arena (for the connoisseurs!). Latvia was on the plan after surprisingly defeating Switzerland the day before in the qualification game. I was sitting next to a Canadian from Newfoundland, and I knew they had a strong accent there, but nothing prepared me for this! I had to ask him to repeat everything - never had a clue what he was saying!
He was the surprised one when he did not know who 22 was and I had to tell him it was Jamie Benn, of the Dallas Stars. He greeted me with a "oh- you know your hockey!" Ahah, coming from a Canadian I took it as a compliment!
The game itself was much different from an NHL paced game I am used to, as the ice is bigger and the luck kept rolling. Latvia was on, and their goaltender put on a master lass stopping 53 of the 55 pucks directed at him.
Sharp opened the score in the first period but the joy was short lived as Latvia scored shortly after. The second period went scoreless and palpitations and sweat were starting to be seen in the arena in the third. Could there be a second upset that day? Thankfully, the Canadian powerplay and a bomb by (BC born) Shea Weber released the pressure with 7 min left. Around 3 min left, my Newfie neighbour was screaming victory, but I, the Canucks fan, told him that nothing is done until it's over! I still have nightmares of Toews scoring on the Canucks Game 7 with 20 sec left in the game! Speaking of Mr Toews, he is the player that I noticed the most in the game. He's just a defensive monster!
I was soooo happy to be able to attend the Canada game, just made me realise even more how much I miss watching live hockey! Fingers crossed for the rest of the tournament! GO CANADA! Couple more pics:
If
you've clicked on the link you probably already know about my tiny
addiction with the Olympic Games!
It
would be hard to pinpoint when it really started as I have been a
figure skating fan since the mid-90s and the Olympics are a big part
of this sport.
With
that being said, I can still pinpoint the day it might have taken a
turn for the BEST!
France's
Marie-Jo Pérec was going for a double victory in the 1996 Atlanta
Olympics on 400 m and 200 m. What was the problem? This was taking
place at 2 a.m. French time. So there was my first time setting up my
alarm clock to catch some Olympic history LIVE!
She
did win and I did not have a
single regret getting up at such time to witness it!
When
the time for the 1998 Nagano Olympics came, it was impossible to
follow those timezone-unfriendly games live. It was my graduating
year in school and as much as I love the Olympics, 1998 school was a
higher priority.
So
I was not able to see my favourite athletes ever - Marina Anissina
and Gwendal Peizerat - win their first Olympic Medal... :(
The
2000 Sydney Olympics were not in a very France-friendly timezone
either but when the French Basketball team led by a player playing
for my hometown (Frédéric Weis, CSP Limoges) made it to the final
vs the USA, setting up my alarm clock for the middle of the night was
a no-brainer! While the result was not what I hoped for, getting to
the final was a great achievement!
The
2002 Salt Lake City Olympics are summed up in this one single moment:
Marina Anissina and Peizerat winning Olympic Gold
- or Sandra and friend drinking champagne at 5 a.m. to celebrate!!
I
could watch and watch and watch this masterpiece all day long!
School
it wasn't, but I can probably say that this Uni semester might have
suffered a bit from Olympic sleep deprivation and post-Olympic depression!
The
2004 Athens and 2006 Torino Olympics were much easier to follow and
cheer for! Summer 2004 was dreadful weather-wise and perfect for
hours and hours of Olympic watching while Torino 2006 was a perfect
match for my 9 to 5 job (some historic moments: here and The Stare).
The
2008 Beijing Olympics, I will admit is a bit of a blur, but with the
world moving on to live internet feed, it also made following in the
middle of the night much more comfortable as feeds were a click away
from the pillow and meant daily Swimming Finals at 1:50 a.m. were my
reality for 8 days in a row! And historic moments were not missed,
whether it was Phelps 8 medals or France first ever
100 m freestyle win!
It
all took a bigger turn in 2010. Things happened in a way that for the
first time, I was not only living close-by to the Olympics, I was
living in the host city: Vancouver! I was living
the Olympics! But, I was completely broke!! So until the Olympics
started, it was all about soaking up the atmosphere and attending the figure skating practice sessions ($20, a bargain!).
But
at one point, actions needed to be taken and savings needed to be
sacrificed - I was not going to be living in the host city and NOT
attend a single event!!! And if sacrifices were to be made, they
could only be made for one event: the Free Dance - so many things
were geared together to make it memorable for me: France's Isabelle
Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder coming back four months after she
had a baby, Team GB's Sinead and John Kerr being in the Top 10 and
seeing Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir give Canada another gold medal on
home soil. So, savings were blown up for a ticket to the Free Dance.
9 rows from the ice at the Olympic Games!
My first Olympic event - Guess who I'm cheering for?
On
February 22, 2010, I walked to the Pacific Coliseum with glowing hearts!
And de plus brillants exploits I did see!
Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir - Canada
Dance medallists
No matter where you
are from, who you support, sitting in the middle of 16,000 people
singing O Canada was heartwarming and unforgettable!
Those
two amazing weeks would culminate on February 28 when Canada's
'religion' would win Olympic Gold in the Men's Hockey Tournament.
Free hugs for everybody! Some people ask "where were you when
the planes hit the Twin Towers?" or "where did you watch
the Royal Wedding?". In Canada, you are asked "where were
you when Crosby scored the Golden Goal? well, I was at Vera's Burger
on Davie St and people were certainly celebrating!
No
need to say that those two weeks did not tame the addiction in any
way!
A
bit of nostalgia:
From
this point on, I knew that wherever I was going to be living, London
2012 attendance was unavoidable, and saving and preparation could
start as early as the Vancouver Closing Ceremony finished!
When
lottery time came in early April 2011, I applied for 4-5 tickets and
only got allocated one. But a couple months later, I was once again
in the best location possible: living in the host city: London! The
atmosphere leading to the Olympics was a bit different: the Summer
Olympics are a much bigger deal, and it was obvious that the
family-size event and atmosphere that was Vancouver was not going to
be replicated.
I
also did not have a true event that I had been following for years,
but as the Opening Ceremony started with a bang (or a Bond?), it was obvious that this was going to be a celebration
of Great Britain and everything British and that was a no-brainer to
follow. After all, I had fallen for England on my first trip back in
1992 so celebrating it was coming naturally! Since lottery time, I
had gotten a few more tickets and ended up attending two Equestrian
events in the amazing venue
at Greenwich Park (one featuring the Queen's granddaughter, Zara
Philips and the Jumping Team Event which featured a Team GB Gold!),
a beach-volley event at Horse Guards Parade (another amazing venue)
and the USA-Argentina
Basketball semi-final.
Zara Philips - GB - Three-day event dressage
Team Jumping - GB gold
Beach Volley at Horse Guards Parade
USA-ARG - Basketball Semi-final
Two great weeks that were followed by some
mind-blowing and absolutely wonderful Paralympic Games! While
I do admire all the sportsmen and sportwomen in the Olympics, the
Paralympics just left us breathless with admiration.
I
was so glad we decided to go. It is such a shame that there is a 2
weeks gap with the Olympics and most people will give them a miss.
In
February 2013 came the lottery for the 2014 Sochi Olympics. You have
nothing to lose on the lottery. But once the result came, we had been
allocated our favourite events: Free Dance and Ladies Free. It was
decision time, especially for me, as I had no plan to move and live
in Russia to be on site this time!! Would I plan an entire Olympic
trip? OF COURSE!
This
is how I became an addict and will let you enter this world for the
next month!
So
this is it, I am Sandra and I am a (proud) Olympic addict!
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