Well it was the perfect ending to a fantastic few weeks. While most people focused on the mistakes and the poor performances early on, I am very pleased with the incredible effort all of our athletes were able to muster in order to bring Canada the golden performances that it wanted. Congrats to all of Canada’s Olympians for all of their hard work and perseverance.

As for that hockey game… it had absolutely everything you could hope for. I was shocked at how physical the game was. For those of us too young to have witnessed ’72 (and as someone barely old enough to remember ’87), this was the most important hockey game I’ve ever watched. It is fitting that Crosby scored to ice Canada’s gold in Canada’s game at Canada’s games. He is already a legend here. This goal will undoubtedly only serve to elevate his status at the end of his career to the likes of other Canadian heroes like Gretzky, Lemieux etc.

It is only fitting that Canada win this tournament. The sport is what binds Canadians together. At times it can be a cliche for anyone who lives here, but after watching the Gold medal game it is obvious that hockey is Canada. It is how we express ourselves. While the Americans will be looking at the TV ratings to judge the magnitude of impact that this game had on the long term outlook for hockey in the USA – we do not need to do the same. If you needed proof, you only needed to look at the spontaneous celebrations that erupted in every downtown across the nation in the moments following the glorious goal by Sid the Kid. Yonge St in Toronto was absolute bedlam. Vancouver rocked into the wee hours of the morning. Everywhere were Canadians live, there was jubilation. That is how you judge the importance of the game here. I salute the American team who inexplicably came into this tournament ranked 6th in the world. I still don’t understand how a team stacked with NHLers was labeled as underdogs against any team except Canada. They played their guts out, and I respect each player on that team for the kind of attitude you WANT on your team. They played a fantastic game, but when it mattered – Canada was best.

The NHL is scheduled to open its gates once again tonight with one game between Colorado and Detroit. It will be interesting to see how NHL teams respond to the break. For the Habs, the time off was a god-send. We have endured so many injuries this year, and the break was critical for most of our roster. I’m excited to see the Habs back in action, and even more intrigued by the approaching trade deadline. Go Habs Go!!!