Tweet: NHL Playoffs

Was worried about catching hockey games in the land of futbol (at midnight) but proud to say I didn't miss a game of the Leafs cup run.. Also back in time for game 7 of essentially Cup finals (West wins)

Vancouver Olympics: Day 17 (Final Day!) Highlights

- Ughh.. 8:30am after a late night was not pleasant after the luxury of sleeping in for the past week. A necessary evil though as we started what soon became a MASSIVE line at one of the MANY bars to watch the game. Yes, 9am for a 12:15 puck drop. But boy was it worth it...

- With our crew of 13 we kept the double-pitchers coming, made friends with our fellow Canadians, and got riled up as Canada took a 2-0 advantage. The equalizer from the US with seconds remaining put a hold on the celebration that had nearly begun already, but we didn't lose faith. We did lose it when Sid slid it home though! The place went off. I don't remember who I hugged - everyone in sight!

- Best. Street Party. Ever. Hands down, or more appropriately Hands UP, as mine are raw from the high fives from every single person who packed Granville Street. It was mayhem, I lost 11 of my 12 friends, but somehow found my way back to the apartment, as did Jon, so we could usher him quickly to the Skytrain with only minutes to spare for his flight (he made it).

- Winding back through the throngs of people it was such a joyous atmosphere. Canadian Pride.

- Over some much needed pizza nourishment, rejoined by friends at home, we called Nickelback, Lavigne, Hedley and Buble at the Closing Ceremony, but unfortunately no sign of Celine.

- Crash! Two weeks of non-stop concerts/games/party, a minor cold, a lot of beer and an early start culminated in zonking out mid-evening for a deep nap. Fortunately or unfortunately this resulted in being wide awake to check out the revelers still going (somewhat) strong 12 hours later. The Olympic flame now out, I stumbled upon a Closing Ceremony briefcase, complete with moose antlers, abandoned on the sidewalk which made the detour by the cauldron worthwhile.

Vancouver Olympics: Day 15 Highlights

- The morning was spent mulling and planning our attack with so much going on in the afternoon.

- In the first end of Can-Swe women's curling we had a Three Beavers Ale, split between the three of us, like the Three Musketeers. In the fourth we pulled out the Chocolate Porter from Granville Island Brewery and it lived up to its cocoa-billing. By the seventh we were worrying about getting a spot for the bigGER game and ripped ourselves away to run through town. Our plan hit an immediate roadblock when the bar, and then EVERY bar, was full (since three hours earlier!) Frantic running around in the spitting rain simply riled us up, and forced us to watch the loss from a sidewalk, peering through a restaurant window.

- An hour or so wasted, but restocked with beer, we arrived back home as the puck dropped on Canada vs Slovakia. We'd hoped for a four-goal cushion by the third, but had to settle for 2 with 15m left in the game so we made the call and ran back out into the night. Keeping up with the score from restaurant window to pub cheers we walked as the lead slipped. With 5 minutes left to play we had to call an audible and stand, again on a sidewalk, to be sure that we'd ensured a gold-medal birth.

- The time ticked off the clock and we turned and ran to Girl Talk. Slipping through security ahead of the massive line that was sure to form we were there in time. Mashed up! Gregg Gillis is a whirlwind who never stopped run/dancing, along with his throng of enlisted dancers from the crowd, and his laptop. It was the best DJ set/club mix/whatever party I've ever listened to live.

Vancouver Olympics: Day 12 Highlights

- HOCKEY! We decided to hold onto our Switzerland vs Belarus tickets when we heard the Canadian game tickets were selling for $700/piece on the street. My first trip to the lifeless GM Place was alright as we scored front row upper deck. The first few periods were a bit of a yawn, but in the third Belarus finally got some fire and tied it all up. Ten minutes of overtime solved nothing, but we were all cheering for 'Game-winning Shots' ("Shootouts" to anyone but the Olympics) and got them. Unfortunately Belarus, my beloved underdogs for the day, lost on the final shot but entertaining nonetheless.

- Bursting out into the rain, with the delay of the shootouts, it was closing in on the real game time, so we ran up Granville popping into bars until deciding on the Moose for Canada vs. Germany. The precipitation, early hour and increased police presence (at least tripled) kept the revelers in line and so we only high-fived around for a little while.