Like most of the country, I was glued to the television on Feb. 28, 2010 watching the Olympic Gold Medal Hockey game between the Canadians and the Americans. This one took me back. I don't know why, but this one more than the the Salt Lake win at gold really brought me back to being a hockey fan. Having the games in town and having the goalie of the Vancouver Canucks in net for Canada probably had something to do with it, but it was something more than that.
I haven't really followed hockey since shortly after the Canucks '94 Stanley Cup run. Leading up to that run in '94, I was a big fan of the Canucks. I was lucky enough that my parents got tickets to see games every once in a while. As a kid, the Canucks weren't a winning team, but they were our team, so we cheered for them. We didn't have the huge stars, we didn't have a Mario Lemieux, or a Wayne Gretzky, but we had a Trevor Linden and Linden was the man. I remember going to a game and I didn't know who Cliff Ronning was. He scored a couple of goals that game and I knew who he was after that. Everyone loved to see Odjick fight and loved it when
he scored a goal too. We didn't have a great team, but we were getting there. It always seemed to me that the Canucks of that time were much more than the sum of their parts and really were a special team. In the Stanley Cup final in '94 they fought hard, but ultimately it ended up in disappointment. I followed the Canucks for a little bit after that, but as the years passed, the team changed. Core Canucks players like Trevor Linden, Cliff Ronning, Kirk Mclean, had diminished roles in the team and were traded away. The Canucks moved to a new stadium. They changed their jersey and colors. It didn't seem like the same team that I followed when I was growing up. My interest in hockey waned. I don't blame the Canucks, or the guys that made up that great team. Every athlete and team has to peak and everyone's time in the sun comes to an end eventually. They made a great run for the final and I was glad to be a fan for that time. I have some great memories of going to the Pacific Coliseum to watch the games. I remember the crack you heard as a stick hit the puck. Snacking on some caramel corn, or a frosted malt. Of course, pissing in that trough in the Coliseum men's room. My friends and I would rush to the back of the Coliseum after games and wait in the rain for a chance to get the players' autographs. It was great being a Canucks fan in the early 90's.
Having this Olympics in Vancouver, our country's team playing in our town, in our stadium, it felt like that again. As I watched that Gold Medal Game, I was that kid back in '94 watching the Canucks try to snatch the victory from the New York Rangers in game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals. There was some nervousness as the Americans tied it up to force overtime, a sense that it might all happen again, that disappointment of '94. But that made it all the more gratifying when Crosby scored that winning goal. In the crowded apartment I was in, when Crosby scored that goal, we all jumped up from our seats and gave high fives all around, our arms around each others shoulders in a big huddle. To me, it was like the promise of 1994 had been fulfilled. There were no riots this time, no disappointment, only celebration and joy. As we took to the streets, we saw a celebration that Vancouver had never seen before as closed off streets were flooded with people in Team Canada jerseys, flying Canadian flags high with pride. I'll always remember how great it was to be a hockey fan in Vancouver in 1994 and now I'll always remember how great it was to be a hockey fan again on the last day of February, on the last day of the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Spinach and Mushroom Enchilada
Huevos Rancheros
Spinach and Chorizo Taco
Tomatillo Chicken
Portabella and Zucchini Taco
Shrimp Ceviche
